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On Research Leave until end of August 2026
Yusaf Akbar is a Professor at the Department of Economics and Business.
His research sits at the intersection of international business strategy, non-market strategy, and public policy, with a particular focus on how firms navigate institutional environments in emerging and transition economies, business model innovation in the sharing economy, and the strategic interactions between multinational enterprises and the regulatory and political landscapes in which they operate.
He is Founding Editor of the International Journal of Emerging Markets and an advisor to the European Commission and other governmental authorities.
His consulting and professional references include Accenture, Citibank, Deutsche Telekom, Siemens and Toyota. Yusaf has taught at universities and business schools all over the world, including University of Michigan, Stockholm School of Economics, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Queen’s University, Canada, University of Warsaw and University of Montenegro.
He completed Research Fellowships at the Institute for Advanced Study focusing on strategic impacts of the Sharing Economy in 2016-17 and 2023.
He completed Visiting Researcher positions at University of Trieste and the Wirtschaftsuniversiteit in Vienna in 2013. He has published in peer-reviewed journals including the Business & Society, European Journal of International Management. Journal of Air Transport Management, Journal of World Business, Journal of International Management, International Business Review, International Journal of Hospitality Management, Business and Politics, Cross-Cultural Management, Global Governance, Global Business and Organizational Excellence, Harvard Business Review, Thunderbird International Business Review, Journal of Air Transport Management and World Competition.
In 2024, he co-authored Digitalization in Emerging Markets with Mark Esposito & Francis Campbell published by Cambridge University Press. he has two forthcoming books, the first and an edited volume, A Research Agenda for Emerging Markets to be published by Edward Elgar in 2026 and a co-authored monograph (with Mark Esposito) entitled Who Rules the Internet? Polycentric Governance and the Political Economy of the Digital Commons to be published by Routledge in 2027.
He has served as an Editorial Advisory Board member on the following journals: Journal of Asia-Pacific Business and the European Journal of International Management. He has authored or co-authored numerous business case studies of both large and smaller entrepreneurial firms including ING Insurance, BMB, Datwyler, Herend Porcelain, Philips, Smollan Group, Vendedy, Vienna International Airport, Zwack Unicum and Hummus Bar.
