The Conference on Outward Investment from Emerging Economies (OFDI) has been at the forefront of research and discussion on multinationals from emerging markets since its inception at Copenhagen Business School in 2008. This year, the conference will be held outside Denmark for the first time, hosted by HTW Berlin in Berlin, Germany, co-organized with German International University in Cairo, Egypt, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark, and Center for Emerging Markets, Northeastern University, Boston, USA.

The 2025 OFDI Conference aims to promote better dialogue and understanding of the interplay between the three phenomena of green transition, emerging markets, and foreign direct investment (FDI) and its implications for global sustainability. Hence, the conference welcomes a broad array of papers that analyze any combination of the three phenomena.

While the unsustainable atmospheric buildup of greenhouse gases (GHG) originates primarily from high-income countries, today emerging economies account for the majority of global GHG emissions, with emissions continuing to rise. Growing energy demand in emerging economies sustains fossil fuel exploration and consumption, contributing to global climate challenges. Beyond climate change, these economies are also grappling with escalating environmental degradation, including air, water, and land pollution caused by industrial activities, urbanization, and resource extraction. The cumulative impact of these environmental challenges exacerbates health risks, disrupts ecosystems, and threatens sustainable development.

Emerging economies often bear the brunt of these environmental crises due to their geographic vulnerabilities, economic dependencies, institutional constraints, and limited capacities for adaptation and mitigation. At the same time, these nations hold promise for advancing green transitions, potentially unlocking new windows of opportunity for industrial upgrading, supported by FDI and innovative technologies. Successfully addressing climate change and environmental degradation requires coordinated efforts by national governments, multinational companies, supranational organizations, international financiers, and civil societies.

While the Paris Agreement of 2015 generated strong momentum for climate action and green transition, recent years have witnessed waning political and private sector support. This decline has coincided with a more confrontational geopolitical environment, trade and technology frictions, nationalist and populist tendencies, the restructuring of global value chains, and monetary tightening. Simultaneously, pollution of air, water, and soil continues to pose significant challenges, with waste mismanagement, industrial contamination, and agricultural runoffs undermining progress toward sustainability.

The activities of multinational companies and their FDI, alongside international financial flows, are deeply intertwined with environmental outcomes. On the one hand, these corporations possess the financial, technological, and organizational resources needed to address climate change and other forms of environmental degradation. On the other hand, they can perpetuate unsustainable practices, including shifting resource-intensive and polluting activities to emerging economies, engaging in environmental dumping, and contributing to carbon leakage and ecological damage.

The manifold interlinkages between green transitions, environmental sustainability, emerging economies, and FDI require deeper investigation. Empirical and conceptual analyses, coupled with science-based prescriptions, are essential to illuminate these complex relationships and guide global efforts toward achieving sustainable development while mitigating environmental harm.

We welcome a broad spectrum of papers exploring green transition, emerging markets, or FDI. As a special theme, we are particularly interested in research that examines the bidirectional linkages between macro-level conditions and micro-level outcomes. We encourage studies that investigate how national policies and institutional frameworks influence firm-level market and non-market strategies and behaviors, and conversely, how corporate actions can shape and inform broader institutional and policy environments, especially in the context of emerging markets undergoing the challenges of green transition.

Papers exploring the macro-micro relations may focus on:

• Industrial policy frameworks for attracting sustainable FDI: Analyzing how emerging markets can design and implement policies that attract foreign investments in renewable energy and sustainable industries. 
• Alignment of industrial policies with MNC strategies: Exploring the synergies and tensions between government industrial policies and multinational corporations' strategies in promoting sustainability in emerging markets.
• Impact of weak institutions on MNCs' sustainability strategies: Examining how weak institutions and institutional voids in emerging markets affect multinational corporations' non-market strategies, particularly their corporate environmental responsibility initiatives. 

Papers exploring the micro-macro relations may focus on:

• MNCs as catalysts for institutional change: Assessing how multinational corporations can stimulate institutional development and sustainable practices in emerging markets through their operations and corporate social responsibility efforts. 
• Corporate strategies shaping policy development: Exploring cases where MNCs' non-market strategies and particularly sustainability initiatives have led to the formulation or reform of environmental policies in host countries.
• Firm-level innovations driving macro-level sustainability transitions: Analyzing how innovations introduced by MNCs contribute to the broader adoption of green technologies and sustainable practices within emerging economies.

We look forward to contributions that deepen our understanding of these complex interrelations, offering insights into how macro-level policies and institutional conditions influence firm behavior, and how, in turn, corporate actions can shape broader industrial policy and institutional landscapes.

Special Issue on Emerald Publishing

A conference-related special issue with the journal Critical Perspectives on International Business (CPOIB) will focus on the topic:

"Environmental Governance Gaps in Emerging Markets: Strategies for Addressing Institutional Voids and Mitigating Externalities." 

You can find all the information here: Call for Papers – CPoIB Special Issue

We invite scholars across disciplines and methodologies working on these topics to submit to the conference. We especially encourage the submission of interdisciplinary and mixed-method analyses and work by scholars residing in emerging economies. 

Papers may not exceed 40 pages, following Academy of Management Journal guidelines.

PhD students are warmly invited to submit an abstract for oral or poster presentations.

Please submit your paper to: Yzabellune.Run-Grueger@HTW-Berlin.de 

 For inquiries, please contact: Florian.Becker-Ritterspach@HTW-Berlin.de

Registration fees:

• High-income countries (World Bank definition): Regular, EUR 275; PhD student, EUR 125

• Middle/low-income countries (World Bank definition): Regular, EUR 175; PhD student, EUR 75

At least one author must register per paper accepted for presentation.

Registration Link: Via Eventbrite

Key dates:

• Paper submission deadline: September 25, 2025
• Notification of acceptance: September 28, 2025
• Registration opens: June 15, 2025
• Registration deadline: September 30, 2025
• Conference date: October 23–24, 2025

Please note that the conference will be held exclusively in person.

Here are a few items to keep in mind as you make your way to the OFDI Conference 2025.The official venue is the HTW Berlin, Campus Wilhelminenhof, Building G001 and H001 (Wilhelminenhofstraße 75A, 12459 Berlin, Germany).

HOTEL
If you have not booked your hotel accomodations, we recommend that you do so immediately to ensure availability. We recommend you to book in an area like Alexanderplatz, which is the city center of Berlin. We offer a few options.

• Hotel Motel One Berlin-Alexanderplatz (Grunerstraße 11, 10179 Berlin) booking via Website might get a business trip discount by using password "BL2025".
• ABACUS Tierpark Hotel (Franz-Mett-Straße 3 -9, 10319 Berlin) booking via Website can be discounted via internal booking only. Please reach out to Yzabellune.Run-Grueger@htw-berlin.de for further assistance.
• Other hotel or Airbnb is also an option. 

TRANSPORTATION
• Taxis to the city center of Berlin can be found outside of the Arrivals Hall of the Berlin Airport.  The taxi ride takes approximately 45 minutes and costs approximately €60, which can be paid by credit card or cash.
• The Flughafen BER train station located in the terminal 1 building at the U2 level of the Berlin airport offers a one-way train ticket from the Berlin Airport to Berlin-Alexanderplatz for €4.40 and takes approximately half an hour (via RE/RB, a regional train) to one hour (via S-Bahn, a normal train). Tickets are available through the airport’s sales points, the automatic vending machines, and online.
• From S-Bahn Alexanderplatz to the HTW Berlin WH Campus, a taxi ride would take approximately 30 minutes and costs approximately €40, which can be paid by credit card or cash.
While a one-way train ticket from to Berlin-Alexanderplatz to HTW Berlin WH Campus would take approximately one hour and costs  €3.80. 
• If you plan to stay up to a week in Berlin, a public transportation is best by buying a weekly ticket from the automatic vending machines or online.

WEATHER
October in Berlin is the heart of autumn. The city is usually cool, with average daytime temperatures ranging between 10–15°C, while evenings can drop to around 5–8°C. Rain showers are common, so a light waterproof jacket or umbrella is recommended. Days are shorter, but often filled with crisp air and golden autumn light, especially when the trees in Berlin’s many parks show their red, yellow, and orange colors. It’s a season of transition—pleasant for walking the city, but best enjoyed with layered clothing to adapt to changing conditions.
Please keep in mind that sometimes the conference spaces can be cooler, so please don’t forget your sweater/wrap to stay warm.

REGISTRATION
The conference registration is located in the HTW WH H001. Registration will open on the first day at 9:00 am. Please make sure you bring your registration confirmation (digitally or printed) when you come to registration.

CLOTHING
Participants should wear business or traditional clothing throughout the two-day conference.  For the Dinner on Thursday, October 23rd, 2025, participants are encouraged to dress more formally or in culturally traditional attire.