Deepraj Mukherjee, Ph.D., assistant professor of economics at Kent State University at Stark, was recently awarded a grant in support of his research, titled “Location Strategies of Emerging Country Multinationals: Evidence from Indian Firms.”
The global companies from the emerging economies, especially the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economies, are known as the emerging country multinationals. The rise of information technology companies, like Wipro, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services from India, Embraer from Brazil and Huawei from China, has caused considerable competition for the traditional western multinationals.
The research project will attempt to answer the following questions:
- What factors lead to a competitive edge for emerging country multinationals?
- What are the core strategies of merging country multinationals in international markets?
- What is the impact of their expansion on international trade dynamics?
“The research that Mukherjee conducts is on an important topic in international business and will provide insights not found in other research,” said Donald Williams, Ph.D., chairman of Kent State’s Department of Economics. “The College of Business Administration, through its College Advisory Committee, has been very supportive of the faculty with these competitive grants. Sometimes the data needs of faculty members can be very expensive and would not be obtainable if not for the support of the college in this way.”
Mukherjee’s areas of specializations are international trade and development. The guiding principle of his teaching philosophy is to create a classroom environment that stimulates interest in economics and helps students envision important factors that influence today’s economics. He holds a doctorate in business administration with a concentration in economics from the University of Memphis. Before joining Kent State University, he was a faculty member at Waldorf College in Iowa. While earning his doctorate, he received the prestigious Barbara Tuckman Fellowship Award. He was also awarded the national scholarship of merit by the Government of India. His works have been published in well-known peer reviewed journals, such as Applied Economics Letters, Management Decision and European Business Review. Mukherjee also contributed in the capacity of a reviewer for various journals, including Economic Change and Restructuring, Kyklos and International Journal of Emerging Markets.