Call for papers

Information

2025年6月24-27日，Gerpisa全球汽车产业国际论坛将首次在中国举办。今年是第33届论坛，以 “中国在全球汽车产业中的核心角色” 为主题，并将由法国里昂商学院与同济大学经济与管理学院共同主办。欢迎中国汽车产业高管，政策制定者、地方政府官员、媒体、和学者参加本次论坛，分享最佳实践，并通过与全球汽车产业学者的深入交流，提升中国汽车产业软实力，助推中国汽车产业出海。

The 2025 Gerpisa International Colloquium will take place in Shanghai, at the School of Economics and Management, Tongji University. It will be a full in-person conference for presenters with the possibility of virtual attendance for the audience.

Date:

Tuesday 24 June 2025, 09:00 CEST - Friday 27 June 2025, 17:00 CEST

Host Organisation:

School of Economics and Management, Tongji University

emlyon business school

Deadline for sending the proposals:

Mon, 02/17/2025 - 23:59

Deadline for submitting the papers:

Tue, 04/15/2025 - 23:59

About Gerpisa

GERPISA, the Permanent Study and Research Group on the Automobile Industry and its Employees, was set up in 1992, around the personalities of Michel Freyssenet (sociologist, EHESS), Robert Boyer (economist, CNRS), and Patrick Fridenson (historian, EHESS), as an international social science research network with a strong ambition: to oppose productive models analysing the complexity of the real automobile world, made up of manufacturers with different trajectories, products, organisations, cultures of innovation and R&D, salary relations… , which are also situated in different market and economic institution contexts… to the simple and normative model of the Toyota production system, supposedly destined to impose itself on the world.

Its vocation today is to coordinate and advance the work of social science researchers (sociologists, economists, management scholars, geographers, politicians, historians) on the automobile industry and the new mobilities, constituted as federating research objects, then to make the link between the international network and the public and private actors of the automobile.

In 2025, for the first time the International Colloquium of Gerpisa will be hosted in China, jointly by emlyon business school (France) and School of Economics and Management, Tongji University (China).This will be the opportunity to focus the attention of our international research network on the changing role that China plays in the transformation of the global automotive industry.

Background

We welcome papers that explore these new forms of cooperation and analyse their implications for both traditional manufacturers and suppliers and Chinese companies, their suppliers, and their workers, as well in other automotive regions in South America, Africa and Russia.

How do Chinese companies approach their new role of technology leaders? What are the institutional forms taken by these collaborations/joint ventures? Do they differ from the long-standing joint ventures between state owned enterprises and traditional OEMs in China? What type of employment relationship have they developed? By comparison with the debate about the Japanese model in the 1980s and 1990s, can we talk about a “Chinese model”, and if yes, how do we characterise it? Can it be exported overseas? And if yes, what type of hybridisation would it entail?

While the focus of this year’s call for papers is on China, Chinese OEMs and battery makers, and how Western, Asian and Global South states and their companies deal with thischallenge/opportunity, we also welcome papers that analyse the current transformations of the global automotive industry from other perspectives.

We will notably keep focusing our attention on electrificationas the main technological transformation currently experienced by the global automotive industry. We welcome papers that:

■ analyse how electrification is implemented and developed in different national contexts and in different companies

■ examine the evolving role of public policies and regulations in shaping and sustaining the transition towards battery electric vehicles

■ focus on the battery sector and the structuring of domestic electric vehicle value chains in different countries and regions

■ discuss the implications of electrification for workers (restructuring, reskilling and training, quality of work, contracts and negotiations, etc.) and citizens (affordability of cars, access to mobility, mobility poverty, usages and automobility cultures, etc.)

■ explore/question the relationship between electrification and digitalisation, in particular the phenomenon of the so-called “twin transition”.

We welcome papers from academics, members of our international network, and from actors that are involved in the public debate, such as trade unions, environmental NGOs, employers associations, government agencies, as well as auto manufacturers and their suppliers. We welcome papers from all social sciences, both focusing on the current transitions, but also providing historical accounts of previous transitions where similar debates took place.

The call is organised in three streams that focus (1) on challenges for work and labour; (2) on social and regulatory contexts; and (3) on companies, products, technologies and value chains.

Paper Submission

To submit a proposal you need to log in with your user account (or create a new one) and click on the submit link under the theme you want to submit for.

A selection of the best papers presented during the colloquium, including the winner of the young author’s prize (see below) will be included in a special issue of the International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management(IJATM).

Guidelines for paper submission

To submit a proposal, please click the link below the chosen theme. Proposals should range between 500 and 1,000 words. They should present the outline of the research question (purpose), the methodology (design), the main results (findings) and their significance (practical and theoretical implications).

Instructions on how to submit final articles will be sent by email following the proposal acceptance. Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis, and those submitted at the February 2, 2025 deadline will be accepted by February 12, 2025 (at the latest).

Final articles should range between 5,000-7,000 words (excluding figures, tables and references) in order to be considered for the IJATM special issue. High-quality articles that exceed 7,000 words will be also considered on a case-by-case basis.

The 2025 Colloquium will receive support from the States and Markets Working Group of the Young Scholars Initiative. This support includes the possibility of offering funding to partially cover traval expenses for early-career scholars. To be eligible for this funding, please indicate your willingness to participate when submitting your paper proposal.

Guidelines for paper submission

To submit a panel, follow the guidelines for paper submission above for each communication, and send a panel proposal . Panels will be accepted on rolling basis and their specific calls/presentations added below.

Gerpisa Young Author Prize

The Young Author’s Prize of GERPISA, consisting of the publication of the winning paper in a special issue of IJATM and a €1,500 award, recognizes the work of young researchers on topics related to the automobile industry. Our goal is to encourage scholars to focus on topics related to the automobile industry early in their career.

Requirements to submit a paper proposal for the young author’s prize:

■ Masters and Ph.D. students, post-docs and junior faculty are eligible. Applicants should be under age 37. Papers co-authored with a senior researcher will be assessed only for masters and doctoral students. We exclude those at the associate professor level or above, and senior researchers.)

■ Paper based on the analysis (whether theoretical, methodological, or empirical) of the automobile industry (topics have to cover one of the three themes of the colloquium);

■ Presentation of the paper by the young author during the 32nd international colloquium in person.

■ Submission online (specifying that the authors wish to be considered for the prize). They should also email basic information (name, date of birth, nationality, status, university/research affiliation, topic, and abstract) to Giuseppe Calabrese, and Tommaso Pardi  before 17 February 2025 (EXTENSION), for the proposal and 15 April 2025, for the final paper.

Paper Preparation

■ An original article would normally consist of 5000-7000 words (excluding figures, tables and references).

■ All articles must be written in UK English. If English is not your first language, please ask an English-speaking colleague to proofread your article.

■ Submissions may be formatted in single or double spacing, preferably in Times New Roman size 12 font.

The paper should include the following:

Title:as short as possible, with no abbreviations or acronyms.

Abstract: approximately 100 words, maximum 150.

Keywords:approximately 10-15 words or phrases. Keywords are important for online searching;

Address: position, department, name of institution, email address for each author.

Biographical notes:approximately 100 words per author.

Text:no more than 7000 words (excluding figures, tables and references).

Tables and figures: please put in the text where tables and figures are positioned.

References: IJATM papers are recommended.

Notes:the less the better.

Acknowledgment: in case you have any.

Fees

■ Grad student northern hemisphere: 150 EUR

■ Grad student southern hemisphere: 100 EUR

■ Nothern Hemisphere participants: 350 EUR

■ Southern Hemisphere participants: 250 EUR

■ Additionnal attendee for the Gala dinner (27/06): 80 EUR

Registration closes on 31th of May, 2025