Centre for International Business and Public Policy (CIBaPP)

 

The study of business and its interaction with the public policy process has been an important sub-field of management studies – particularly in the United States – for many years. None the less, the field has gained considerable prominence in recent years due to three developments.

First, the emergence of new economic powers such as China and Brazil has created a perception that existing methods and institutions of economic governance are inadequate. More generally, there is a growing recognition that management scholarship needs to develop a more international and comparative element to address the increasing plurality of institutional settings.

Second, the internationalisation of emerging market firms has highlighted the need to expand our understanding of how firms interact with the policy process beyond OECD-based firms.

Finally, international terrorism, climate change, resource scarcity and new technologies reinforce the state’s interest in the regulation of international commerce in the name of broader societal concerns about safety and security.

Operation

The Centre situates its research agenda across three distinct but related areas of research:

Corporate Political Activity in Different Institutional Settings

That firms involve themselves in the political process is a well-known, if controversial, aspect of politics. However, most of what we know about this activity relates to the experience of American firms operating in the US political system. Studies focused on the international context often simply import theories of corporate political activity from the United States and attempt to apply them at the international level. But important contextual differences persist among political systems. Many of the world’s largest corporations in sectors such as petroleum and banking are, in fact, state-owned enterprises. How do we understand ‘corporate’ political activity in this context? How do rising multinationals from Brazil, India and China develop their political activity in foreign markets? Do they bring their domestic practices with them, or do they seek to adapt their political behaviour to the new market?

Multilateralism and Regionalism in the International Economy

Though it is commonplace to describe the world as an increasingly integrated global network, in fact economic activity clusters in several economic hubs around the world. The successive negotiating rounds of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and then the World Trade Organisation (WTO), contributed to the spread of economic liberalisation. However, regional trade agreements have gained enormous popularity in recent years. How do we explain this paradoxical situation where, as the world becomes more globalised, it also becomes more regionalised?

Scarcity, Security and Political Risk

The depletion of the Earth’s resources used to be cast in terms of the environmental damage caused by economic growth. However, as more and more people enjoy the fruits of economic growth, competition for resources has joined the impact of their consumption as a key theme in international business. Commodities such as copper, iron ore, rice and maize have seen enormous price rises in recent years, driven partly by their increased consumption by rapidly growing economies such as China. Moreover, control of commodities is becoming a prominent theme. China, for example, holds most of the world’s stocks of lanthanum, a key component in consumer electronics and telecommunications equipment. The United States has altered is oil-buying behaviour in a deliberate effort to reduce its dependence on non-North American supplies.

Current Projects

"Black Empowerment, HIV/Aids and Environmental Disclosures by Post-Apartheid South African Corporations"
Funded by University Research Fund and School of Management and Business Research Fund. Research team: Collins Ntim (Aberystwyth) and Teerooven Soobaroyen (University of Southampton).
Emerging Market Multinationals and the Acquisition of Corporate Political Capabilities
Research team: Steven McGuire (Aberystwyth), Johan Lindeque (Queen’s University Belfast), Gabriele Suder (SKEMA).
European Union – Canada Economic Relations
Research team: Sangeeta Khorana, Nick Perdikis and Steven McGuire (Aberystwyth), William Kerr and Jill Hobbs (University of Saskatchewan).
Business and the World Trade Organization
Research team: Steven McGuire (Aberystwyth), Richard Fairchild (University of Bath) and Johan Lindeque (Queen’s University, Belfast).
Disruptive Technologies, Innovation and Global Redesign: Emerging Implications
Editors: Prof (Dr) Ndubuisi Ekekwe (African Institution of Technology, USA & Babcock University, Nigeria) Dr. Nazrul Islam (Aberystwyth University).

Centre Members

Advisory Board

  • Dr. Vinod Aggarwal, Professor of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley
  • Mr. David Barclay, Commodities Strategist, Standard Chartered Plc
  • Dr. Lorraine Eden, Mays Professor of Management, Texas A&M University
  • Mrs. Jennifer Ekelund, Head of Environmental Sustainability, University of Oxford
  • Dr. Andreas Falke, Professor of American Studies, Friedrich Alexander Univesitiät, Erlangen-Nürnberg
  • Mr. Mark Lund, President, Lund Research Ltd.
  • Dr. Jennifer Oetzel, Associate Professor of International Business, American University
  • Dr. Toshiya Ozaki, Professor of Global Business, Rikkyo University, Tokyo
  • Dr. Glyn Rowlands, Member, Aberystwyth University Council
  • Dr. Cornelia Wöll, Associate Dean and Professor of International Relations, Sciences Po, Paris and Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
The Changing Industrial Landscape: The Aircraft Industry