Organisational Misconduct by Multinational Corporations in and from Emerging Economies

Call for Papers – Organisational Misconduct by Multinational Corporations in and from Emerging Economies

Journal: International Business Review
Publisher: Elsevier
Journal metrics: Impact Factor 6.1, CiteScore 11.6

Submission deadline: 1 October 2026

This special issue examines organisational misconduct by multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in and originating from emerging economies. It seeks research that unpacks why, how, and under what institutional conditions MNCs engage in illegal, unethical, or socially unacceptable practices—such as corruption, fraud, environmental harm, human‑rights abuses, modern slavery, and corporate social irresponsibility—and how these behaviours reverberate across global value chains and national borders.

Why this issue matters

• Emerging economies (EEs) offer MNCs significant growth opportunities, but their weaker and more fragmented institutions create space for misconduct, including exploitation of regulatory voids, selective enforcement, and reliance on informal political ties.

• Existing international‑business literature is often developed‑country‑centric and adopts single‑level perspectives, overlooking the multilevel, transnational nature of misconduct in EEs.

• Understanding the gap between written rules (de jure) and actual practice (de facto) in emerging‑economy contexts is crucial for designing effective governance, compliance, and policy tools to curb MNC misconduct.

Key themes and research areas

The SI invites conceptual, theoretical, and empirical contributions addressing, but not limited to:

• Institutional dynamics and misconduct in emerging economies

  • Which emerging economies show the largest gap between formal anti‑corruption laws and actual enforcement, and what mechanisms (e.g., political influence, informal networks) sustain this gap?

  • How institutional complexity and shifting geopolitical, legal, and economic conditions shape the design and effectiveness of tools to monitor and reduce MNC misconduct.

• Conceptualising and measuring MNC misconduct

  • How to define, classify, and distinguish organisational misconduct by MNCs in and from emerging economies (e.g., bribery, human‑rights abuses, ecological damage, corporate social irresponsibility, war‑related lobbying).

  • New empirical indicators and models for measuring misconduct involvement of MNCs in areas such as human trafficking, modern slavery, and war‑related lobbying.

• Multilevel and multi‑actor explanations

  • How economy‑level institutions, organisational governance, and individual behaviour interact to explain the emergence, persistence, and consequences of MNC misconduct.

  • The role of corporate governance, board structures, and gender diversity in mitigating or enabling misconduct in emerging‑economy‑based or operating MNCs.

• MNC‑type, origin, and “recidivism”

  • How MNC type, size, and country of origin influence patterns of misconduct in emerging economies.

  • Why and how some MNCs become “recidivist” actors or practice “responsible cronyism” (misusing power to appoint or favour friends and associates).

• Emerging‑technology and digital‑monitoring tools

  • How AI, blockchain, big‑data analytics, and digital platforms can help detect, track, and prevent MNC misconduct in emerging‑economy settings.

  • Risks and limitations of technology‑based monitoring (e.g., bias, surveillance, and power asymmetries).

• Sustainability‑misconduct duality

  • How to reconcile MNC sustainability initiatives with ongoing practices of exploitation, environmental degradation, and human‑rights abuses.

  • Cases of differential exploitation of consumers, workers, and natural resources in emerging economies.

• Policy, strategy, and governance responses

  • Strategy and policy interventions that can effectively mitigate or manage MNC misconduct, including home‑country regulation, host‑country enforcement, multi‑stakeholder mechanisms, and global governance regimes.

  • How multilevel research designs can advance understanding of spillovers and cross‑border consequences of misconduct.

Methodological and theoretical diversity

The guest editors welcome:

• Conceptual and literature‑review papers advancing new frameworks (e.g., multilevel, institution‑based, social‑movement, or critical theory approaches).

• Theoretical development that amends or integrates existing international‑business theories to account for emerging‑economy idiosyncrasies.

• Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed‑method empirical studies, including case studies, ethnographies, archival research, and cross‑national comparative designs.

• Contributions drawing on political science, sociology, psychology, anthropology, law, and ethics to enrich the study of MNC misconduct.

Guest editors

• Prof. Amitabh Anand, Excelia Business School, France

• Prof. Daniel Rottig, Florida Gulf Coast University, USA

• Prof. Miklós Stocker, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary

• Prof. Virginia Bodolica, American University of Sharjah, UAE

Authors may optionally submit an extended abstract (max 1,500 words) to ananda@excelia‑group.com by 5 June 2026 for preliminary feedback. However, full‑manuscript submission does not require prior abstract submission.

Submission details

• Submission portal: Elsevier Editorial Manager for International Business Review:
  https://www.editorialmanager.com/IBR/default.aspx

• When submitting, select article type: “VSI: Organisational Misconduct”.

• Full‑manuscript deadline: 1 October 2026.

• All manuscripts undergo double‑blind peer review according to IBR’s standard procedures.

Papers should clearly position their work within the multilevel, transnational, and context‑specific nature of organisational misconduct in emerging economies and discuss implications for theory, management practice, and policymaking.

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