Global Supply Chains and Productivity

The World KLEMS Initiative is a global effort under the leadership of the late Professor Jorgenson of Harvard University and involving leading economists from around the world to build a KLEMS database for international comparisons of productivity (KLEMS stands for capital (K), labour (L), energy (E), intermediate inputs other than energy and services (M) and services (S)). The Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) has established and provides the JIP database, the Japanese version of the KLEMS database.
The World KLEMS Initiative organises an international conference every two years where researchers who are creating and analysing KLEMS databases in various countries and regions around the world meet and report on their progress. The symposium, an event of the 8th World KLEMS Conference to be held in Tokyo this year, will focus on the effects of economic globalisation on economic growth and productivity, and how to address the vulnerabilities in global supply chains that have been exposed in recent years due to US-China trade friction and heightened geopolitical risks, under the theme ‘Global Supply Chains and Productivity’. The discussion will cover a wide range of perspectives on how the vulnerabilities of global supply chains should be addressed. In the first half, Professor Baldwin will deliver a keynote speech on the impact of global supply chains on global economic growth, while in the second half, Professors Urata and Fukao, along with Dr. Inomata, will discuss the effects of global supply chains on global productivity growth and the promotion of free trade. Finally, they will address how to maintain a balance between the promotion of free trade and geopolitical risk management.