Trade and International Integration

The Trade and International Integration Research Program aims to improve understanding of the role of global economic integration in development and poverty reduction. We are also developing databases and analytic tools to analyze the impact of policy reforms.

Featured

Globalisation at a cross-roads
May 11-12, 2023, Paris
Banque de France, CEPR, the World Bank and University of Surrey jointly organise a workshop to explore current developments in international trade and cross-border economic activity. This event invites submissions of empirical and theoretical contributions that analyse the above and related topics with an emphasis on a policy perspective. It takes place at the Banque de France’s Paris Office on two half-days, 11-12 May 2023.
Submit your paper by March 5, 2023
Trade and Global Value Chains in Times of Insecurity
April 28-29, 2023, Kuala Lumpur
The World Bank and the Asia School of Business are organizing a workshop to explore recent developments in international trade and cross-border economic activity. This event invites submissions of empirical and theoretical contributions that analyze the above and related questions. Papers relevant to the East Asia and Pacific region are particularly welcome.
Submit your paper by March 15, 2023
World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees, and Societies
Report, 2023
Against the backdrop of a series of recent crises and longer-term trends, the question is: how to manage cross-mobility in a manner that is beneficial to all? The World Development Report (WDR) is taking a fresh look at these issues. It aims to shift from a narrow focus on labor markets for migrants and legal protection for refugees to a more holistic perspective — one that recognizes the humanity of migrants and the complexity of the societies of origin and destination.
Download the Concept Note | WDR 2023 Learning Events
US-China Trade War’s Global Impacts
February 24, 2022 - NBER Working Paper 29562
In response to the US-China trade war, countries on average decreased exports to China and increased exports to the US and rest of world, Pablo Fajgelbaum, Pinelopi K. Goldberg, Patrick J. Kennedy, Amit Khandelwal, and Daria Taglioni find Global trade in products targeted by tariffs increased.
World Bank Research presented at Competitiveness Research Network Talks
November 2, 2021
The Competitiveness Research Network (CompNet) is a research network originally founded by the European System of Central Banks in 2012 to foster the debate on competitiveness issues among policy institutions and researchers.
Long-term Labor Market Adjustment to Transitory Shocks: Worker Impact and Firm Channels (Presentation by Ana Margarida Fernandes (World Bank) and Joana Silva (World Bank) | Division of Unexpected Revenue Shocks (Paper by Paulo Bastos (World Bank), Natalia Monteiro (University of Minho), and Odd Rume Straume (University of Minho) | Recording
Eighth IMF-WB-WTO Trade Research Conference
October 4-5, 2021
This year the annual trade research conference (convened by IMF, WB, and WTO) included sessions on global value chains, growth and market structure, institutional quality, and technology, as well as a concluding policy panel with senior representatives from each institution on the role of trade in a post-COVID world.
Agenda, Papers, Presentations, Selected Recordings
The Economics of Deep Trade Agreements
eBook, June 2021
This e-book is the result of a World Bank research project on the economics of agreements that extend well beyond tariffs, covering policy areas such as environment, intellectual property rights, state-owned enterprises. It covers the determinants and consequences of deep trade agreements and discusses how they may shape world trade in a post-COVID-19 world.
eBook 2021 | VoxEU Blog | Launch Event, July 19, 2021 | Seminar Series, October 2020 | Handbook of Deep Trade Agreements, 2020 | Project Website | More research by Ana Fernandes
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LATEST WORKING PAPERS

Offshoring Response to High-Skilled Immigration: A Firm-Level Analysis
Devaki Ghose, Zhiling Wang
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 10371, March 2023

Natural Resource Dependence and Monopolized Imports
Rabah Arezki, Ana Fernandes, Federico Merchán, Ha Nguyen, Tristan Reed
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 10339, March 2023

The True Cost of War
Erhan Artuc, Nicolas Gomez-Parra, Harun Onder
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 10217, October 2022

Massive Modularity: Understanding Industry Organization in the Digital Age — The Case of Mobile Phone Handsets
Eric Thun, Daria Taglioni, Timothy Sturgeon, Mark P. Dallas
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 10164, September 2022

Trade Fraud and Non-Tariff Measures
Hiau Looi Kee, Alessandro Nicita
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 10112, June 2022

More Working Papers

LATEST JOURNAL ARTICLES

Corruption in Customs
Cyril Chalendard, Ana M Fernandes, Gael Raballand, Bob Rijkers
The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 138, February 2023 | Working Paper Version

Are trade preferencesa Panacea? The export impact of the African growth and Opportunity Act
Ana M. Fernandes, Alejandro Forero, Hibret Maemir, Aaditya Mattoo
World Development, vol. 162, February 2023 | Working Paper Version

Long-run effects of trade liberalisation on local labour markets: Evidence from South Africa
Paulo Bastos, Nicolas Santos
The World Economy, vo. 45, October 2022 | Working Paper Version

Trade Fraud and Non-Tariff Measures
Hiau Looi Kee, Alessandro Nicita
Journal of International Economics, 103682, September 2022 | Working Paper Version

Determinants of Global Value Chain Participation: Cross-Country Evidence
Ana Margarida Fernandes, Hiau Looi Kee, Deborah Winkler
World Bank Economic Review vol. 36, no. 2, May 2022 | Working Paper Version

BOOKS AND REPORTS

Skilled Migration: A Sign of Europe's Divide or Integration?
July 2022
High-skilled migration, whether internal or international, is largely a symptom rather than a cause of the gaps in labor market and educational opportunities, productivity, welfare, and the quality of institutions across the regions. Free movement within the European Union is an incentive for workers and firms to take advantage of these gaps by moving from low- to high-productivity sectors and regions. This report examines the trends, determinants, and impacts of migration of high-skilled workers within the European Union in the past two decades.
Report | More research by Çağlar Özden
Robots and Trade: Implications for Developing Countries
2022
This chapter uses a Ricardian framework to examine the impact on developing countries of robotization in developed countries. The chapter highlights that robot adoption can ultimately benefit workers in developing countries, particularly through lower prices and increased demand for intermediate inputs.
Maximizing the Developmental Benefits of GVC Integration While Addressing Emerging Challenges

September 2021
How countries engage with GVCs determines how they benefit from them. For an effective and sustainable strategy of GVC participation, governments must identify binding constraints, and design policy and regulatory interventions. This chapter appears in The Routledge Companion to Global Value Chains: Reinterpreting and Reimagining Megatrends in the World Economy.
Blog Post | Making Global Value Chains Work for Development
The Economics of Deep Trade Agreements

June 2021
While multilateral trade negotiations have stagnated and tensions between major players have surged, bilateral and regional agreements seem to have run away with the trade agenda. Many of these agreements have extended their reach well beyond tariffs, covering policy areas such as environment, intellectual property rights, state-owned enterprises. They aim to achieve integration beyond trade, or “deep” integration. This e-book is the result of a World Bank research project on the economics of deep trade agreements. It covers the determinants and consequences of deep trade agreements and discusses how they may shape world trade in a post-COVID-19 world.
eBook | VoxEU Blog | Launch Event, July 29 2021 | Project Website
World Development Report 2020: Trading for Development in the Age of Global Value Chains

October 2019
This report examines whether there is still a path to development through GVCs and trade. It concludes that technological change is at this stage more a boon than a curse. GVCs can continue to boost growth, create better jobs, and reduce poverty provided that developing countries implement deeper reforms to promote GVC participation, industrial countries pursue open, predictable policies, and all countries revive multilateral cooperation.
Report | Website | Blogs
Exports to Jobs: Boosting the Gains from Trade in South Asia
February 2019
South Asia’s economy has grown rapidly, and the region has made a significant reduction in poverty. However, jobs for the growing working population remain limited. Policy makers are contending with lingering concerns about jobless growth and poor job quality. This report argues that exports could bring higher wages and better jobs to South Asia.
Moving for Prosperity: Global Migration and Labor Markets
June 2018
Global labor mobility is a potent tool to end poverty, with migrants tripling their wages or more. Better labor market policies to manage short-run economic tensions can ensure that destination countries and migrants share the benefits of global labor mobility for generations to come.
Report | Presentation | Video | More research by Çağlar Özden