The editors of the Journal of Trade Science welcome readers to the latest issue of the Journal: Issue 2 (Volume 13). Starting with this issue, we will use editorials more to express opinions around important topics rather than just present and summarize the articles in the issue. We believe there is no better way to kick this off than to highlight the topic of emerging markets, which is the focus of all four articles covered in this issue.
Emerging markets account for much of the global population and land, and they contribute significantly to the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) (Cavusgil, 2021). Emerging economies are driving global growth, with the performance of Group of Twenty (G20) members accounting for nearly two-thirds of global growth in 2023 (Aslam and Brooks, 2024). They are predicted to grow at faster rates than advanced economies. For example, Emerging Asia is expected to experience the highest GDP growth during 2024–2025, at 5.2% in 2024 and 4.8% in 2025 (OECD, 2024).
Emerging markets share some commonalities: (1) rapid economic transformation, (2) increasingly fundamental transformation in social and political domains, (3) increase in new business start-ups, (4) home-grown companies becoming regional or global players and (5) the rise of middle classes (Cavusgil, 2021). Many multinationals regard emerging and developing countries as the key locations for profitable growth and future development. However, they often face challenges, including cultural differences, social diversity, infrastructure gaps and regulatory systems. Moreover, it should be noted that emerging markets are major contributors to environmental issues, including resource degradation, air pollution and climate change (Nguyen et al., 2022), putting sustainability pressure on businesses and other stakeholders.
Emerging economies have received growing research interest from environmental management and business disciplines such as business ethics, international business, management, and marketing (e.g., Cavusgil, 2021; Ferreira et al., 2020; Sheth, 2011; Tatoglu et al., 2020). We at the Journal of Trade Science encourage rigorous research to examine business and trade issues in the context of emerging and developing countries, especially addressing the sustainability gap in these markets. We believe such research is needed to advance theory and practice and offer fresh implications for future sustainability. Fostering such impactful business and trade research in emerging markets is also an important commitment of the Journal of Trade Science.
