Prof. Dr. habil. Christopher Hartwell

Work at ZHAW

Position

Head of the International Management Institute

Teaching

• International Economics and Politics (Country Risk)
• Macroeconomics
• Foreign Affairs and Diplomacy
• Doing Business in Emerging Markets

Experience

• Head of the International Management Institute
  ZHAW
  02 / 2021 - today
• University Professor
  Kozminski University
  06 / 2014 - today
• Professor of Financial Systems Resilience
  Bournemouth University
  01 / 2018 - 01 / 2021
• President
  CASE-Center for Social and Economic Research
  05 / 2014 - 01 / 2018
• Head of Global Markets and Institutional Research
  Institute for Emerging Market Studies (IEMS) at Moscow School of Management - SKOLKOVO
  2010 - 2014
• Country Representative and Investment Climate Advisor, Tonga
  IFC, part of the World Bank Group
  2008 - 2010
• Deputy Chief of Party
  USAID Social Protection Strengthening Project, Armenia
  2007 - 2008
• Public Administration Expert - Kosovo, Georgia, Afghanistan, Bosnia
  various
  2005 - 2007
• Deputy Chief of Party
  DAI - USAID Fiscal Reform in Support of Trade Liberalization project
  2004 - 2005
• International Economist - Kosovo and Afghanistan
  US Department of the Treasury
  2002 - 2004
• Senior Analyst
  Emerging Markets Partnership
  2000 - 2002
• Policy Analyst
  Reason Public Policy Institute
  1998 - 2000
• Research Assistant
  Harvard Institute for International Development
  1996 - 1998

Education and Continuing education

Education

• Habilitation / Economics and Finance
  Kozminski University
  2020 - 04 / 2023
• PhD / Economics
  Warsaw School of Economics
  2008 - 2011
• MPP / International Trade and Finance
  Harvard University (Kennedy School of Government)
  1995 - 1997
• BA / Political Science and Economics
  University of Pennsylvania
  1991 - 1995

Network

ORCID digital identifier

ORCID ID: 0000-0003-3340-1276

Social media

• LinkedIn
• Twitter/X

Projects

• Soviet-Swiss trade relations in the period of the Cold War (1945-1991) / Deputy project leader / ongoing
• EcoLink: Cross-border Linking of Sustainability Data / Deputy project leader / ongoing
• Purpose-driven Design and Innovation at Logitech: Research and Global Classroom / Deputy project leader / completed
• The new era of Ukraine’s foreign policy towards the EU / Project leader / completed
• Pelt8 Scale Up / Deputy project leader / completed
• Tokenized Voluntary Carbon Offsetting Mechanism for Accelerated Adoption / Deputy project leader / completed
• Economic Priorities in Post-War Ukraine / Project leader / completed
• The Economic Reconstruction of Belarus / Project leader / completed
• Leveraging Leadership for Responsible Research and Innovation in Territories / Team member / completed

Publications

Articles in scientific journal, peer-reviewed

• Hartwell, C. (2025). Book review : The Russia-Ukraine War and its implications on Central Asia edited by Assylzat Karabayeva and Ikboljon Qoraboyev, Lanham, Maryland, Lexington Press, 2024, pp. 238, $115.00 (hbk), ISBN 978-1666966473. Central Asian Survey, 476–478. https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2025.2536488
• Rajwani, T., Hartwell, C. A., Balakrishnan, M. S., & Chen, T. (2025). Corporate military activities and key frontiers in international business research. Journal of World Business, 61(101693). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2025.101693
• Hartwell, C. A. (2025). Connected to a sinking ship? Firm performance in a besieged autocracy. Journal of Management. https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063251359201
• Hartwell, C. A., Korovkin, V., & Vershinina, N. (2025). Training the elephant to dance : state-owned enterprises, transition, and the reinterpretation of legacy. Academy of Management Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2023.0277
• Hartwell, C. A., Konwar, Z., & Devinney, T. M. (2025). Scratching the surface : multinational enterprises and federalist political systems. Long Range Planning, 58(3), 102526. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2025.102526
• Corina, M., Hartwell, C., & Carballo, A. (2025). Holding back the damage : strong political institutions and the effect of populism on business investment. Journal of International Business Studies, 56(5), 608–630. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-024-00769-5
• Hartwell, C. A. (2024). The decline of economic and political freedom after Covid‐19 : a new authoritarian dawn? Politics and Governance, 12(9320). https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.9320
• Hartwell, C. A., & Hubschmid-Vierheilig, E. (2024). Do markets pay attention to political disinformation? Finance Research Letters, 70(106366). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2024.106366
• Hartwell, C. A., & Korovkin, V. (2024). Strategizing on the riverbank : state-owned enterprises, paradoxes, and the success of Sberbank. Business History, 67(2), 521–550. https://doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2024.2382965
• Hartwell, C., & Ursprung, D. (2024). Diplomacy and MNE strategy : how international relations can influence international business. Multinational Business Review, 32(2), 226–240. https://doi.org/10.1108/MBR-12-2023-0199
• Hartwell, C., & Zadorozhna, O. (2024). The connections that bind : political connectivity in the face of geopolitical disruption. Journal of International Management, 30(3), 101141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intman.2024.101141
• Hartwell, C. A. (2023). In our (frozen) backyard : the Eurasian Union and regional environmental governance in the Arctic. Climatic Change, 176(4), 45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-023-03491-7
• Polak, A., Hartwell, C. A., & Sidło, K. W. (2023). Physically present but spiritually distant : the view of the European Union in Poland. Comparative Southeast European Studies, 71(3), 300–332. https://doi.org/10.1515/soeu-2022-0054
• Hartwell, C. A. (2023). Political violence and financial markets in Tsarist Russia. Financial History Review, 30(2), 231–275. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0968565023000057
• Hartwell, C. A., & Devinney, T. M. (2023). A responsibility to whom? : populism and its effects on corporate social responsibility. Business & Society, 63(2), 300–340. https://doi.org/10.1177/00076503231163536
• Hartwell, C. A. (2023). What is the European Central Bank supposed to do? Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, 13(2), 217–242. https://doi.org/10.1515/ael-2020-0035
• Djalilov, K., & Hartwell, C. A. (2022). The spirit is willing, but the institutions are weak : disclosure of corporate social responsibility and the financial sector in transition. Eurasian Business Review, 13(2), 385–427. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40821-022-00224-1
• Hartwell, C. A., & Devinney, T. M. (2022). The demands of populism on business : introducing corporate political responsibility. International Business Review, 33(2), 102075. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2022.102075
• Dragneva, R., & Hartwell, C. A. (2022). The crisis of the multilateral order in Eurasia : authoritarian regionalism and its limits. Politics and Governance, 10(2), 95–105. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v10i2.4809
• Hartwell, C. A. (2022). The limits of institutions and the reliance on heuristics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Applied Social Science, 16(2), 419–441. https://doi.org/10.1177/19367244221077410
• Hartwell, C. A., & Devinney, T. (2021). Populism, political risk, and pandemics : the challenges of political leadership for business in a post-COVID world. Journal of World Business, 56(4), 40955. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2021.101225
• Głowacki, K., Hartwell, C. A., Karunska, K., Kurczewski, J., Botsch, E., Göhring, T., & Priesmeyer-Tkocz, W. (2021). The rule of law and its social reception as determinants of economic development : a comparative analysis of Germany and Poland. The Law and Development Review, 14(2), 359–400. https://doi.org/10.1515/ldr-2021-0043
• Hartwell, C. A. (2021). Populism and financial markets. Finance Research Letters, 46(102479), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2021.102479
• Hartwell, C. A. (2021). Market behavior in the face of political violence : evidence from Tsarist Russia. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 14(9), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm14090445
• Hartwell, C. A. (2021). Part of the problem? : the Eurasian Economic Union and environmental challenges in the former Soviet Union. Problems of Post-Communism, 69(4-5), 317–329. https://doi.org/10.1080/10758216.2021.1960173
• Hartwell, C., Otrachshenko, V., & Popova, O. (2021). Waxing power, waning pollution : the effect of COVID-19 on Russian environmental policymaking. Ecological Economics, 184(107003). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107003
• Hartwell, C., Horvath, R., Horvathova, E., & Popova, O. (2021). Natural resources and income inequality in developed countries : synthetic control method evidence. Empirical Economics, 62(2), 297–338. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-021-02023-5
• Hartwell, C. A., & Korovkin, V. (2021). Contracting in a void : the role of the banking sector in developing property rights in Russia. The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 82, 113–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qref.2021.08.007
• Djalilov, K., & Hartwell, C. (2021). Do social and environmental capabilities improve bank stability? : evidence from transition countries. Post-Communist Economies, 34(5), 624–646. https://doi.org/10.1080/14631377.2021.1965359
• Baines, D., Disegna, M., & Hartwell, C. (2021). Portfolio frontier analysis : applying mean-variance analysis to health technology assessment for health systems under pressure. Social Science & Medicine, 276(113830). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113830
• Hartwell, C., & Urban, M. (2020). Burning the Rechtsstaat : legal institutions and protection of the rule of law. Journal of Institutional Economics, 17(1), 105–131. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744137420000302
• Grigaliuniene, Z., Celov, D., & Hartwell, C. A. (2020). The more the merrier? : the reaction of euro area stock markets to new members. Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, 66(101195). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intfin.2020.101195
• De Frahan, B. H., Hartwell, C. A., & Valdés, A. (2020). ¿Queda espacio para crecer? : oportunidades para el comercio agroalimentario en el contexto de la modernización del acuerdo de asociación entre la UE y Chile. Estudios Públicos, 2020(158), 61–91. https://doi.org/10.38178/07161115/2020.003
• Dragneva, R., & Hartwell, C. (2020). The Eurasian economic union : integration without liberalisation? Post-Communist Economies, 33(2-3), 200–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/14631377.2020.1793586
• Hartwell, C. (2020). Institutions and trade-related inequality. International Journal of Finance & Economics, 27(3), 3246–3264. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.2319
• Hartwell, C. A. (2020). Shooting for the tsars : heterogeneous political volatility and institutional change in Russia. Terrorism and Political Violence, 34(4), 706–724. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2020.1732939
• Hartwell, C. A. (2019). On the impossibility of central bank independence : four decades of time- (and intellectual) inconsistency. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 43(1), 61–84. https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/bex083
• Hartwell, C. A. (2019). Short waves in Hungary, 1923 and 1946 : persistence, chaos, and (lack of) control. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 163, 532–550. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2019.05.003
• Hartwell, C. A., Horvath, R., Horvathova, E., & Popova, O. (2019). Democratic institutions, natural resources, and income inequality. Comparative Economic Studies, 61(4), 531–550. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41294-019-00102-2
• Hartwell, C. A., & Malinowska, A. P. (2019). Informal institutions and firm valuation. Emerging Markets Review, 40(100603). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ememar.2019.03.001
• Hartwell, C. A. (2019). Complexity, uncertainty, and monetary policy : can the ECB avoid the unconventional becoming the ‘new normal’? The Economists’ Voice, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1515/ev-2019-0021
• Hartwell, C. A. (2018). The “hierarchy of institutions” reconsidered : monetary policy and its effect on the rule of law in interwar Poland. Explorations in Economic History, 68, 37–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eeh.2018.03.001
• Hartwell, C. A. (2018). The impact of institutional volatility on financial volatility in transition economies. Journal of Comparative Economics, 46(2), 598–615. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2017.11.002
• Hartwell, C. A., & Malinowska, A. P. (2018). Firm-level and institutional determinants of corporate capital structure in Poland : new evidence from the Warsaw stock exchange. Finance a Úvěr - Czech Journal of Economics and Finance, 68(2), 120–143. http://journal.fsv.cuni.cz/storage/1404_hartwell.pdf
• Hartwell, C. A. (2018). Old wine and new bottles : a critical appraisal of the middle-income trap in BRICS countries. Russian Journal of Economics, 4(2), 133–154. https://doi.org/10.3897/j.ruje.4.27726
• Hartwell, C. A. (2017). The effect of political volatility on capital markets in EU accession and neighborhood countries. Journal of Economic Policy Reform, 21(4), 260–280. https://doi.org/10.1080/17487870.2017.1311793
• Hartwell, C. A. (2017). Bringing the benefits of David to Goliath : special economic zones and institutional improvement. Regional Studies, 52(10), 1309–1321. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2017.1346371
• Hartwell, C. A. (2017). Understanding “development” : insights from some aspects of complexity theory. Homo Oeconomicus, 34(2-3), 165–190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41412-017-0050-7
• Hartwell, C. A. (2017). Foreign banks and the business environment in transition : a cointegration approach. Post-Communist Economies, 30(1), 19–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/14631377.2017.1361703
• Hartwell, C. (2017). The coevolution of finance and property rights : evidence from transition economies. Journal of Economic Issues, 51(1), 73–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/00213624.2017.1287488
• Ambroziak, A. A., & Hartwell, C. A. (2017). The impact of investments in special economic zones on regional development : the case of Poland. Regional Studies, 52(10), 1322–1331. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2017.1395005
• Hartwell, C. A. (2017). Identity and the evolution of institutions : evidence from partition and interwar Poland. Forum for Social Economics, 50(1), 61–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/07360932.2017.1394900
• Hartwell, C. A. (2016). Determinants of property rights in Poland and Ukraine : the polity or politicians? Journal of Institutional Economics, 13(1), 133–160. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744137416000175
• Hartwell, C. A. (2016). If you’re going through hell, keep going : nonlinear effects of financial liberalization in transition economies. Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, 53(2), 250–275. https://doi.org/10.1080/1540496X.2016.1180284

Books, peer-reviewed

Hartwell, C. (2023). Kazakhstan : snow leopard at the crossroads. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003212508

Book chapters, peer-reviewed

• Hartwell, C. A. (2026). A seat at the table : a polycentric perspective on MNEs and grand challenges. In M. Geppert, Ö. Bozkurt, & C. Dörrenbächer (Eds.), Reinterpreting multinational enterprises through a revitalized transnational social space perspective (pp. 49–69). Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/s0733-558x20260000101003
• Hartwell, C. A. (2023). Constitutional foundations of the post-communist Russian economy and the role of the state. In M. Dabrowski (Ed.), The contemporary Russian economy : a comprehensive analysis (pp. 81–98). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17382-0_5
• Devinney, T. M., & Hartwell, C. A. (2021). Managing around populism. In A. Verbeke, R. van Tulder, E. L. Rose, & Y. Wei (Eds.), The Multiple Dimensions of Institutional Complexity in International Business Research (pp. 95–105). Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1745-886220210000015007
• Hartwell, C. A., & Devinney, T. M. (2020). Adapting to populism’s (current and future) moment : political uncertainty and business strategy. In S. H. Park, M. A. Gonzalez-Perez, & D. E. Floriani (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Corporate Sustainability in the Digital Era (pp. 237–258). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42412-1_13

Written conference contributions, peer-reviewed

Carballo-Perez, A., Corina, M., & Hartwell, C. A. (2025). Right- and left-wing populist ideologies, cultural backlash, and firm investment decisions [Conference paper]. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2025(1). https://doi.org/10.5465/amproc.2025.284bp

Other publications

• Hartwell, C. (2025). Building a ruin : the Cold War politics of Soviet economic reform : by Yakov Feygin (Book review). Business History Review, 99(3), 481–482. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007680525101293
• Hartwell, C. A. (2025). Kneeling to violent men : investors and insurrection in Imperial Russia. Business History. https://doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2025.2537690
• Ciravegna, L., Hartwell, C. A., Jandhyala, S., Tingbani, I., & Newburry, W. (2023). Geopolitics in international business : challenges and insights. AIB Insights, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.46697/001c.70428
• Hartwell, C. A., & Boyarchuk, D. (2023). What should be the economic priorities in post-war Ukraine? EconPol Forum, 24(2), 25–29. https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-27917
• Hartwell, C., & Vaaler, P. (2023). Empire building has always come at an economic cost for Russia – from the days of the czars to Putin’s Ukraine invasion. The Conversation. https://doi.org/10.64628/aai.kgye6ek9a
• Hartwell, C. A. (2022). The world has changed : moving to an officially post-post-transition region. Eastern European Economics, 60(3), 189–191. https://doi.org/10.1080/00128775.2022.2066939
• Hartwell, C. A., & Ursprung, D. (2021). Nach uns die Sintflut : die Konsequenzen des Abzugs aus Afghanistan. Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
• Hartwell, C. A. (2020). Central banks and institutional evolution in transition. In M. Yağcı (Ed.), The Political Economy of Central Banking in Emerging Economies (pp. 39–55). Routledge.
• Hartwell, C. A. (2020). Economic integration and interdependence in the Czech Republic : at the heart of Europe: the Czech Republic and economic integration with the EU. In Z. Felméry (Ed.), Economic Integration and Interdependence in Central and Eastern Europe (pp. 89–112). Dialóg Campus.
• Hartwell, C. A. (2020). Russia in the MENA region : a familiar tale of economic means to political ends. In C. Lovotti, E. Tafuro Ambrosetti, C. Hartwell, & A. Chmielewska (Eds.), Russia in the Middle East and North Africa : Continuity and Change (pp. 104–126). Routledge.
• Hartwell, C. A. (2019). Special economic zones and the political economy of place-based policies. In M. M. Fischer & P. Nijkamp (Eds.), Handbook of Regional Science. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36203-3_141-1
• Hartwell, C. (2016). Poland. In Central and South-Eastern Europe 2017. Routledge.

Oral conference contributions and abstracts

Winkler, D. M., Sieber, D., Colleoni, E., Doh, J. P., Ganson, B., Hartwell, C. A., Joseph, J., Katsos, J. E., Klopf, P., & Krzeminska, A. (2025). The era of geopolitical risks : how nonmarket strategies help navigate populism, war and other threats [Conference presentation]. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2025(1). https://doi.org/10.5465/amproc.2025.10892symposium

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