The first Iberian International Business Conference (IIBC) took place in Porto, Portugal, on the 30th September and 1st of October 2005. The venue was the Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto (FEP). The conference was chaired by Ana Teresa Tavares, working closely with Francisco Castro, Aurora Teixeira (all three from CEMPRE/FEP), Juan José Durán Herrera (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) and Vítor Corado Simões (ISEG-Universidade Técnica de Lisboa).

The conference’s main objective was to bring together the increasing number of Portuguese and Spanish scholars researching actively in topics related to Multinationals, Foreign Direct Investment, and Internationalisation. It aimed to provide an opportunity so that people working in the field in these two countries get to know better each other, to share and get feedback on their recent work, to stimulate Ph.D. students and recent graduates to present their research, and to increase awareness of EIBA among Iberian IB scholars.

Over 40 delegates attended the conference, from 11 universities in Portugal, 2 in Spain and from the Portuguese Investment Agency (the policy-making institution in charge of promoting large-scale investments). Twenty one papers were presented in sessions on themes such as: Determinants of firms’ internationalisation; Spillovers; Linkages and Networks; FDI and Trade; FDI Determinants and Deterrents; Relocation and Divestments; Management and Multinationals.

What really stood out from the event, possibly due to its relatively small scale and the fact of being only focused in themes of common interest to all participants, was the high degree of feedback and productive discussions that characterised all sessions.

Due to the good results achieved, it was agreed to organise the conference annually, alternating a Portuguese and a Spanish location. In 2006, Juán José Durán will host the second IIBC in the historical city of Toledo, in Spain (20-22 October). We expect that this event, a truly successful partnership with EIBA, will contribute to bring more Iberian researchers to EIBA, as well as to increase the commitment of current members.

Ana Teresa Tavares

The second Iberian International Business Conference (October 20-22, 2006) aims to bring together the growing number of Spanish and Portuguese scholars researching actively in topics related to Multinationals, Foreign Direct Investment, and Internationalisation. The event aims therefore to provide a privileged forum to discuss recent work done by researchers in these areas. Papers do not have to be focused on the cases of Portugal and Spain, although these are welcome. As we are at the beginning of the organisation of such specific, large-scale gathering of Iberian scholars in International Business, your participation in this iniciative is very important.

Topic: MULTINATIONALS, FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT AND INTERNATIONALISATION

Organizers
Juan José Durán, Chair (Centro Internacional Carlos V, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)
Miguel Ángel Galindo (Universidad de Castilla La Mancha)
Timoteo Martínez Aguado (Universidad de Castilla La Mancha)
Ana Teresa Tavares (CEMPRE, Faculdade Economia, Universidade do Porto)
Vitor Corado Simões (CEDE, ISEG, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa)
Fernando Úbeda Mellina (Centro Internacional Carlos V, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)

Venue
Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales, Universidad de Castilla La Mancha (Toledo)

Juan Jose Duran