Advances in International Management 2012 Volume: Institutional Theory in International Business

Institutional theory has become one of the most important perspectives in international business in recent years. Researchers have applied theories from neoinstitutional economics and sociology to study how characteristics of the global, regional, country, and industry environments influence the strategies and performance of multinational enterprises. Studies have illustrated the importance of institutional variation for a wide range of constructs, including diversification, foreign direct investment, governance, innovation, organizational learning, and social networks. 

Whereas institutional theory has been helpful in highlighting why and how the rules of the international business game may change in different contexts, many studies have relied on constructs, frameworks, and mechanisms developed outside of the international business field. Our goal with this volume is threefold. First, we would like to encourage international business and management scholars to design new theoretical frameworks of institutions for the different levels of the business environment. Second, we would like to invite institutional theorists to outline potential new theoretical directions for international business researchers. Third, we wish to publish a collection of original ideas that will provide the foundation for future doctoral dissertations and other research projects in international business.

We hope the volume will provide a forum for thought-provoking theoretical ideas, discussions, reviews, and methodological advances owing to its format and our review process. Although we expect to receive mostly theoretical papers, we are open to empirical submissions using different methodological approaches with institutional theory as their main theoretical lens. Furthermore, we welcome papers that are aimed at improving measures of institutions and proposing suitable methods for testing institutional effects.

Information on past AIM volumes and contributors can be found at this link:
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/books.htm?issn=1571-5027.

Submission Information
• Authors should submit an electronic copy of their proposal (5 single-spaced pages) to Laszlo Tihanyi (ltihanyi@tamu.edu) by September 15, 2011.
• Authors with selected proposals will be encouraged to attend a session at the Strategic Management Society Annual Conference in Miami on November 6, 2011.
• Submission deadline for full papers: December 15, 2011.
• Submission deadline for revised papers: February 20, 2012.
• Publication date of AIM volume: July 1, 2012.

For additional information, please contact:
Laszlo Tihanyi
B. Marie Oth Associate Professor in Business
Department of Management
Mays Business School
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas 77843-4221
Tel: 1-979-845-2825
E-mail: ltihanyi@tamu.edu
http://people.tamu.edu/~ltihanyi/