Policy Reports

Recent Policy Projects and Reports

The report reviews recent trends in GVCs and documents the emergence of new regional hubs and firm networks. The report also analyses how digitalization and services are reshaping value creation, concluding by illustrating how recent transformations are leading to novel governance approaches, including industrial policies and targeted trade deals that address border issues.

The report assesses where Malaysia stands within today’s global production networks, identifying where and how it can move up the value chain. In doing so, it seeks to inform a policy agenda that uses GVC upgrading not as an end, but as a means of achieving and sustaining high-income status.

The Trade and GVC Chapter of the Asian Economic Integration Report 2025 shows that Preferential Trade Agreements within Asia are different from those in the rest of the world. They tend to contain few members on average and tend to be narrower. They also tend to have lower impacts on trade flows among members.

The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Innovation Strategy for Development 2030 seeks to help build the cross-border innovation system in the GMS through a focus on connectivity, digitalisation, and the green transition.

The report details how mining and metals made up over 80% of Kazakhstan’s gross exports in 2021 and explains the need for the country to develop secondary and tertiary sectors. It outlines the steps Kazakhstan could take to invest in infrastructure and human capital, reform its financial systems, and finetune trade agreements to help boost its global competitiveness and reduce its exposure to external shocks.

The theme chapter of the Asian Economic Integration Report 2024 considers the contribution of Global Value Chains to CO2 emissions and considers appropriate policy responses to decarbonise GVCs, focussing on carbon taxes (specifically Border Carbon Adjustment mechanisms), provisions in trade agreements, and accounting mechanisms.

The report focuses on three main issues in the context of the Greater Mekong Subregion economic cooperation program, namely integration into the global economy and upgrading opportunities, the role of cities as engines of growth, and the importance of transport infrastructure for enhanced trade integration.

This database and data visualisation tool reports data for a large sample of countries, focussing on four main pillars: (i) structural change and productivity growth; (ii) global value chains; (iii) economic complexity and upgrading; and (iv) fourth industrial revolution technologies.

This report considers the role of the manufacturing sector in enhancing growth in Indonesia, further examining how to diversify and upgrade Indonesian industry, how to modernise industrial policy, and the role of fiscal and monetary policies in supporting higher growth rates.

In this background paper for UNIDO’s Industrial Development Report we look to identify the development, production and use of fourth industrial revolution technologies through the use of patent and import and export data (with Önder Nomaler and Bart Verspagen).

Other Policy Projects and Reports

‘EQuIP’, (with Önder Nomaler), 2021-2022, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation.

‘PILLARS – Pathways to Inclusive Labour Markets’, 2021-2023. Funded by the European Commission, Horizon 2020 – Collaborative Research Project.

‘Egypt’s Participation in Global and Regional Value Chains and post COVID-19 Industrial Recovery’, 2020-2021, African Development Bank / UNIDO.

‘COVID-19 and Industries in Africa: Impacts, Mitigation, Resilience and Post-Crisis Recovery Measures’, 2020, African Development Bank / UNIDO.

‘Assessing the Impact of Non-Tariff Measures on Trade: The Case of ASEAN’, (with Chandran Govindaraju), 2019-2020, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia.

‘Global Value Chains’, 2019, Price Waterhouse Coopers (on behalf of Department for International Trade, United Kingdom).

‘Stepping Up Investments for Growth Acceleration Program in Indonesia’, (with Bart Verspagen), 2019, Asian Development Bank (on behalf of the Indonesian Coordination Ministry).

‘Innovation in the Indian Automotive Industry’, (with Anders Isaksson and Tomoyoshi Koume), United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, Vienna, March 2019.

‘Innovation in the Indian Bicycle Sector’, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, 2018-2019.

‘Key Drivers of the Changing Prevalence of Child Marriage in Three Countries in South Asia’, (with Stephan Dietrich, Aline Meysonnat, Victor Cebotari, Julia Reinold, Franziska Gassmann, and Inez Roosen), UNICEF Regional Office in South Asia, August 2018.

‘Innovation in the Indian Cement and Paper and Pulp Sectors’, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, 2017-2018.

‘Five Decades of Asian Development’, 2016-2017, Background work for the Asian Development Bank Study on Five Decades of Asian Development, Asian Development Bank.

‘Recent Trends in the Terms of Trade of Developing Countries vis-à-vis Developed Countries’, (with Bart Verspagen), 2016, Background Study for the UNIDO Industrial Development Report 2018, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation.

‘Migration and Globalisation – Impacts and Interaction’, (with Michael Landesmann), 2016-2018. Funded by the Austrian National Bank.

‘Decomposing Labour and Total Factor Productivity Growth’, (with Bart Verspagen), 2015, Background Study for the Asian Development Outlook 2016, Asian Development Bank.

‘Structural Change and the Ability to Sustain Growth’, (with Ibrahima Kaba and Adam Szirmai), 2015, Background Study for the 2016 Industrial Development Report, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation.

‘Global Value Chains in Africa’, (with Florian Kaulich and Robert Stehrer), 2015, Background Study for the 2016 Industrial Development Report, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation.

‘The Relation between Industry and Services in terms of Productivity and Value Creation’, (with Robert Stehrer, Paul Baker, Johannes Koenen, Sandra Leitner, Julia Schricker, Thomas Strobel, Hans-Günther Vieweg, Jurgen Vermeulen, and Anastasia Yagafarova), wiiw Research Report no. 404, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw), Background study for DG Enterprise and Industry, July 2015.

‘Study on Various Aspects of Earnings Distribution using Micro-Data from the European Structure of Earnings Survey’, (with Johannes Pöschl, Sebastian Leitner and Robert Stehrer), 2013, The European Commission: Directorate General Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion.

‘Reducing Productivity and Efficiency Gaps: The Role of Knowledge Assets, Absorptive Capacity and Institutions’, (with Johannes Pöschl, Ana Rincon-Aznar, Robert Stehrer, Michaela Vecchi and Francesco Venturini), wiiw Research Report no. 396, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw), Background study for the 2013 European Competitiveness Report, October 2014.

‘International Fragmentation of Production, Trade and Growth: Impacts and Prospects for EU Member States’, (with Robert Stehrer and Marcel Timmer), wiiw Research Report no. 387, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw), May 2013.

‘A ‘Manufacturing Imperative’ in the EU? Europe’s Positions in Global Manufacturing and the Role of Industrial Policy’, (with Mario Holzner, Michael Landesmann, Johannes Pöschl, Robert Stehrer and Roman Stöllinger), 2013, Background Study for the 2013 Competitiveness Report, The European Commission: Directorate General Enterprise and Industry.

‘Global Value Chains and Growth: Impacts and Prospects for EU Member States’, (with Robert Stehrer), 2012-2013, The European Commission: Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs. Research Fellowship (Research on Economic Growth Perspectives and the Future of EMU).

‘The Trade-Productivity Nexus in the European Economy’, (with Carlo Altomonte, Richard Kneller and Roman Stoellinger), FIW Specials Series no. 5, Austrian Research Centre in International Economics, 2012.

‘Sectoral Employment Effects of Economic Downturns’, (with Robert Stehrer et al.), Background Study for the 2012 Competitiveness Report, The European Commission: Directorate General Enterprise and Industry.

‘Offshoring and Labour Markets’, FIW Specials Series no. 3, Austrian Research Centre in International Economics, 2012.

‘Innovation and Technology Transfer across Counties’, wiiw Research Report no. 380, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw), August 2012.

‘Internationalisation of Business Investments in R&D and Analysis of their Economic Impact’, (with Bernard Dachs, Doris Hanzl-Weiss, Gabor Hunya, Franziska Kampik, Sandra Leitner, Thomas Scherngell, Robert Stehrer, Waltraut Urban and Georg Zahradnik), European Commission Directorate General for Research and Innovation, 2012.

‘Sectoral Employment Effects of Economic Downturns’, (with Robert Stehrer et al.), wiiw Research Report no. 379, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw), Background Study for the 2012 Competitiveness Report, The European Commission: Directorate General Enterprise (DG-ENTR), 2012.

‘Revival of the Visegrad Countries’ Mutual Trade after their EU: A Search for Explanations’, (with Gabor Hunya, Olga Pindyuk and Sandor Richter), wiiw Research Report no. 372, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw), 2011.

‘The Extent and Impact of Offshoring in the European Union’, 2011-2013. Funded by the Austrian National Bank.

‘Internationalisation of Business Investments in R&D and Analysis of their Economic Impact’, 2010-2012, The European Commission: Directorate General Research.

‘Globalisation and Economic Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa: Comparable Firm-Level Evidence for 22 African Countries’, 2010-2012, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation.

‘Trade in Intermediate Products and EU Manufacturing Supply Chains’, (with Jyrki Ali-Yrkkö, Doris Hanzl, Petri Rouvinen, Timo Seppälä, Robert Stehrer, Roman Stöllinger and Pekka Yiä-Anttila), Background Study for the 2010 Competitiveness Report, The European Commission: Directorate General Enterprise and Industry.

‘Europe and the World in 2025’, 2009-2013. Funded by the European Commission, Seventh Framework Project – Collaborative Research Project.

‘World Input-Output Database: Construction and Applications’, 2009-2012. Funded by the European Commission, Seventh Framework Project – Collaborative Research Project.

‘Intra-CEE trade’, (with Sandor Richter, Olga Pindyuk, Edward Christie), 2009-2010. Funded by the Austrian National Bank.

‘Gains from Variety in European Economies’, (with Robert Stehrer and Johannes Pöschl), 2008-2009. Funded by the Austrian National Bank.

‘Analysis of the Main Factors of Regional Growth: An in-depth study of the best and worst performing European Regions’, 2008, The European Commission: Directorate General Regional Policy.

‘The Role of Intellectual Property Rights in Technology Transfer and Economic Growth: Theory and Evidence’, (with Rod Falvey), United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, Vienna, 2005.

‘North-South Trade and Growth’, (with Uwe Dulleck), 2001. Funded by the Austrian Wirtschaftkammer (Chamber of Commerce).