STEG theme workshop: Theme 1

This workshop focused on the roles of firms, frictions, spillovers, and industrial policy in structural transformation and economic growth, with a particular interest in understanding the challenges for the poorest countries. Methodologically, we invited a wide range of approaches including theoretical modeling, quantitative analyses, empirical work utilizing secondary datasets, and microexperiments in developing countries.

Specific topics and approaches of interest included:

• Aggregate quantitive modeling featuring heterogeneous firms
• Microempirics of firms in developing countries
• Measurement and quantification of technological spillovers and knowledge diffusion
• Measurement and modeling of barriers to firm entry, growth, and the allocation of resources across firms
• Importance of interactions among producers, e.g., firm to firm trade, production chain decisions, outsourcing
• Empirical, theoretical, or quantitative analysis of industrial policy
• Analyses of macro policies promoting firm productivity and growth

Paper submissions closed on Saturday 8 August 2020.