Title: Panel on Case-Oriented and Set-Theoretic Approaches to Comparative Policy Analysis

Date: 2019 June 26–28

Place: University of Concordia (Montreal, Canada)

Description: Recent years have seen an impressive proliferation of set-theoretic and case-oriented methods in comparative policy analysis in general (see e.g. Rihoux et al. 2011; Thomann 2019), and in policy implementation and evaluation research in particular (Gerrits and Verweij 2018; Pattyn et al. 2017). Case-oriented and set-theoretic approaches to comparative policy analysis, including but not limited to methods such as Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), Coincidence Analysis (CNA, explanatory typologies, and comparative process tracing, are designed to address the challenges of contemporary policy analysis. Situated within a “critical realist” paradigm of social research (Gerrits and Verweij 2013), they model different aspects of causal complexity, such as the prevalence of configurations of different factors leading to policy outputs or outcomes, equifinality (multiple policy strategies or instruments resulting in the same outcome), contextual contingencies, and causal asymmetry. Moreover, they can be applied within a variety of small-N or large-N research approaches to evaluate as well as generate theories through a combination of systematic comparison with targeted in-depth case studies (Thomann and Maggetti 2017).

This panel gathers theoretical, conceptual, and empirical contributions by both junior and senior scholars that deal with case-oriented and set-theoretic approaches and illustrate their potential and limitations to contribute to the theory and practice of policy analysis. We particularly invite contributions that either comprehensively review or systematize the state of the art, apply methodological innovations to empirical settings, connect methods with theories, and/or contribute to methodological innovation themselves. Papers should engage in a critical reflection of methodological aspects and their connection with the theory and/or practice of policy analysis in general, or implementation and evaluation in particular. Abstracts should include a clear puzzle, research question, outline of the approach, research design, and main contribution of the proposed paper. Preference is given to abstracts that demonstrate an understanding of recent methodological developments.

Organizers: Eva Thomann (University of Exeter); Valérie Pattyn (Leiden University); Stefan Verweij (University of Groningen)

Link: Details and Call for Papers

Date: 22-24 May 2019

Place: University of Antwerp (Antwerp, Belgium)

Description: On 22-24 May 2019 the 2nd International QCA Summer Workshops will take place in Antwerp, Belgium. They consist in a sequence of three workshops: an Advanced applications workshop (22 May) in which users with at least intermediate-level knowledge of QCA receive more advanced feedback on their work-in-progress from QCA experts; (2) an invitation-only Expert workshop (23 May) gathering QCA experts and developers so as to make progress on some QCA innovation fronts; (3) a Paper development workshop (24 May) in which early-stage users receive expert guidance on their first QCA application.

Besides the three workshops: two parallel, two-day (22-23 May) modular doctoral courses will be offered: an Introduction to QCA doctoral course for participants with no prior QCA training, and an Intermediate-level QCA doctoral course for participants with some prior level of QCA training or practice. In addition, there will be also a specific half-day session for consultants (23 May). Full information, as well as the calls for abstracts and registration are now “live” via: https://offer.antwerpmanagementschool.be/en/international-qca-2019. Note ‘early bird’ discounts for the courses up till 25 February.

Organizers: Pricilla Álamos-Concha (Antwerp Management School), Bart Cambré (University of Antwerp), Benoît Rihoux (UCLouvain), Sofie Jacobs (Antwerp Management School; University of Antwerp), Samuel Defacqz (Sciences Po Grenoble)

Links: 2nd International QCA Summer Workshops (Details, Calls, and Registration); International QCA Workshops

Date: 21-23 February 2019

Place: University of Bamberg, Germany

Description: This Workshop, tailored for scholars with significant research experience beyond the PhD and organised on a flexible basis to meet their specific needs as individual researchers or research project managers, covers a broad range of case-oriented methods and designs (single case studies, process tracing, ‘thick’ binary comparisons, etc…), comparative methods and designs (small-N comparisons, intermediate-N comparison across multiple cases, Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and neighbouring methods, typology-building, etc.), and ‘mixed’/multi-methods designs combining qualitative, comparative and/or quantitative methods. It goes along with a whole upstream and downstream ‘service package’: (1) an input phase (October-January) so that the Workshop best suits the prospective participants’ specific needs; (2) the 3-day Workshop itself, involving (non-limitative list) group discussions / Q&A sessions around each participant’s personal projects, as well as discussions on overarching methodological issues; ample time is also provided for one-to-one meetings; and catering/hospitality is also provided; this Workshop takes place in parallel with a “Quantitative Methods” Workshop – should it meet the participants' needs, a common session will be set up; in addition, each participant will have the opportunity to talk informally with other methods experts over dinner on the final day; (3) additional guidance (March-June).

Fees: €2000 (ECPR Members), €3000 (non-ECPR Members)

Organizers: Benoît Rihoux (UCLouvain) & Nena Oana (CEU Budapest), workshop advisors

Link: https://ecpr.eu/Events/PanelDetails.aspx?PanelID=8396&EventID=127 (shortly moving to other URL) Registrations open on 1 October 2018. Capped at a maximum of 8 participants, first come first served.

Date: 28 & 29 November 2018

Place: ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Description: The 6th International QCA Expert Workshop (ETH Zurich, 28-29 November 2018) provides a venue for experienced QCA researchers to discuss the latest and most important developments around QCA. The workshop focuses exclusively on methodological and conceptual advances around QCA, not on applications of QCA in empirical research. We expect all participants to actively participate in the program. In order to allow for active participation among researchers with diverse academic backgrounds, the number of participants is limited. If you’re working on a project which you think might fit to the workshop, please contact Johannes Meuer.

The 6th International QCA Expert Workshop will take place after the Paper Development Workshop. Please note that because the Expert Workshop serves a different purpose, targets a different audience, and – for these reasons – is purposefully limited in the number of participants, participation in the 6th International QCA Expert Workshop is by invitation only. If you are applying QCA in one of your research projects, please see the webpage for the International QCA Paper Development Workshop.

Organizers: Johannes Meuer (ETH Zurich), Manuel Fischer (EAWAG), Sofia Pagliarin (University of Bamberg), and Christian Rupietta (University of Wuppertal)

Link: Details

Date: 27 November 2018

Place: ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Description: The International QCA Paper Development Workshop 2018 (ETH Zurich, Tuesday, 27. November 2018) provides a unique platform for researchers working on papers involving QCA to meet QCA experts, get feedback on their on-going research, and learn about the latest methodological developments in QCA. The workshop is interdisciplinary and interactive and allows for in-depth discussions and individual feedback from internationally renowned QCA scholars. We invite submission of abstracts from researchers applying QCA in various domains (e.g., sociology, political science, management, evaluation studies, international relations, medicine, and health) as well as policy and business consultants using QCA in their work.

Organizers: Johannes Meuer (ETH Zurich), Manuel Fischer (EAWAG), Sofia Pagliarin (University of Bamberg), and Christian Rupietta (University of Wuppertal)

Link: Details

Title: Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) in Contemporary Political Science

Date: 6 & 7 September 2018

Place: Turin, IT

Description: In the last decade, research in political science has increasingly employed the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). This methodology, mostly known for its adaptability to small/medium-N and its configurational approach, is the main focus of this panel. The goal is to gather the community adopting this methodology and to discuss about different applications, approaches and challenges. It is also the opportunity to discuss about the latest developments from a theoretical and empirical perspective. In particular are welcomed empirical contributions from political science and nearby disciplines adopting QCA, including all it variants. Theoretical contributions and early-stage papers are also very welcome. ​

Organizers: Edoardo Guaschino (University of Lausanne) and Giulia Bazzan (University of Milan)

Link: Details

Date: 10–14 August 2018

Place: Chicago, IL, USA

Description: During the past decade, interest in Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and configurational thinking in management research has grown significantly. Part of this interest is the improvement of QCA application, interpretation, and legitimation. By now, QCA has become an established instrument in the toolbox of analytical techniques. We have accompanied this process during the past decade with multiple editions of highly successful AOM PDWs. Given the developments over the past years, we have designed this year’s PDW to serve the needs of three different audiences: new users with no experience in applying QCA, advanced users with initial experience, and expert users interested in learning about the latest advancements in QCA. To accommodate this range of interests, this PDW includes a highly interactive workshop format in which we offer participants the choice between parallel presentations that take place in three separate areas in the same room. Participation in this PDW is open to all conference attendees and requires no registration. Participants who wish to receive a list of recommended pre-readings may contact Johannes Meuer (jmeuer@ethz.ch) before the meeting.

Organizers: Ruth Aguilera (Northeastern University), Joanna T. Campbell (University of Cincinnati), Donal Crilly (London Business School), Peer C. Fiss (University of Southern California), Santi Furnari (City University London), Thomas Greckhamer (Louisiana State University), Rodney Lacey (Emory University), Johannes Meuer (ETH Zurich), Vilmos F. Misangyi (The Pennsylvania State University)

Title: Analyzing Causal Complexity: A (Neo-)Configurational Perspective on Organizations (Sub-theme 42)

Date: 5–7 July 2018

Place: Tallinn, Estonia

Description: Complex interdependencies are a common feature of organizational life. (…) In recent years, organizational researchers have aimed to account for this complexity with a theoretical shift toward understanding causally complex phenomena in a configurational manner. At the same time, there have been corresponding methodological developments aimed at tackling causal complexity, most prominently the emergence of a set-analytic perspective. (…) We believe that these developments jointly present more than a resurgence of configurational thinking or merely a new methodological approach – they suggest the emergence of a neo-configurational perspective [which] aims to understand social and organizational phenomena in set-theoretic terms. Such an approach conceptualizes cases as set theoretic configurations and allows for an analysis of multiple conjunctural causation (conjunctural causation, multifinality, equifinality and an assessment of necessity and sufficiency). In [this] current sub-theme, we (…) invite papers that contribute to a configurational understanding of organizational phenomena and welcome contributions from multiple theoretical traditions and fields of organizational studies. We encourage theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions that strive to enhance our ability to capture causal complexity and dynamic nature of configurations. We especially welcome papers deploying set-theoretic methods such as crisp and fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and related set-analytic and configurational approaches.

Organizers: Bart Cambré, Peer C. Fiss and Axel Marx

Link: Details Main conference page Deadline for submission of short papers: 8 January 2018

Date: 20–23 June 2018

Place: Reykjavik, Iceland

Description: Panel discussion about the backgrounds of NCA and applications of NCA in HRM, Marketing/NPD, Strategy, and other business fields.

Panelists: Anabel Fernandez (University of Valencia, Spain), Sven Hauff (Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg), Zsofia Toth (Nottingham University Business School), Jan Dul (Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University)

Link: Conference Link

Date: 20 June 2018

Place: Hochschule für Politik München (HfP) an der TU München

Description: The aim of this colloquium is to discuss challenges in contemporary QCA studies in International Relations and Political Science, and possible solutions thereof. In the upcoming session we will discuss two QCA studies in the making (the papers will be circulated one week in advance to all participants and the paper givers will give a short presentation of their work during the colloquium). You are very welcome to join the "QCA in IR" colloquium if you are already familiar with QCA but also if you are simply interested in QCA, social science methodology or the topics of the papers that will be discussed. If you would like to join us for this event, please register by writing an email to nina.guerin@gsi.uni-muenchen.de.

Organizers: Christian Hagemann, Patrick A. Mello and Nina Guérin

Date: 17 June 2018

Place: Economics and Management School, Wuhan University (Wuhan, China)

Description: As you possibly know, the configurational perspective which revolves around QCA and other set-theoretic methods has recently gained substantive attention in the management literature. Yunzhou Du also organized the first QCA workshop in Southeast University in November 2017 with about 200 scholars attended. Although Chinese scholars are increasingly interested in QCA, there are currently only few opportunities for them to learn about the latest developments in QCA and to exchange methodological insights from their research. We organize this QCA PDW (Session 21B) in IACMR conference to offer an opportunity for exchanges. We plan to structure the PDW in two parts: in the first part will provide several input talks on QCA principles and applications; in the second part we will organize several roundtable discussions where experienced QCA scholars will provide PDW participants with feedback on their working papers.

Intended participants and admission criteria for the participants: For Part 1, any scholars who are interested in QCA are welcome For Part 2, only scholars with paper submission to the QCA PDW are selectively invited to the roundtable table discussion. Submit working papers to Yunzhou Du at <yunzhou@seu.edu.cn>.

Location and Schedule: IACMR QCA PDW are held in A211, in the Economics and Management School of Wuhan University, Day 4, June 17, 2018, Sunday.

Organizers: Yunzhou Du (Southeast University); Adrian Duşa (University of Bucharest); Liangding Jia (Nanjing University); Jian Wei (Zhejiang University); Haifent Yan (East China University of Science & Technology)

Link: Details

Date: 28-30 May 2018

Place: University of Wuppertal, Germany

Description: The International QCA Summer Workshop 2018 offers a platform for QCA researchers in the political sciences, sociology, management, and economics and provides a forum for cross-disciplinary exchange. The International QCA Summer Workshop encourages the dissemination of new ideas, facilitates the promotion of innovative work, and creates opportunities for scientific collaboration.

The theme of this workshop is: Developing a multi-method, set-theoretic toolbox for impactful research in the social sciences. With this Call for Abstracts we invite submissions from researchers who work on methodological developments of QCA, apply QCA empirically or do both. We especially encourage submissions that develop or apply methodological combinations with and around QCA. The call is also open for submissions that do not explicitly focus on multi-method applications of QCA but instead contain innovative applications and/or methodological developments of QCA. Although we expect submissions to come primarily from the areas of political science, sociology, management, and economics, we encourage submissions with other methodological, theoretical, or empirical orientations.

Call for abstracts: We invite the submission of extended abstracts of 1000-1500 words. To participate in the workshop, please send your submission document to Christian Rupietta (rupietta@wiwi.uni-wuppertal.de) by April 6, 2018. For empirical research, you should be able to present your research question, data, and first results by the time of the workshop.

Organizers: Christian Rupietta (University of Wuppertal) and Johannes Meuer (ETH Zürich)

Details: Call for abstracts.

Date: 13 & 14 December 2017

Place: ETH Zürich, Switzerland

Description: The 5th International QCA Expert Workshop provides a venue for experienced QCA researchers to discuss the latest and most important developments around QCA. The workshop focuses exclusively on methodological and conceptual advances around QCA, not on applications of QCA in empirical research. All participants are expected to actively participate in the program. In order to allow for active participation among researchers with diverse academic backgrounds, the number of participants is limited. If you’re working on a project which you think might fit to the workshop, please contact Johannes Meuer at <jmeuer@ethz.ch>.

Prior to the QCA Expert Workshop, we are organizing an International QCA Young Researcher Workshop. This workshop allows researchers who apply QCA in their work to meet QCA experts, get feedback on their ongoing research, and learn about the latest methodological developments in QCA. Please look at the Call for Abstract for information about the submission process. Submission is possible until 18 September 2017 and we will notify selected participates by 23 October 2017.

Organizers: Manuel Fischer (eawag), Johannes Meuer (ETH Zurich), Sofia Pagliarin (WSL), Christian Rupietta (University of Wuppertal)

Date: 12 December 2017

Place: ETH Zürich

Description: The International QCA Young Researchers Workshop 2017 provides a unique platform for young researchers using QCA to meet QCA experts, get feedback on their on-going research, and learn about the latest methodological developments in QCA. The workshop is interdisciplinary and interactive and allows for in-depth discussions and individual feedback from internationally renowned QCA scholars. We invite submission of abstracts from doctoral and post-doctoral students applying QCA in various fields of research (e.g., sociology, political science, management, evaluation studies, international relations, medicine, and health) as well as policy and business consultants using QCA in their work. See attached flyer for complete details.

Organizers: Manuel Fischer (eawag), Johannes Meuer (ETH Zurich), Sofia Pagliarin (WSL), Christian Rupietta (University of Wuppertal)

Link: Details

Date: 9 & 10 November 2017

Place: Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands

Description: NCA in sustainable HRM; NCA in high performance work practices.

Presenters: Sven Hauff (Helmut Schmidt University, Germany), Jan Dul (Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Netherlands)

Link: Conference website

Date: 12 October 2017

Place: UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

Description: This workshop is focused on QCA empirical applications. Presentations typically discuss work-in-progress (at whatever stage) that exploits any variant of QCA. Researchers from all disciplines are welcome. Presentations that involve mixed/multimethods designs are also welcome as long as QCA is part of the picture. Each presentation is followed by an open discussion. The workshop is introduced by a short opening lecture by Charles Ragin. Speakers are asked to provide at least some slides and, if possible, a work-in-progress paper, so as to get more useful feedback. This workshop takes place within the framework of the « Irvine Week » at UCLouvain between 9 and 13 October 2017. This Irvine Week is supported by a bilateral scheme between UCIrvine and UCLouvain; several UCIrvine scholars including Charles Ragin will be present on the Louvain-la-Neuve campus during that specific week. Attendance is free of charge.

Organizers: Benoît Rihoux (UCLouvain; contact person for presentations – benoit.rihoux@uclouvain.be), Priscilla Álamos-Concha (UCLouvain; contact person for attendance without presentation – priscilla.alamos@gmail.com ), Samuel Defacqz (UCLouvain)

Link: Details

Date: 11 October 2017

Place: UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

Description: How to directly tackle complexity in data – both in terms of descriptive (incl. visualization) and explanatory/causal analyses? Increasingly, statisticians and applied quantitative researchers have been developing tools that enable one to move beyond simple statistical models and to go for more complex models. In parallel, ‘Set-theoretic methods’ (STMs) and in particular different variants of QCA have been developing and are being increasingly applied across the social sciences. These non-statistical methods take on board some assumptions of (causal) complexity, such as non-linearity, non-additivity, causal asymmetry, ‘multiple conjunctural causation’ (equifinality), etc. This workshop ambitions to take stock of some core recent/ongoing evolutions in these two thus far largely distinct research agendas. Can some commonalities, points of convergence or complementarities be identified between the two agendas? This workshop takes place within the framework of the « Irvine Week » at UCLouvain between 9 and 13 October 2017. This Irvine Week is supported by a bilateral scheme between UCIrvine and UCLouvain; several UCIrvine scholars including Charles Ragin will be present on the Louvain-la-Neuve campus during that specific week. Attendance is free of charge.

Organizers: Benoît Rihoux (UCLouvain; contact person for presentations – benoit.rihoux@uclouvain.be), Priscilla Álamos-Concha (UCLouvain; contact person for attendance without presentation – priscilla.alamos@gmail.com ), Samuel Defacqz (UCLouvain)

Link: Details

Link: Details

Title: Set-Theoretic Methods: Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) for IS Research

Date:August 10, 2017, 8:30AM – 12:00PM

Place: Boston, USA

Description: Call for proposals. Fused interaction of IT with organizational and environmental elements is creating a complex system, often exhibiting nonlinear, discontinuous change such that a small adjustment in IT can trigger drastic changes in other elements, and eventually the whole socio-technical system may shift to new equilibriums. In such complex dynamics, the role of IT should be understood as an element of the whole system rather than a separate independent variable and its net-effect. Notwithstanding the increasing need for a holistic systemic perspective, there is still a paucity of IS research that investigates how IT effectively works together with organizational and environmental elements to produce the expected. Recently, qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) is drawing increasing attention of IS researchers to its capability to investigate the complex digital phenomena and the nuanced IT role such as enabling, constraining, complementary and substituting in configurations that produce an outcome of interest (e.g., El Sawy et al. 2010; Rivard & Lapointe 2012; Dawson, Denford & Desouza 2016; Park, El Sawy & Fiss 2017; Dawson et al. 2017). QCA developed by Charles Ragin (1987) integrates the strengths of both case-oriented qualitative methods and variable-oriented quantitative methods, and can be applicable for small, medium, or large data either at the group, organization, country, or ecosystem level. This workshop will share useful QCA tips and foster discussion about how QCA can help IS researchers develop novel, richer theories.

Organizers:YoungKi Park (George Washington University), James S. Denford (Royal Military College of Canada)

Link: http://aisnet.org/?AMCISRegisterHelp http://aisnet.org/event/amcis2017 Workshop can be found at “Attendee Selections” tab — Thursday, August 10, 2017. No charge for registration for this workshop.

Title: 30 years of QCA and “The Comparative Method”: Taking Stock and Moving Forward

Date: 05 Aug 2017, 2:15PM-4:15PM

Place: Hyatt Regency Atlanta (Atlanta, GA, USA), Regency Ballroom VI

Description: With the occasion of the 30th anniversary of “The Comparative Method” (Ragin, 1987), the book originating Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), we invite you to join a group of leading QCA scholars with the aims of: 1) building a community; 2) learning about new developments in the QCA field; 3) discussing the realized and eventual possibilities of the QCA approach. Novice users, advanced QCA scholars, and all those interested in learning about the approach are invited to debate together the achievements of QCA research so far (taking stock retrospectively) and the promises of this innovative approach for future research (moving forward prospectively). The event will also feature the “QCA Reciprocity Network” – a structured networking exercise aimed at sharing requests and advice around QCA projects (e.g., sharing questions about QCA-related data, research design and analysis issues, ideas, etc.).

Organizers: Peer Fiss, U. of Southern California

Link: Details

Title: Quantitative and Qualitative Comparative Analysis in business

Date:28–30 June 2017

Place: ISEG Lisbon School of Economics and Management (Portugal)

Description: Call for papers, through the 2017 GIKA conference, for a Special issue of the Journal of Business Research on "Quantitative and Qualitative Comparative Analysis in business." Deadlines: Nov 30, 2016 for extended abstract and Feb 10, 2017 for full papers

Organizers: GIKA 2017 Committee

Link: More details

Title: Configurational Thinking in Political Science: Theory, Methodology, and Empirical Application

Date: 25–30 April 2017

Place: Nottingham (UK)

Description: Configurational approaches such as typologies and typological theories, process tracing, Comparative Historical Analysis or Qualitative Comparative Analysis have experienced increasing scholarly interest within political science over the last two decades. Deeply rooted in a case-oriented research tradition, these approaches share an understanding of the social world which essentially revolves around the ideas of the interconnectedness of simultaneous or sequential explanatory factors as well as patterns of diversity (e.g. equi- and multifinality, asymmetry, context and contingency). As such, configurational thinking clearly differs from standard quantitative perspectives offering an alternative perspective on social phenomena.

We address the issue of configurational thinking in political science from three angles. (1.) With respect to theory, we take up the call by Hall, Ragin and others asking how we can align theories and methodology with configurational thinking. (2.) On methodological grounds, we strive for further advancements of our social sciences toolkit, both regarding specific configurational approaches and multi-method research. (3.) Regarding empirical applications, we are interested in studies either related to methodology via applying configurational methods in innovative ways, and/or related to theory by demonstrating the added value of configurational thinking.

The workshop wants to serve as a forum for theorists, methodologists, and application-oriented researchers interested in configurational thinking and techniques from various political science (sub)fields. By doing so, it centrally aims at assessing the state-of-the-art of configurational approaches and delineating an agenda for future research.

Application is open from 1 Aug–1 Dec 2016.

Organizers: Joachim Blatter (Lucerne University); Markus Siewert (Goethe University Frankfurt)

Link: More details

Title: Gauging for QCA

Date: 15-17 September 2016

Place: Milan (Italy)

Description: One of the most delicate issues in empirical research is that of measuring and synthesizing phenomena for the operationalization of hypotheses. Regardless of the technique, problems in the accuracy and reliability of the relationship between indicators and constructs do undermine the validity of results. The issue is especially crucial in QCA, where "raw" variables become membership scores to a property-set after a transformation into "crisp" or "fuzzy" values that mostly depend on the researcher's wisdom – and to which results are quite sensitive.

The panel encourages a debate on this and asks: - how can we understand reliability and accuracy in QCA? - what is gained and what gets lost when we rely on "coarse-grained" scores from some clustering or classifying procedure, instead than on "fine-grained" values from pegging algorithms? The panel welcomes theoretical and methodological contributions, as well as applied/empirical studies in political science.

Organizers: Alessia Damonte (Università degli Studi di Milano) and Edoardo Guaschino (Université de Lausanne)

Link: Details

Title: Set-Theoretical Approaches and the Study of Inequality

Date: 23-28 July 2016

Place: Poznań (Poland)

Description: Set-theoretical approaches are major methodological innovations which have become increasingly popular across the social sciences opening new perspectives on the study of inequality in various fields. For instance, techniques like Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), fuzzy-set typologies, comparative historical analysis, or set coincidence analysis have been fruitfully applied to questions of inequality on a wide range of topics such as welfare-state regimes, educational systems, political participation, gender biases in parliaments, or intersectional disadvantages. Additionally, set theory provides useful strategies for concept formation and theory building.

For the proposed panel, we invite conceptual and methodological contributions, as well as empirical applications of set-theoretical methods on topics related to the main conference theme "Politics in a World of Inequality". In particular, we welcome contributions from political science and nearby disciplines focusing on: Set theory, concepts and ideal types, Regime theories, institutional complementarities and functional equivalents, Set-theoretic methods for the measurement of inequality, Fuzzy-set coincidence and compound disadvantages, and Fuzzy-set analysis with micro-level data

Organizers: Markus Siewert (Goethe University Frankfurt), Camilla Borgna (Berlin Social Science Center)

Link: Details

Title: Sub-Theme 30 "The re-emergence of the Configurational Perspective in Organization Studies"

Date: 7-9 July 2016

Place: Naples (Italy)

Description: Recent years have seen a revival in studying complex organizational phenomena such as power, performance and quality based on adopting a configurational approach. Much of this re-emergence of a configurational perspective has been driven by the developments of novel thinking and tools for disentangling the complex causal relationships present in configurations, and especially the emergence of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA).

The goal of this subtheme is to provide a venue for rethinking our understanding of the field of organization studies in such a configurational and multidimensional manner and to offer a different way to comprehend the rich complexity of relationships that characterize organizational life. Our starting point is a perspective that emphasizes conjunctural causation (combination of conditions generates an outcome), multi-finality (same factor can generate different outcomes), equifinality (different factors can generate the same outcome) and asymmetric causality (presence and absence of outcome have different explanations). We would like to begin a conversation to explore the new ideas, methods, and actions that are required if we commit to a truly configurational perspective to organizational phenomena. How can the re-emerging configurational perspective overcome habituated methodologies that tend to discourage us from examining phenomena and problems to which our familiar toolkits cannot be as easily applied?

To accomplish this, we invite papers that aim to contribute to a configurational understanding of organizational phenomena and theory. We welcome contributions from multiple theoretical traditions and look for ways that seek to enhance and invigorate the configurational perspective. We particularly welcome studies that incorporate insights from related disciplines and encourage theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions that strive to enhance our ability to capture the dynamic nature of configurations. We are open to a range of methodological approaches but especially welcome papers deploying set-theoretic methods such as crisp and fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) or related techniques. Methodological papers which engage with these methods and critically analyze their applications and assumptions are also welcomed.

Our sub-theme particularly invites contributions that focus on one or more of the following questions:

• Uncovering patterns. What unconventional, hidden, and novel insights does the re-emerging configurational perspective contribute to organization studies?
• Challenging Orthodoxy. How does the configurational perspective challenge conventional thinking, and especially what Abbott (1988) calls "general linear reality" and what Ragin (2008) refers to as correlational "net-effects thinking"?
• Intersectionality of Power. If the experience of power and oppression is highly intersectional, as critical feminist scholars emphasize (e.g. Crenshaw, 1991), then how can a configurational perspective help us better account for the ways in which power operates in organizational settings?
• Theorizing Complexity. What new theoretical concepts and language do we need to help us describe and comprehend the complex nature of organizational configurations? What neighboring disciplines and theories can enrich this understanding?
• Methodological Innovation. What new methodological tools do we need to match the complexity of the configurational perspective (Fiss, 2007; Fiss, Cambré & Marx, 2013)? How well is QCA suited to accommodate a configurational perspective? How can we make the methodological toolkit more robust and complementary?
• Understanding Categorization. What is the configurational nature of social categories and how do constellations of categories and processes of categorization work (Durand & Paolella, 2013)? Can we configurationally understand how categories enable and marginalize actors in and around organizations (Durand & Paolella, 2013)?
• Multiple conjunctural causation. How does the notion of multiple conjunctural causation contribute to theory integration and theory development?
• Network Dynamics. How can the configurational perspective account for the dynamics of networks (Raab, Lemaire and Provan, 2013)?

Organizers: Bart Cambré (Antwerp Management School/University of Antwerp), Peer Fiss (Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California), Axel Marx (LCGGS, Leuven)

Link: Details

Title: Track 2: Qualitative and Comparative Methods

Date: 6-7 July 2016

Place: Faculty of Business Administration and Management of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (UPV)

Description: Research methods in economics and business are evolving with the increasing availability of comprehensive sources of data. As these methods become more interdisciplinary, the 1st International Conference on Advanced Research Methods and Analytics (CARMA) aims to become a forum for researchers and practitioners to exchange ideas and advances on how emerging research methods are applied to different fields of social sciences as well as to discuss current and future challenges.

Organizers: Norat Roig-Tierno (ESIC Business & Marketing School)

Link: Details

Title: 6^th Global Innovation and Knowledge Academy (GIKA) Conference

Date: 20-23 March 2016

Place: Valencia (Spain)

Description: The GIKA Annual Conference provides a platform for discussing challenges pertaining to contemporary issues in innovation and knowledge. The 2016 Global Innovation and Knowledge Academy (GIKA) Conference invites papers that discuss issues related to innovation and knowledge, related the business, management, psychology, economics and other fields. The conference will be held in Valencia (Spain). This will be the last and final GIKA Conference to be held in Valencia, although other cities and countries may organize and hold future editions of the Conference. The Conference will take place from March 20 (Sunday) to March 23 (Wednesday), 2016.

This edition of the GIKA Conference offers scholars the chance to publish their research in special issues of the Journal of Business Research (JBR-Elsevier), and Psychology & Marketing (P&M-Wiley), and other international journals. These special issues will contain the best papers from the Conference. At GIKA 2016, we are honored to announce that there will be TWO SPECIAL ISSUES of the JBR to be published in 2017 and a DOUBLE SPECIAL ISSUE of P&M. In addition to paper presentation sessions, paper symposiums, and plenary speaker sessions by top international scholars, the Conference provides further support for scholars by offering a pre-conference research methodology workshop (by Professor Arch Woodside), a keynote speech, and two meet-the-editor sessions on how to publish in the JBR and P&M by Arch Woodside and Rajan Nataraajan. The GIKA Conference welcomes eminent international researchers keen to share their knowledge and advice with Conference participants from all over the world.

Organizers: Arch Woodside (Boston College, USA), Domingo Ribeiro Soriano (University of Valencia, Spain), and Kun Huang Huarng (Feng Chia University, Taiwan)

Link: Details