Postdoc in Business and Government at Copenhagen Business School

The Department of International Economics, Government and Business (EGB) invites applications for a vacant position for a two-year postdoc in Business and Government. The postdoc will be part of the project “The Corporate Revolving Door”. The project is led by assistant professors Benjamin Egerod and Jan Stuckatz and funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark. The postdoc will be based at EGB.

EGB is a multidisciplinary department that conducts high-quality research in the fields of international business and political science with direct relevance to business, policy-makers and the public. Research at the department focuses on two principal focus areas Business & Government and International Business, in relation to societal challenges. These challenges include the consequences of inequality; the impact of technological change and digital transformation; the ethical dilemmas facing MNEs, regulatory challenges, the changes brought about by emerging markets and the rise of Asia; the consequences of global shifts for public policy, and the relationship between business and democracy. We have a large group of faculty committed to examining the role of money in politics and non-market strategy. Faculty apply advanced quantitative and qualitative methods to generate systematic knowledge about business-government relations and international business relations. To learn more about the research and education of the department, please visit the departmental homepage here.

The project
The “Corporate Revolving Door” will study the drivers and consequences of the revolving door between public office and businesses around the world. The project consists of two work packages. WP1 examines why firms seek to hire revolvers by assembling data on movements of public officials into corporations across 28 European democracies and the US. To this end, we will work with multiple big datasets on the career paths of millions of individuals across countries and industries. In addition, we will design and run survey experiments with business leaders in 7 of those countries to causally examine why firms hire revolvers and how they use them. WP2 will zoom in on the consequences of the revolving door and examine the effect of revolvers on corporate non-market strategies and financial returns.

The postdoc will primarily work on projects related to WP1 and will work with big datasets on individual career trajectories. The postdoc will also support the designing and fielding the survey of businesspeople and, and, to a lesser extent, be involved in WP2 on analyzing the firm-level effects of revolving door hires. It is essential that applicants have strong research potential within the area of the project. It is also essential that applicants have excellent skills in quantitative methods, particularly working with large firm- and micro-level datasets, and with record linkage and fuzzy merging.

The postdoc will be a full part of a team conducting research within the project and co-author multiple academic articles. Strong abilities to work on research in a team and collaborate/co-author with other team members is essential for the position.

Some skills and research interests that we are looking for in the applicants:

• Strong skills in quantitative methods (required)
• Working with large datasets, including cross-walking different databases using fuzzy matching of names (required)
• Observational causal inference (desired)
• Survey design and experimental methods (desired)
• Political economy (desired)
• Business-government relations (desired)
• Money in politics (desired)

During the two years of employment, the position is fully devoted to research and the postdoc will have no teaching obligation. The postdoc is expected to focus their work on the Corporate Revolving Door project, but time can be set aside to finish previous projects. We expect the postdoc to start in the summer of 2025.

Qualifications
The applicant must have completed – or be close to completing – a PhD in the political science, political economy, economics, or a related field. The applicant must have excellent research and excellent professional proficiency in English (written and spoken). The applicant must have excellent skills in quantitative methods, including experience in working with large datasets.

To fulfill the research requirements of the position, the postdoc is expected to be physically present at the department on a regular basis.

Copenhagen Business School has a broad commitment to the excellence, distinctiveness and relevance of its teaching and research programs. Candidates who wish to join us should demonstrate enthusiasm for working in an organization of this type.

Appointment and salary will be in accordance with the Ministry of Finance’s agreement with the Central Academic Organisation.

Applications must be sent via the electronic recruitment system, using the link below.

Applications must include:

1. A cover letter outlining the candidate’s main strengths and abilities.
2. Transcript(s) and a full CV
3. A complete, numbered list of publications (indicating titles, co-authors, page numbers and year) with an * marking of the academic productions to be considered during the assessment. A maximum of 5 publications for assessment are allowed. Applicants are requested to prioritise their publications in relation to the field of this job advertisement.
4. Copies of the publications marked with an *. Only publications written in English (or another specified principal language, according to research tradition) or one of the Scandinavian languages will be taken into consideration)
5. A brief (1-page) research statement explaining research plans for the 2-year postdoc period, and possibly beyond.

Recruitment procedure

The Recruitment Committee will shortlist a minimum of two applicants; when possible five or more applicants will be shortlisted. The shortlisted applicants will be assessed by the Assessment Committee. All applicants will be notified of their status in the recruitment process shortly after the application deadline.
The applicants selected for assessment will be notified about the composition of the Assessment Committee and later in the process about the result of the assessment.
Once the recruitment process is completed each applicant will be notified of the outcome of their application.
Closing date: January 5, 2024
Copenhagen Business School must receive all application material, including all appendices (see items above), by the application deadline.
For further information about the project, please contact: Assistant professor Benjamin Egerod, tel.: +4538152678 e-mail [email protected] or Assistant Professor Jan Stuckatz, e-mail [email protected].
For further information about the department (EGB), please contact: Head of Department Jens Gammelgaard, tel.: +45 3815 2512, [email protected].
Details about Copenhagen Business School and the department are available at www.cbs.dk.

Application due: 1/5/2025

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