Resilient Innovation and Sustainable Growth in Global Value Chains

The proposal investigates how technological innovation, green transitions, and resilient strategies reshape global value chains (GVCs) and comparative advantages to promote sustainable growth. In a rapidly evolving global economy, the project examines the dynamics of innovation-driven growth and the effectiveness of industrial policies in enhancing sectoral stability and competitiveness, especially for economies facing geopolitical tensions, environmental pressures, and exogenous shocks like pandemics and natural disasters.

Our research is structured into several key objectives:

1. Understanding Comparative Advantage and GVCs: We will analyze how the integration of green technologies impacts sectoral specializations and how developed and developing nations can leverage these changes for competitive advantage. By using data-driven models, we aim to understand resilience within GVCs and provide insights for policy adjustments that support sustainable positioning.

2. Adapting Growth Models and Policies: Recognizing the challenges of economic fragmentation, we explore how growth theories and industrial policies must evolve to support both technological advancement and sustainability. This includes assessing how internal factors, such as human capital and knowledge spillovers, contribute to resilience and growth in both emerging and advanced economies.

3. Enhancing Sectoral Resilience to Shocks: Through predictive modeling, including temporal and machine learning methods, we aim to identify patterns of sectoral adaptation and resilience. This provides stakeholders with essential tools to enhance risk management and strategic planning in a volatile environment.

4. Strengthening European Supply Chains: Our stress-testing framework will evaluate the resilience of supply chains at both national and European levels, highlighting vulnerabilities and resilience strategies to prepare for diverse exogenous shocks.

5. Addressing Talent Management and Migration: This part of the project will focus on skill mismatches between academia and industry, migration policies, and strategies to attract specialized resources. Effective talent retention and acquisition are vital to bolstering Europe’s technological resilience and fostering an innovation ecosystem that can withstand external pressures.

In this proposal, we aim to develop a comprehensive framework to address these intertwined elements, fostering policies and strategies that can support sustainable economic growth and sectoral resilience.

Partnerships: We are actively seeking non-academic European partners, such as private enterprises (including SMEs), non-profit or charitable organizations (e.g., NGOs, trusts), and international organizations (e.g., UN, WHO). These partnerships are crucial to enhancing the practical application of our research and ensuring that our findings translate into impactful, real-world solutions across sectors. Partnering with diverse organizations will enable the project to incorporate on-the-ground insights and develop policies aligned with sustainable economic goals in various European and international contexts.