E-commerce policy and the global economy : A path to more inclusive development?

Acknowledgements We are grateful to the Guest Editor, Zaheer Khan, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions, which greatly helped the development of the paper. Alan Ali Ahi also gratefully acknowledges the financial support from the Foundation for Economic Education (Liikesivistysrahasto), Finland.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Advanced technologies and international business : A multidisciplinary analysis of the literature

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The AuthorsAdvanced digital technologies, such as the Internet of Things, blockchain, big data analytics and augmented reality, are gradually transforming the way multinational firms do business. Due to the extent of this transformation many scholars argue that the integration of these technologies marks the commencement of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). However, the question how these advanced technologies impact international business activities needs further attention. To this end, we adopt a multidisciplinary approach to review the related literature in international business (IB), general management, information systems, and operations research. We include the two latter fields, because advanced technologies have received more attention in these bodies of literature. Based on our analysis, we discuss the implications of these technologies for international business. Further, we highlight the drivers of technology utilisation by multinational firms and likely outcomes. We also provide future research avenues.Peer reviewe

On a supersymmetric completion of the R-4 term in IIB supergravity

We analyze the possibility of constructing a supersymmetric invariant that contains the $R^4$ term among its components as a superpotential term in type IIB on-shell superspace. We consider a scalar superpotential, i.e. an arbitrary holomorphic function of a chiral scalar superfield. In general, IIB superspace does not allow for the existence of chiral superfields, but the obstruction vanishes for a specific superfield, the dilaton superfield. This superfield contains all fields of type IIB supergravity among its components, and its existence is implied by the solution of the Bianchi identities. The construction requires the existence of an appropriate chiral measure, and we find an obstruction to the existence of such a measure. The obstruction is closely related to the obstruction for the existence of chiral superfields and is non-linear in the fields. These results imply that the IIB superinvariant related to the $R^4$ term is not associated with a scalar chiral superpotential

On alpha-corrections to D-brane solutions

We discuss the computation of the leading corrections to D-brane solutions due to higher derivative terms in the corresponding low energy effective action. We develop several alternative methods for analyzing the problem. In particular, we derive an effective one-dimensional action from which the field equations for spherically symmetric two-block brane solutions can be derived, show how to obtain first order equations, and discuss a few other approaches. We integrate the equations for extremal branes and obtain the corrections in terms of integrals of the evaluation of the higher derivative terms on the lowest order solution. To obtain completely explicit results one would need to know all leading higher derivative corrections which at present are not available. One of the known higher derivative terms is the R4 term, and we obtain the corrections to the D3 brane solution due to this term alone. We note, however, that (unknown at present) higher terms depending on F5 are expected to modify our result. We analyze the thermodynamics of brane solutions when such quantum corrections are present. We find that the R^4 term induces a correction to the tension and the electric potential of the D3 brane but not to its charge, and the tension is still proportional to the electric potential times the charge. In the near-horizon limit the corrected solution becomes AdS5 times S5 with the same cosmological constant as the lowest order solution but a different value of the (constant) dilaton

E-commerce policy and the global economy: a path to more inclusive development?

The advancement of digitalization is gradually transforming the existing structure of the global economy. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, almost all cross-border transactions had a digital component in 2016. This is also reflected by the growing literature on digitalization and E-commerce. Yet, studies specifically focusing on E-commerce policy are scarce compared with other areas in this domain. By going beyond academic articles and including policy documents in our analysis, this study takes stock of the issues as well as the policy recommendations identified in these publications. Our analysis reveals that to promote an inclusive E-commerce participation, it is imperative to design policies that improve countries’ formal institutions, facilitate the inclusion of less-developed countries in the E-commerce space, and enhance E-commerce adoption by small- and medium-sized enterprises. We highlight the significance of collaboration between and solidarity among governments and other stakeholders

Beyond disciplinary silos: a systematic analysis of the migrant entrepreneurship literature

The objective of this study is to inform and invigorate international business (IB) research on migrant entrepreneurship. Migrant entrepreneurship is an important global phenomenon that is relevant to diverse scholarly conversations. Yet, to date, it has received scant attention in IB compared with research in other disciplines. Our study aims to take stock of existing research on migrant entrepreneurship across eight disciplinary areas. We conducted a thematic analysis of 373 articles. The resulting thematic inventory was organized by the antecedents, success factors and moderators of migrant entrepreneurship. We highlight the implications of this analysis for future research in IB