Emerging Markets Finance and Trade
with Professor Paresh Narayan
Read the Special Issue: Research on PandemicsA Conversation with our Editor-in-Chief
Professor Paresh Narayan brought 15 years of editorial experience with him as he became Editor-in-Chief for Emerging Marketing Finance and Trade (EMFT) in early 2020. Paresh is an Alfred Deakin Professor in the Deakin Business School at Deakin University and has published over 300 papers in international refereed journals. Additionally, Paresh is President of the Asia-Pacific Applied Economics Association. His research interests focus on applied econometrics and financial markets with a particular emphasis on emerging markets.
We sat down with Paresh to hear about Emerging Markets Finance and Trade's future and what we can do for authors looking to publish their economics, finance, international business, and international relations research.

...on the journal's scope
Emerging Markets Finance and Trade (EMFT) publishes papers on emerging markets finance and trade issues, taking a multidisciplinary approach. Papers need to be strongly rooted in theory and provide robust tests of hypotheses and theories.
EMFT is unique because it combines both emerging market finance/economic issues integrating with trade issues, while other emerging market journals are purely finance focused. This allows EMFT to fill the publication gap by embracing broader policy issues of global significance such as trade wars and climate change.
...on submitting your research
Emerging Markets Finance and Trade welcomes papers that test existing theories and hypotheses using new, unique datasets and challenge existing evidence either through refinements of existing economic models or through the use of robust methods. In both, the focus is on the impact of the research on taking the profession forward.
Quality is ensured through two means: (a) special issue conferences on themed topics that are relevant to policy, and (b) rigorous editorial review process including direct inputs from EMFT’s Subject Editors.
The paper’s contribution vis-à-vis the literature is essential in final decision making. Papers that promise to make an impact—both academic and policy—on the profession are the priority.
...on the impact of your research
How do you empower authors to make an impact with their research?
Ensuring they use up-to-date data, as old dataset based empirical evidence carry less weight in selling policy messages and ensuring that papers have a well-developed robustness test section in the paper. Regarding the latter, the credibility of findings is key in a paper’s relevance to the profession. Robustness tests help develop a paper’s impact.
...on EMFT developments and the future
Have there been any exciting developments with the journal recently?
EMFT has become the first journal in business and economics to publish a special issue on COVID-19. This is a significant contribution by the journal to the profession. EMFT in July 2020 published 19 papers on COVID-19 covering a wide range of issues.
Where do you see the Journal in 5 years’ time? Is there anything specific you want to achieve?
I plan to position EMFT as a journal that makes high-quality decisions in the fastest possible time - authors need fast decisions. I see EMFT becoming a Q1 journal in 5 years’ time.