Discussion on forthcoming book: Exporting Tasks. A New Perspective on Trade, Structural Change and Development

Traditionally, trade, growth and structural transformation are studied from a product perspective. This perspective lost much of its relevance due to large-scale offshoring trends with countries carrying out different activities in global value chains and trading tasks. As a result countries are trading tasks rather than products.  This has consequences for our understanding of trade, structural change and development. This shift prompted a fresh approach — an exploration not of products but of task development. This book by Professor Gaaitzen de Vries sets forth a pioneering perspective, describing trade, structural change, and development through the prism of tasks. In this endeavor, the author presents new data to measure activity-driven exports, novel analysis of trends in comparative advantage, and new patterns of structural change over levels of economic development. This work intends to invigorate scholarly discourse and enrich our understanding of trade and its transformative forces.

Objective

In this workshop, Professor De Vries will present the main messages of his new book on “Exporting Tasks. A New Perspective on Trade, Structural Change and Development". The event will also provide an opportunity to discuss  the implications of these findings for employment and labour market policies.

To join this event online, register here.

Presenter: Professor Gaaitzen de Vries, Associate Professor at the department of Global Economics and Management of the University of Groningen and fellow of the Groningen Growth and Development Centre