The Trade and Global Value Chains pillar brings together academic research and policy insight on trade, globalization, and the organization of production. It focuses on how international trade, firm-to-firm linkages, and production networks shape key economic outcomes such as productivity, inequality, growth, and resilience, and how smart policy can support them.

We study how global production, trade, and consumption are organized; how firms and countries are interconnected; and how trade flows and value chains evolve and adjust in response to both natural and geopolitical shocks.

This pillar serves as a bridge between research and policy, combining academic excellence with real-world impact to better understand and shape the global economy. We use state-of-the-art economic modeling and leverage rich datasets, including firm-to-firm trade flows, input-output linkages, customs data, and various public data sources, to analyze how shocks, policies, and structural transformations propagate through economies and affect businesses, households, and governments.

Our work informs pressing policy questions around supply chain resilience, industrial policy, strategic dependence, and the climate transition. It positions ULB and SBS-EM at the forefront of global research on trade and value chains.

We collaborate closely with governments, central banks, and international institutions to turn research into action. From advising on strategic sectors to assessing the impact of global disruptions, we help shape evidence-based responses to today’s most urgent economic challenges.


Trade and Global Value Chains
Leader of the pillar


Glenn Magerman
Associate Professor of Economics at ECARES, ULB
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Updated on January 28, 2026