The Global Strategy and Emerging Markets (GSEM) Consortium and the Copenhagen Conference on Outward Investment from Emerging Economies (CPHOFDI) are pleased to announce their ninth and tenth conferences, respectively, and their second joint conference, to be held at Northeastern University's D'Amore-McKim School of Business in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, on May 17-18, 2027.
The GSEM Consortium has been a leading forum for research on global strategy and emerging markets since 2016, having been held in Miami (2016), Boston (2017), Miami (2018), Dallas (2019), Ithaca (2020), Vancouver (2022), Copenhagen (2023), and Mexico City (2025).
The CPHOFDI has been at the forefront of research and discussion on multinationals in and from emerging markets since its inception in 2008, with conferences in Copenhagen (2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2023) and Berlin (2025).
This joint conference brings together the two conference communities for the second time since the 2023 meeting for an in-person conversation.
In addition to regular paper sessions, the conference will feature keynote speeches, panel discussions, and workshops that bring together leading scholars and practitioners to discuss the most important issues and cutting-edge research in this field.
2027 Special Conference Theme: Generative Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Markets
The emergence of large language models and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) systems represents a technological discontinuity with few historical precedents. In a remarkably short time, GenAI has moved from a research curiosity to a general-purpose technology reshaping industries, professions, and competitive dynamics worldwide. For emerging markets and their firms, this transformation is both a source of large opportunities and important challenges.
On the one hand, GenAI can accelerate developmental processes in emerging markets in ways that earlier technologies could not. Firms in emerging markets can now easily access sophisticated analytical and operational capabilities that were previously the exclusive domain of well-resourced, technologically advanced firms in advanced economies. Entrepreneurs in Jakarta, Lagos, or São Paulo can deploy GenAI-powered tools to design products, analyze markets, and serve customers with a speed and quality that would have required large, specialized teams a decade ago. Across industries, GenAI applications are being piloted in emerging economies with the potential of solving long-standing institutional and resource constraints.
On the other hand, GenAI poses challenges in emerging markets. The foundational models behind the technology are developed and controlled by a small number of firms in China and the United States, creating issues of dependency, data sovereignty, value capture, and inequality. Training data for leading models are biased toward high-income contexts, questioning the accuracy and relevance of GenAI outputs for emerging-market settings, languages, and populations. The speed of AI-driven disruption may outpace the institutional capacity of emerging-market regulators, firms, and workers to adapt.
The intersection of GenAI with outward foreign direct investment adds further complexity. Emerging-market multinationals are increasingly using GenAI to guide internationalization decisions, manage cross-border operations, and compete with incumbents from advanced economies. At the same time, foreign direct investment from advanced economies into emerging markets is being shaped by GenAI-enabled location analytics and changing labor cost calculations. GenAI alters the logic of foreign investment, reshapes global value chains, and redistributes competitive advantage between firms in emerging and advanced economies.
This conference invites scholars to engage seriously with these questions. We encourage submissions that study the implications of GenAI for firms, industries, governments, and societies across the emerging world, and that illuminate the bidirectional relationships between this transformative technology and the distinctive conditions of emerging markets. We also look forward to submission on the interaction between global strategy and multinationals in and from emerging markets as part of the general theme of the conferences.
Call for Papers
We welcome all papers analyzing strategy and multinationals in and from emerging markets, the general theme of the conferences. We especially welcome papers on this year's special conference theme to help understand one of the most consequential technological transformations of our era: generative artificial intelligence.
We invite scholars across disciplines and methodologies working on these topics to submit to the conference. We especially encourage submissions from scholars residing in emerging markets. We welcome theoretical pieces, qualitative research, and large sample analyses. Submissions should be a single document in Word format, single-spaced, and follow the Academy of Management style guidelines.
Paper submissions will be accepted between January 1 and January 17, 2027.
Scholars will be notified of acceptance on January 31, 2027.
Note for participants needing a US visa: Obtaining a US visa can be a lengthy process; check your local US consulate or embassy for information. Participants are encouraged to begin the visa application process immediately upon receiving notification of acceptance. The organizing committee can provide invitation letters for visa applications upon request. Attendees will be responsible for their own travel, accommodation, and incidental expenses in Boston. Securing funding and proof thereof will be necessary for obtaining a US visa.
Paper submissions will be accepted through the following link starting January 1, 2027.
Registration
Registration for the 2027 conference will be open from February 1 to April 30, 2027.
The conference registration fee is waived for all paper presenters and attendees thanks to a generous gift from the David R. Nardone Family to the Center for Emerging Markets at Northeastern University. The normal fee is USD200 per person.
Space is limited. Participants are therefore urged to register only if they are likely to attend and to let us know if their plans change no later than May 1, 2027.
At least one author must register and present for the accepted paper to be included in the program.
Registrations will open via the following link on February 1, 2027.
Key Dates
- Paper Submissions: January 1-17, 2027
- Notification of acceptance: January 31, 2027
- Registration: February 1- April 30, 2027
- Conference Dates: May 17-18, 2027
Program Chairs
Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra
CEM Chair of Global Sustainability, Professor, International Business and Strategy, Lloyd Mullin Research Fellow
Ravi Ramamurti
University Distinguished Professor, International Business and Strategy; Director, Center for Emerging Markets
Organizing Committee
Ricardo Buitrago, EGADE Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey
Lourdes Casanova, SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University
Peter Gammeltoft, Technical University of Denmark
Jing Li, Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University
Mike Peng, Jindal School of Management, University of Texas at Dallas
Sponsors
