Migrants, Migration Policies, and International Business Research: Current Trends and New Directions

Special Issue Co-Editors

David Deeds                                         Helena Barnard                        Paul M. Vaaler

Schulze Professor of                            Professor of Management        John and Bruce Mooty Chair

Entrepreneurship                                & Doctoral Programme Dir         in Law & Business

Opus College of Business                    Gordon Institute of Bus Sci      Carlson School & Law School

University of St. Thomas                     University of Pretoria                 University of Minnesota

1000 LaSalle Avenue South                26 Melville Road                       321 19th Avenue South

Minneapolis, MN 55403                      Illovo, Johannesburg                 Minneapolis, MN 55455

USA                                                     SOUTH AFRICA                       USA

Tel +1 (651) 962 4407                        Tel +27 11 771 4213                  Tel +1 612 625 4951

Email david.deeds@gmail.com         Email barnardh@gibs.co.za       Email vaal0001@umn.edu

Special Issue Description

In the 2010s, individuals living outside their country of birth or childhood total more than 250 million, making “Diasporia” the fifth largest “country” in the world.  National laws in host and home countries as well as international agreements linking those countries comprise a complex migrant and migration policy (M&MP) web doing the following: regulating migrant movement; defining migrant workplace rights; influencing migrant investment, innovation and entrepreneurship; taxing migrant income and wealth; attracting migrant votes; and otherwise “harnessing” migrants to serve policy goals. 

How do such national and international M&MP trends matter for IB strategies and the individuals and multinational enterprises (MNEs) behind those IB strategies?  IB research has a long history of studying migrant executives –expatriate managers— but today’s M&MPs have broader implications for a range of international workers, entrepreneurs and innovators, all of whom are well-represented in Diasporia.  IB research can and should address current M&MP trends, and the IB challenges as well as opportunities they create for international investors, innovators, and entrepreneurs.

The new Journal of International Business Policy (JIBP) aims to be a leader in publishing high-quality research analyzing emerging public policy trends and their impact on international investors and firms. You can learn more about JIBP’s aims here: https://www.jibp.net. JIBP more specifically intends to champion research analyzing M&MP trends and their impact relevant to IB research.  To that end, JIBP is sponsoring a day-long symposium on the topic in conjunction with the Academy of International Business annual meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA on Monday, June 25, 2018.  You can learn more about and register for the day-long symposium here: https://stthomas.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0fuAroJmeTm0e1L.  There is no cost to register for the symposium. 

JIBP is also issuing this call for paper proposals for subsequent development into full manuscripts for submission, peer review, and possible publication in a special issue of JIBP scheduled for late 2019. 

We welcome proposals addressing these M&MP issues and others:

• Firm responses to host-country visa limitations on migrant worker recruitment.
• MNE influence on the emergence and terms of bilateral labor agreements.
• Home-country voting rights and migrant-related foreign direct investment.
• Home- and host-country regulatory effects on migrant remittances.
• The role of diasporas in international technology and knowledge transfers.
• Migrant mobility and patenting patterns in home- and host-countries.
• Bilateral investment treaties and the internationalization of migrant-run businesses.
• Home- and host-country taxation policy effects on migrant remittances.
• Home-country economic informality and foreign direct investment by migrants.
• Dual citizenship laws and home- versus host-country business activity by migrants.
• Individual and joint effects of bilateral labor agreements and bilateral investment treaties on MNE growth, structure, and performance.
• International patenting conventions (e.g., Patent Cooperation Treaty) and migrant innovation.
• How home and host countries encourage refugee versus economic migrant entrepreneurship.
• How non-governmental international organizations affect migration policy and business.
• Migration and growth in international money transfer, banking and related service industries.
• The role of migrants in transmitting business norms and entrepreneurial practices back home.
• Home-country investment by refugees versus economic migrants living abroad.
• Relationships between official foreign and international development aid and migrant remittances to developing countries.
• The role of home-country migrant affairs ministries in harnessing diasporas for more remittances, foreign direct investment, and other economic purposes.
• Host-country discrimination against migrants and migrant venture funding, founding, and growth.
• The role of host-country firms in settling refugees.
• MNE lobbying strategies to change migrant policies in host and home countries.

These M&MP issues are not meant to be exhaustive but illustrative of possible proposal topics. 

We welcome proposals from researchers in IB, other management fields, and fields outside of management such as economics, political science, sociology, law, geography, development studies, public policy, and international relations.  We especially welcome proposals bridging these disciplines.  We welcome proposals primarily aimed at theory development, as well as empirical investigation of theoretically-grounded research questions.  Empirical investigations may be primarily quantitative, qualitative, or a mix of both approaches.  We seek a broad range of proposals addressing M&MP issues promising new and novel research contributions to IB research on M&MP issues. 

Special Issue Proposals

Proposals should be written in English and not exceed a total of seven (7) pages and 4000 words – five (5) pages for the body which can include charts, graphs, diagrams, and up to two (2) pages of references. The 4000-word count includes all text in the charts, graphs, diagrams, and references.

Only electronic submissions of proposal(s) will be accepted, submitted via the Manuscript Central portal for JIBP: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jibp.  A maximum of two (2) proposals, either as an author or a co-author, may be submitted.

We seek original, unpublished work to move the scholarly conversation on M&MP issues forward. Proposals may be rooted in or derived from prior work, but the submitted proposal must reflect significant development. Any proposal submitted that is judged to be identical or substantially similar to work already published, presented or under review for another conference or publication, will not be considered for invitation to develop a full manuscript.

Proposals are easiest to handle if submitted in PDF format. MS Word (or equivalent) will also be accepted. The title should be listed in the header of each page. Please use single spacing and 10-point font or larger.

All proposals received by the deadline date (September 1, 2018) are deemed as original and final.

Timeline from Proposal to Publication

All proposals will be evaluated by the special issue editors.  They will follow this timeline for proposal acceptance, full manuscript development and submission, peer review, acceptance, and JIBP publication:

• September 1, 2018:  Deadline for submission of proposals via Manuscript Central portal for JIBP (https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jibp).
• October 1, 2018:  Notification of acceptance or rejection of proposals for development as full manuscripts for submission.
• February 1, 2019:  Deadline for submission of full manuscripts.
• February 1 to September 1, 2019:  Double-blind peer review, revision, and editorial notification of manuscript acceptance or rejection for inclusion in JIBP special issue.
• December 2019:  Publication of JIBP special issue.

Proposals are reviewed by the special issue editors, so they are not anonymous.  Proposals should include name and institutional affiliation of all authors. Authors invited to submit full manuscripts can expect standard double-blind peer review process once submitted.

Please contact the special issue editors with any questions.