Essays on Globalization

Abstract

International trade has vastly changed over the last couple of decades with production processes becoming increasingly fragmented across country borders and production stages. This thesis studies the supply chain networks underlying global trade, or global value chains (GVCs), and aims to answer why they matter, how to better measure them, and what forces shape them. Chapter 1 discusses why understanding GVCs matters and does so through the quintessential question of international trade: quantifying the gains from trade. Chapter 2 shows how to better measure supply chain networks by developing tools for building more realistic networks using input-output datasets than those built with input-output analysis while complementing the measurement with additional sources of information. Chapter 3 then studies the underlying forces driving the fragmentation patterns observed in modern manufacturing.