The Dog That Didn't Bark - research seminar

The Dog That Didn't Bark - Long-Term Strategies in Times of Recession

Research seminar led by Dr Ioannis Ioannou

Joint SMG & GRB event

Dr Ioannou will provide a brief overview of his work in CSR, particularly about the link to financial performance, as a background and in order to position the contribution of the paper  The Dog That Didn't Bark - Long-Term Strategies in Times of Recession which he will present the paper:

The Dog that Didn’t Bark: Long-Term Strategies in Times of Recession

Abstract: We investigate how U.S. companies adjusted their investments in key strategic resources -- i.e., human capital, tangible, and intangible resources -- during the Great Recession of 2007-2009. To obtain exogenous variation in the severity of the crisis, we exploit the differential intensity of the house price collapse across U.S. regions, instrumenting house price shocks with Saiz' (2010) topological measure of housing supply elasticity. Our findings indicate that companies significantly laid off employees and curtailed capital expenditures. Importantly, they did not reduce investments in R&D and corporate social responsibility (CSR). We further document that firms that sustained their R&D and CSR performed better once the economy recovered. Overall, these findings confirm our theoretical arguments suggesting that intangible strategic resources such as innovation capability and stakeholder relations are instrumental in sustaining a competitive advantage during (and beyond) times of crisis.

Biography: Dr Ioannou is a strategy scholar whose research focuses on Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). More specifically, he seeks to understand whether, how, and the extent to which the modern business organization contributes towards building a sustainable future. His academic work evolves around two main themes: a) understanding how investment analysts, and the public equity markets, perceive, evaluate and react to corporate engagement with, and integration of, environmental and social issues into strategy and b) understanding the multiple factors (e.g. institutional, regulatory, behavioral) that may affect, drive or hinder, the corporate decision to adopt environmentally and socially responsible strategies.

The research seminar will last about 1 hour and 15 minutes and there will be the opportunity for networking and exchange afterwards. Coffee and tea will be served. 

Registration no later than 20.04.2017 by sending a mail to grb@cbs.dk