Publications
Green Gifts from Abroad? FDI and Firms’ Green Management — with Peter Kannen and Finn Ole Semrau. Journal of International Business Policy, January 2026. Link.
Abstract: To accelerate the pace of green transformation, a country relies heavily on the environmental performance of its firms. In this paper, we investigate whether firms with foreign ownership are more likely to adopt green management practices that help these firms to monitor and reduce their environmental impacts. Using firm-level data for 31 countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and North Africa, we show that foreign ownership increases the likelihood of adopting green management practices. In addition, we reveal that the magnitude of the relationship depends on host and home country characteristics — holding only for firms 1) in high- and upper-middle-income countries and 2) in countries that receive the bulk of their foreign direct investment (FDI) from countries with relatively good environmental performance.
Corporate Social Responsibility along the Global Value Chain — with Philipp Herkenhoff, Sebastian Krautheim and Finn Ole Semrau. Journal of Development Economics, March 2024. Link
Abstract: Locating substantial parts of the production process in developing and emerging economies, many firms face an increasing demand by stakeholders for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) along their value chains. Contractual incompleteness between firms and their suppliers at different stages of production can exacerbate the ability to meet these demands. We analyze a model of sequential production with incomplete contracts where CSR by independent suppliers differentiates the final product in the eyes of caring consumers. Progressing down the value chain, our model predicts an increasing CSR profile from upstream suppliers with low CSR to downstream suppliers with higher CSR. We confirm this prediction using Indian firm-level data — computing a firm’s value chain position by combining its product-level sales information with the World Input-Output Database. We find that more downstream firms report higher CSR expenditures as measured by a combination of staff welfare spending and social community spending.
Foreign Direct Investment & Petty Corruption in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Empirical Analysis at the Local Level — with Julian Donaubauer and Peter Kannen. Journal of Development Studies, 2021. Link
Abstract: Inspired by a recent and ongoing debate about whether foreign direct investment (FDI) represents a blessing for or an impediment to economic, social, and political development in FDI host countries this paper addresses two issues: Does the presence of foreign investors impact the occurrence of petty corruption? If so, what are the main underlying mechanisms? Geocoding an original firm-level dataset and combining it with georeferenced household survey data, this is a first attempt to analyze whether the presence of foreign investors is associated with changes in local corruption around foreign-owned production facilities in 19 Sub-Saharan African countries. Applying an estimation strategy that explores the spatial and temporal variation in the data, we find strong and consistent evidence that the presence of foreign firms increases bribery among people living nearby. When examining two potential channels, we find no clear support that FDI-induced economic activity leads to more corruption. In contrast, the results provide evidence that FDI affects corruption via norm transmission.
Work in Progress
Exporting, Importing, and Firm-Level Volatility: Evidence from India — with Holger Görg, Thilo Kroeger and Horst Raff. R&R.
Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between firms’ trade status and sales volatility for an emerging market — India. We find that firms that import or export have lower sales volatility compared to their purely domestic counterparts. We establish the causality of this effect based on an IMF-imposed, exogenous tariff reform that prompted firms to start importing and exporting. A difference-in-difference matching-estimator allows us to compare marginal trade starting firms with their marginal counterparts and thus address selection problems. We find a strong and persistent treatment effect of importing and exporting on volatility levels. Our findings suggest that international trade is beneficial as it reduces income risks for emerging markets.
Corporate Governance and Firm Performance – Evidence from the Corporate Governance Reform in India — single authored. Draft coming soon.
Abstract: I use the exogenously imposed corporate governance reform in India to see whether changes in corporate governance affect firms’ performance. I find that firms affected by the reform experience higher returns on assets and firm value compared to comparable but non-affected firms. In order to explore potential underlying channels, I rely on a specific aspect of the reform, namely the requirement to have a certain share of independent directors in the board of directors. It appears that firms, which had to change their board of directors due to the reform — which can be seen as an improvement in management quality — enabled firms to perform better and additionally become more productive.
Human Rights Due Diligence and Trade: Evidence from the French Duty of Vigilance Law — with Farida Abdelsalam and Léa Marchal.
Abstract: Although participation in global value chains (GVCs) is widely associated with economic benefits, the sustainability of production in GVCs is increasingly controversial. As a result, several industrialized countries have introduced laws on human rights due diligence (HRDD) that mandate companies to ensure specific minimum standards for themselves and the suppliers along their value chains. Some fear that less developed countries might be displaced from global supply chains and that, thus, the goal of improving working conditions and environmental outcomes in developing countries might be missed. In this paper, we use the French HRDD legislation to analyze the impacts of such laws on firms’ trading strategies, especially with developing countries. Using French firm-customs data and a difference-in-difference approach, we explore the risk of trade diversion — the shift from high-risk to relatively low-risk trading partners regarding the risk of negative social and environmental externalities. In so doing, we explore sector, country, and relationship-specific heterogeneity and consider differences in firms’ exposure to human rights risks in their supply chains. Preliminary findings indicate no overall change in imports but a drop in imports and a reduction in the number of import markets from less developed countries.
Political Economy of Corporate Social Responsibility in India
Frauke Steglich 