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Here, Radboud University presents publications written by its students, including theses from its bachelor’s and master’s programmes, papers by students of the Radboud Honours Academy, and contributions to various Radboud journals.

Recent Submissions

A Study On Refugee Entrepreneurship And Business Incubation In The Netherlands
(2026-06-29) Alberts, Jim
Refugees face structural barriers to labor market integration in the Netherlands, and entrepreneurship is increasingly recognized as an alternative pathway to economic inclusion. This study explores how refugee entrepreneurs utilize business incubation support to navigate institutional complexity and negotiate their translocational identities in the Netherlands. Adopting an interpretivist, qualitative design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven refugee entrepreneurs from six nationalities and two industry experts, complemented by participant observations and analyzed using the Gioia method. The findings show that incubators enhance micro-level agency through training and act as meso-level brokers facilitating access to professional networks. Crucially, while the Dutch institutional structure constrains some entrepreneurs, it enables emancipatory, agentic strategies for others. The study contributes an emancipatory dimension of translocational positionality, introduces digital agency as a tool for navigating institutional complexity, and underscores the need to embed intersectional identity work into incubation program design.
Post-Acquisition Integration Intentions and Market Reactions in Cross-Border Acquisitions: The Moderating Role of Cultural Distance
(2026-06-29) Baat, Joris de
This study examines whether post-acquisition integration level influences short-term market-based M&A performance and whether cultural distance moderates this relationship in cross-border acquisitions. Despite extensive research on post-acquisition integration and cultural distance, limited attention has been given to how these factors shape investor evaluations at the time of acquisition announcements. Using a quantitative research design, data were collected from 331 completed cross-border acquisitions announced between 2020 and 2025. Market-based M&A performance was measured using cumulative abnormal returns (CAR), while integration level was operationalised as a proxy based on intended post-acquisition integration derived from a theory-informed coding procedure applied to publicly available deal rationales and comments. Cultural distance was measured using the Kogut and Singh index based on Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis shows that acquisitions characterised by a high intended level of integration generated significantly lower CARs than acquisitions involving a medium level of integration. No significant direct or moderating effect of cultural distance was found. The findings indicate that investors differentiate between intended integration approaches when evaluating acquisition announcements, whereas cultural distance appears to play a limited role in shaping short-term market reactions to cross-border acquisitions
Power Asymmetry Management in Non-Hierarchical Public-Private Partnerships Addressing Grand Challenges
(2026-06-30) Maren, Wouter van
This study examines how power asymmetries are managed in public-private partnerships addressing grand challenges when formal hierarchical authority between partners is absent. Existing literature describes general responses to these asymmetries, but provides less insight into how they are managed in partnerships designed without hierarchy. To address this gap, this research conducted a qualitative single-case study of the Cyber Resilience Network, a public-private partnership aimed at strengthening the cyber resilience of organizations across the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The study draws on semi-structured interviews with network partners and public documents. The findings identify two mechanisms of power asymmetry management and one remaining site of tension. Relationally embedded coordination enables collaboration between unequal actors through trust, shared purpose, reciprocal value, and individual brokerage. Representative inclusion allows intermediaries to extend participation to absent actors and translate outputs across differences in capacity. Power tensions remain most visible around central coordination, which creates ongoing negotiation over leadership and output formation. The study contributes to collaborative governance and PPP literature by extending the role of relational mechanisms to power asymmetry management, demonstrating that inclusion can operate through indirect participation, and identifying central coordination as the main site where power tensions persist in non-hierarchical PPPs.
Navigating Tensions in Human-AI Engagement: Insights from Marketing Professionals
(2026-06-30) Dijk, Twan van
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly integrated into marketing practices, transforming how professionals perform tasks, make decisions and develop expertise. While existing research has primarily focused on the technological capabilities and performance outcomes of AI, less attention has been paid to how marketing professionals experience and manage the tensions that arise when working with AI. This study therefore explores the paradoxical tensions that characterize human-AI engagement in marketing. Drawing on Paradox Theory, a qualitative research design was adopted. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve marketing professionals working in a variety of organizational contexts. The data was analysed using a thematic analysis. The findings reveal that human-AI engagement is characterized by interrelated tensions concerning efficiency, expertise, authenticity and continuous adaptation. Rather than solving these tensions by choosing between human expertise and AI capabilities, professionals continuously balance competing demands through various coping strategies. The study contributes to the literature on human-AI engagement by demonstrating how paradoxical tensions shape daily marketing practices. It also offers practical insights for organizations by highlighting how AI can be used in ways that support human expertise and decision-making
Macro-financial conditions and acquisition payment choice, How ECB Quantitative Easing and financial constraints shape cash-versus-stock financing in euro-area M&As
(2026-06-29) Lohmeier, Paul
This thesis examines whether unconventional monetary policy shapes how firms finance acquisitions. While prior research explains acquisition payment choice through firm-level and managerial factors, it mainly treats the macro-financial environment as a background condition. Drawing on Resource Dependence Theory, this thesis studies whether European Central Bank Quantitative Easing (QE) increases the likelihood that euro-area acquisitions are financed with cash rather than stock, and whether this effect depends on bidder financial constraints and CFO tenure. Using binary logistic regression on 607 completed euro-area M&A transactions announced between 2008 and 2018, with data from Orbis M&A, LSEG, BoardEx, and the ECB, the analysis tests three hypotheses. QE has no direct effect on payment choice, and CFO tenure does not moderate the relationship. However, the interaction between QE and bidder leverage is positive and significant: under higher QE intensity, highly leveraged firms become more likely to finance acquisitions with cash. This result is robust to alternative measures, subsample analysis, and a probit regression. The findings indicate that QE influences acquisition financing not uniformly, but through firm- level financial constraints.

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