International Trade and Trade Policies

This area of research centres on one of the most important and controversial aspects of the evolution of the global economy: the process of trade integration and the economic interests driving it. These matters are subject to constant negotiations at both the multilateral level within the World Trade Organization, and at regional/bilateral level as part of agreements for the creation of free trade areas. The need for a mix of public policies consequent on the coexistence of very different objectives – such as economic growth, sustainable development, energy supply, food and nutrition security – causes great concern regarding the increasing uncertainty about their impact on the international division of labour.

There are issues of great importance for a growing number of countries: the relationship between economic growth and international openness and, more generally, between trade and development, the role of foreign investment, the increasingly evident linkages among environmental regulation, trade policies, and competitiveness.

The Rossi-Doria Centre undertakes the analysis of these issues by combining qualitative assessments with quantitative estimates of the effects of current processes and possible future developments, also in light of the consequences and prospects for many important branches of the Italian economy.

The economists at the Rossi-Doria Centre are involved in national and international projects and in various networks connected with their line of research: Horizon 2020; Italian Trade Study Group; European Trade Study Group, International Agricultural Trade Research Network..