Call to present papers – XII REDLAS Conference Regional integration in services

Background

Services represent approximately two thirds of GDP and employment in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). However, they still represent a small part of the region’s exports. Although this sector includes several modern activities that are delivered by digital means and that are knowledge-intensive (such as telecommunications, computing, software, finance, and various types of creative and business services), most services in the region are traditional in nature. , low productivity and informal. This situation has a negative impact on exports of services, slows down the growth of the manufacturing and primary sectors, and affects the macroeconomic performance of the economies.

To promote services and their contribution to sustainable development in the region, the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Services Researchers and Policy Makers (REDLAS) was created in 2010. This community of researchers, public officials and professionals interested in the study and formulation of public policies for the development of services and their export potential. In more than a decade of activities, REDLAS has more than 500 associates in more than 17 countries in the region, representatives of various disciplines, including economics, geography, political science, business administration, sociology, among others. REDLAS associates are working in universities or study centers, governments, international organizations and the private sector.

The Regional Program Alliances for Democracy and Development with Latin America (ADELA) of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) is the main promoter of the Network, while the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) supports its coordination. To date, REDLAS has held eleven conferences: Brazil (2010), Chile (2012), Mexico (2014), Uruguay (2015), Brazil (2016), Costa Rica (2017), Argentina (2018), Colombia (2019), Panama (2020), Barbados (2021) and Lima (2022). The 2018 and 2021 events were organized jointly with the UNCTAD Global Services Forum and the Latin American Association of Service Exporters (ALES).

This year the XII REDLAS Conference will be held in Mexico City, in October and will have the traditional support of KAS-ADELA, ECLAC and a local partner to be defined.

Goals

The objective of this call for proposals is to promote research work that allows the generation of diagnoses and intervention proposals to promote regional integration in services in LAC. These works will be presented at the XII REDLAS Conference. It is suggested that the work proposals focus on the following topics:

i) Progress and obstacles to (sub)regional integration in services

to. General trends that promote or hinder integration

b. Advances and challenges in integration in each integration scheme

c. Regulatory barriers in service sectors and their impact on intraregional trade

d. Other factors (human capital, FDI, ICT) that affect regional integration in services

and. Regional integration processes of services in Europe, Africa and Asia

F. Cases of success and failure in intraregional trade in services

ii) Regional value chains

to. Regional linkages of services measured by input-output matrices

b. Services and new techno-productive paradigms (Agtech, Industry 4.0, Fintech, etc.).

c. Intraregional services export experiences to support goods sectors

d. The servicification of the export sectors oriented to the regional market

and. Case studies of regional chains in traditional and modern services

iii) Electronic commerce (e-commerce) as a “driver” of regional integration

to. Case studies and national and regional experiences

b. The heterogeneity between countries around the regulation around digital commerce

c. Logistics and enabling payment systems for regional digital commerce

d. Promote the participation of SMEs (led by women) in e-commerce

and. Cases of success and failure in cross-border e-commerce

iv) The contribution of regional trade in services to sustainable development

to. Environmentally oriented services and the circular economy in the region

b. Closing the gender gap through regional exports of services

c. Trade niches services for SMEs

d. Cases of success and failure of contributions of intraregional trade in services to sustainable development

Submission and selection of proposals

Abstracts (maximum 2,000 words) must be sent before the July 1, 2023 to [email protected]. They must clearly state the objectives of the work, methodology and main expected results. The Academic Committee will notify the authors of accepted papers before the July 15, 2023. The final versions of the papers must be sent before the October 15, 2023. Papers can be written in Spanish, English or Portuguese. Its length cannot exceed 12,000 words.

The organizing institutions will cover the local lodging and food expenses for one author of each selected work. International travel expenses must be financed by the authors.

Organizational aspects of the conference

The conference will be divided into two days. The first will focus on presenting trends and discussing public policy improvements in support of regional integration in services. The second day will focus on the presentation and discussion of various academic papers, along with an interactive workshop.

rmation in the attached document