The Center for Emerging Markets (CEM) at Northeastern University's D'Amore-McKim School of Business is a leading research hub on how local and foreign firms can leverage emerging markets for the global good.
Founded in 2007 by Ravi Ramamurti, University Distinguished Professor of International Business & Strategy, CEM operates in three distinct areas, including a robust research agenda; significant work to influence business practitioners; and educational activities designed to prepare the next generation of business leaders.
Upcoming Events
Nov 18
Isak Ladegaard, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Hong Kong, will discuss his research on how digital platforms challenge state power. His talk, Platforms Against the State, explores how online systems like anti-censorship software in China and far-right economies in the U.S. survive regulation and create alternative socio-economic domains. Attendees will gain insight into how technology reshapes governance and drives social change across contexts.
Our Work
Seminars, workshops, and conferences for researchers from around the world. Additional opportunities for Northeastern faculty to engage with CEM.
Academic programs, learning opportunities, and grants for projects and research in emerging markets, open to undergraduate and graduate students at Northeastern.
Cutting-edge insights and recommendations on emerging market topics for managers, policymakers, and other members of the business community.
Latest News
On October 11th and 12th, Northeastern University welcomed the 10th edition of the BRASA Summit Américas, bringing over 500 students from across the US and Canada for a weekend of connections and learning.
More than 270 students, faculty, and business leaders gathered for a day-long exploration of whether family businesses, in India and elsewhere, can sustain success across generations while competing in an increasingly complex world.
At Northeastern's Hong Kong forum, global CEOs, including CEM board member, Spencer Fung, explored how AI, agility and intergenerational learning drive innovation in business, energy and education.
“There are trade-offs to having stringent data protection policies,” says Luis Alfonso Dau, CEM faculty fellow and associate professor of international business and strategy at Northeastern.
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Insights @ CEM
Insights @ Center for Emerging Markets is a publication focused on cutting-edge ideas and advice for global leaders about emerging markets. It draws on the innovative research on emerging markets carried out by our faculty at Northeastern University and the broader global academic communities.
Li, Cuypers, Ertug, Bapuji, and Liu reveal that not all political connections affect environmental outcomes equally. Using data from 6,758 private Chinese firms, the study finds that ties to national and provincial officials tend to reduce pollution, while ties to local officials often increase it, reflecting different governmental priorities. The authors show how owner social class and shifts in policy attention further shape these effects. Their findings underscore the need for coordination across government levels and strategic engagement by firms to ensure political ties promote, rather than undermine, sustainability and industrial accountability in emerging markets.
Nason, Vedula, Bothello, Bacq, and Charman explore how entrepreneurs in South Africa's informal economy balance the need to be seen with the risk of exposure. Through fieldwork in Cape Town's Delft township, they introduce the concept of “selective visibility,” showing that entrepreneurs reveal themselves strategically to customers or authorities based on social embeddedness. Older, locally rooted business owners often remain discreet, while younger or migrant entrepreneurs seek community visibility for legitimacy. The study highlights visibility as a calibrated practice rather than a binary choice and calls for policies that de-risk gradual formalization, promote trust, and support context-sensitive growth for informal firms.
Farhad Forbes is Co-Chairman of Forbes Marshall, a privately held engineering company approaching its 80th anniversary, and served two terms as global chair of the Family Business Network International, representing 4,000 family companies across 65 countries. This note is based on Forbes' keynote at CEM's Family Business Summit in October 2025. His message: Family businesses face a dual mandate: managing the business itself while managing the family's relationship to that business. Mastering both determines whether families build lasting enterprises or become cautionary tales.
