Topics

At the sixth REDLAS conference, the following topics will be discussed:

1) New niches of services based on digital economy, big data and other innovations.

Recently, information technologies (IT) and business process automation have advanced rapidly, as well as their productive use. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning facilitate the robotization and automation of creative and standarized processes. There is plenty of evidence about how these innovations created new niches of services in developed countries, but there is little information regarding their development in the region. The following questions can be raised:

·       What are the impacts of industry 4.0 and digital revolution on current service exports?

·       Which new types of services are produced and exported?

·       What benefits and drawbacks does automation have on areas that export strategic services?

·       What impacts have robotization and automation on productivity and employment in entire sectors, their companies and their activities?

·       What impacts do robotization and automation have on tourism, transport and logistics?

·       What impacts does automation have on the performance and competitiveness of service Cooperatives?

·       How do new models of shared services, such as Airbnb and Uber, affect employment and companies in traditional sectors?

·       How are business models of services changing in comparison to innovations?

2) Trade negotiations, public policies and Public Private Partnership to promote trade in services and their participation in Global Value Chains (GVCs).

The service sector is a driving force for both economic development and international trade. This year is crucial with regard to the consolidation or change of services trade policies, including plurilateral processes such as TISA, sub-regional processes as the Pacific Alliance, and bilateral processes between countries inside or outside the same region. In addition, the implementation of public policies and the creation of public private partnerships are crucial determinants of countries’ successful services participation in GVCs. Some questions to be answered are:

·       What perspectives do members or nonmembers of TISA have on its negotiations, and its possible benefits and drawbacks?

·       What new initiatives and agreements are under way inside the region to promote service trade? Examples are the Pacific Alliance, double taxation treaties and joint trade promotion initiatives. 

·       What is the level of trade openness that countries have for each sector and modes of delivery?

·       What national promotion strategies exist at public and private levels?

·       What trade promotion strategies exist in countries, in particular with regard to services intensive in IT and automation?

·       What is the impact of public policies that promote service trade and their participation in GVCs?

3) Facilitation and other kinds of servitization of goods exports.

Trade facilitation and other services are increasingly important to add value to exports of commodities and manufactures. The following questions will be discussed:

·        On the basis of both national and international input-output tables, how high is the share of services in the exported products?

·        What services are incorporated into food and industrial products that are part of intra-regional trade?

·        How do trade facilitation and other services help companies and sectors to add value or decrease the cost of exports?

·       Considering areas of services that strategically add value to export products: What is their productive and commercial performance?

·       Case studies about how companies add value to their exported goods by means of the incorporation of services. 

4) Case studies of specific fields and companies

There is a special interest in case studies on big companies and SMEs that produce new kinds of services or/and adopt a new business model based on the innovations mentioned in the first topic. Some questions are:

·       What is the importance of tourism for development? What productive linkage does it generate?

·       What services are used to promote the growth of “Multilatinas” in their internationalization process?

·       E-commerce: How important is it as a marketing tool and to increase trade in the region?

5) The contribution made by services to trade and sustainable development

Many services directly contribute social and environmental development in the countries of the region. The development and export of services recently received a boost from the Paris Agreement and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development together with the development of digital innovations. The following topics are of interest:

·       Services, and social and environmental sustainability.

·       Service network for development in the Pacific Alliance.

·       Offshoring services as instruments for the development of Andean and Caribbean countries: case studies and comparative studies.

·       Are education and health services new production and export niches for countries?

·       How do services contribute to local development?

Papers linked to the above topics can also considered.