Economic research and trade policy analysis
Foreword by the WTO Director-General
Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming the world economy, reshaping how work is defined, how value is created, and how opportunities are distributed across societies. Given these far-reaching effects, AI is also transforming world trade.
How domestic policies can shape the trade and AI relationship to favour inclusive economic growth
Trade policies are a necessary part of any relationship between trade and AI that results in inclusive economic growth.
Disclaimer
We also thank the following individuals from outside the WTO Secretariat for their useful comments during the initial drafting stage of the report: Ashutosh Chadha (Microsoft), Marcio Cruz (International Finance Corporation), Edelbert Häfele and Judit Inacsovszky (PATEV Associates GmbH), James Howe (International Trade Centre), Carsten Fink (World Intellectual Property Organization), Greg LaRocca and Mary Thornton (Semiconductor Industry Association), Kristina McElheran, Ruiqi Sun and Daniel Trefler (University of Toronto), Ana Carolina da Motta (Amazon Web Services), Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås (Council on Economic Policies and Örebro University), Ana Maria Santacreu (Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis), Ina Simonovska (University of California, Davis), Toh Si Tong (Infocomm Media Development Authority, Singapore) and Yoto V. Yotov (Drexel University).
AI, trade and inclusive growth: opportunities and challenges
This chapter provides a detailed economic analysis of the transformative potential of AI, focusing on its impact on trade and inclusive growth.
Executive summary
Artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to reshape the global economy.
International cooperation to make trade and AI work for all
As trade shapes the development and deployment of AI, and AI could, in turn, reshape global trade, stronger international trade cooperation, both at the WTO and with other international organizations, is important to ensure that AI is beneficial and that the benefits of AI are more widely shared.
Gender equality, trade and the World Trade Organization
Scientific research reaffirms the importance of making trade gender inclusive and demonstrates that accelerating the gender responsiveness of trade policies improves gender equality in trade, supports poverty reduction and fosters sustainable growth.
Entrepreneurial responses to COVID-19: gender, digitalization and adaptive capacity
Women entrepreneurs were hit disproportionately hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, as their firms are generally younger, smaller and concentrated in industry sectors affected the most by economic shutdowns. However, very little research has addressed the ways in which women-led firms navigated these challenges. In this study, we investigate the ways in which women entrepreneurs adapted to the business repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, we focus on the implementation of digital tools as a viable instrument for building adaptive capacity.
Assessing the potential of trade policy reform for closing gender wage gaps
On average, female workers receive a lower wage than male workers. In this chapter, we analyse the potential contribution of trade policy reform to a reduction in this gender wage gap. We first establish four stylized facts: (i) tariffs are on average higher in more female labour-intensive sectors; (ii) trade costs are on average larger in female labour-intensive services than in goods; (iii) services trade restrictiveness is higher in more female labour-intensive services; (iv) trade costs associated with the need for face-to-face interaction are larger in female labour-intensive sectors.
Gender mainstreaming in trade agreements: “A Potemkin Façade”?
The distributional outcomes of trade agreements have historically been uneven, creating both “losers” and “winners” and benefiting certain stakeholders while leaving others without benefits or even with negative repercussions. In particular, distributional outcomes can vary between women and men, since they play different roles in society, markets and economies, and they enjoy different opportunities as well. At times, and sometimes by their very nature, trade agreements can restrict opportunities for women and further increase the gender divide. But in recent years, there has been a drastic upsurge in the number of countries that are incorporating commitments on gender equality in their trade agreements.