Publications

The KCG has various series of publications to provide research findings and policy implications to different interested groups, e.g., students, academics, policy makers and the public.

Consumer Response to Unethical Corporate Behavior: A Re-Examination and Extension of the Moral Decoupling Model

21st December 2017
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Authors: Kristina Haberstroh. Ulrich Orth, Stefan Hoffmann and Berit Brunk (Journal of Business Ethics, 2017, Vol. 140(1), 161-173)

This research replicates Bhattacharjee et al. (J Consum Res 39(4):1167–1184, 2013) moral decoupling model and extends the original along the dimensions of theory, method, and context. Adopting a branding perspective and focusing on the corporate domain rather than the public figures investigated by Bhattacharjee and colleagues, this research examines the proposition that consumers dissociate judgments of morality from judgments of performance to justify purchasing from companies deemed to act immorally[…]

KCG Working Paper No. 4: Export Market Exit and Financial Health in Crises Periods

19th October 2017
KCG Secretary
Publications
Publications
Authors: Holger Görg and Marina-Eliza Spaliara

This paper uses rich firm-level data for the UK to investigate the link between firms’ financial health and export exit, paying attention to the ERM currency crisis and the global financial crisis. Our results show that deterioration in the financial position of firms has increased the hazard of export exit during the 2007-09 crisis but has no significant effect on the early 1990s crisis. We also explore the extent to which firms in financially vulnerable industries face greater sensitivity of export exit to financial conditions. We conclude that firms in sectors with great reliance on external finance experience higher hazards of exiting the export market during the 2007-09 crisis..[…]

How Global is FDI? Evidence from the Analysis of Theil Indices

10th August 2017
KCG Secretary
Authors: Frank Bickenbach, Wan-Hsin Liu and Peter Nunnenkamp (Empirical Economics, 2018, Vol. 55(4), 1603-1635)

It is open to question whether the intensified worldwide competition for FDI has reduced its traditionally strong concentration in a few large and relatively advanced host countries. We calculate and decompose Theil indices to track changes in absolute and relative concentration of FDI during the period 1970-2013. We find that both absolute and relative concentration decreased when excluding offshore financial centres from the overall sample. In addition to the narrowing gap between OECD and non-OECD countries, the concentration across non-OECD countries declined for both the absolute and relative measures[…]

Ludger Heidbrink Joined Discussion on Consumption at 3SAT

13th July 2017
KCG Secretary
Publications
Publications
Prof. Dr. Ludger Heidbrink (Kiel University), KCG Senior Researcher and Co-Head of the KCG Project “Cross-cultural differences in the perception of corporate social responsibility and consumer social responsibility along global supply chains”, joined a TV discussion on consumption at 3SAT on June 29, 2017. At the discussion „I buy, therefore I am“ moderated by Gert Scobel, Heidbrink discussed with Prof. Frank Trentmann, Ph.D. (Birkbeck College, University of London) about the role of consumption in general and the meaning of responsible consumption in a globalized world in particular. The discussion is expected to encourage the audience to reflect on consumer ethics, the role of culture in economic globalization and potential solutions to the challenges related to the global consumer culture from different perspectives. […]

South-South FDI: Is It Really Different?

4th July 2017
KCG Secretary
Authors: Robert Gold, Holger Görg, Aoife Hanley and Adnan Šerić (Review of World Economics, 2017, Vol. 153(4), 657-673)

We compare the performance of Northern and Southern multinationals in Sub-Saharan Africa, and contrast it with local firms in the host country. Employing unique firm level data for 19 Sub-Saharan African countries, we show that firms receiving FDI outperform domestic ones, while the origin of the foreign investor is of minor importance. We use four different definitions of “South” to compare Northern and Southern FDI. Overall, we do not find strong differences in terms of firm productivity growth between Northern and Southern FDI, irrespective of how the latter is defined. […]