A major new research centre on inclusive trade policy is to launch in early 2022. The Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy aims to be a centre of excellence for innovative trade policy research.

The UK has experienced a huge change in trade policy. Having left the EU, it is in the process of devising its own trade policy, one that will shape economic and welfare outcomes in all corners of the United Kingdom for generations.

At the same time, international trade is changing rapidly and becoming more complex with the world trading system facing major challenges such as COVID-19, trade wars, disruptive digital technology and climate change. Formulating an effective trade policy that delivers something for all parts of society in such circumstances requires an evidence-based interdisciplinary approach, which the Centre aims to provide.

The Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy, the first centre dedicated to trade policy to be funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), is built on the precept that trade policy should be inclusive in both policy formulation and outcome and focuses on four dimensions of inclusiveness: geography, political domains, society and generations. In addition, the Centre itself is inclusive with researchers in all four UK nations, in five disciplines and at all stages of their careers, and with a commitment to hear the voices of all parts of UK society.

In addition to the University of Nottingham, the Centre brings together researchers from all four UK nations – including from the University of Sussex, the University of Strathclyde, Queen’s University Belfast, Cardiff University and the University of Cambridge - and several overseas universities to create the UK’s first interdisciplinary research centre in international trade. The team comprises scholars from economics, law, business management, politics and international relations.

Led by Professors L. Alan Winters and Michael Gasiorek at the University of Sussex Business School with Professor Giovanni Facchini of the University of Nottingham as deputy director, the Centre is supported by an £8 million grant from the ESRC and by funding from its contributing universities. It is one of six new national centres funded by the ESRC designed to tackle urgent social and economic issues and provide robust research evidence to support government decision making.

The team based at the University of Nottingham, led by Professor Giovanni Facchini, includes Professor Facundo Albornoz, Dr Alejandro Graziano, Professor Giammario Impullitti, Professor Richard Kneller, Professor Andres Rodriguez Clare, Professor Cecilia Testa, Dr Yuan Tian and Dr Zhihong Yu. Researchers will work on a range of questions, such as: the long-term, general equilibrium effects of trade on the UK economy, the impact of multinational production on climate change, and the effectiveness of trade adjustment assistance programs on public support for trade liberalisation.

Professor Winters, Professor of Economics at the University of Sussex Business School, said: “International trade accounts for nearly a third of UK output and a third of what it consumes. Our research suggests that perhaps 6.5 million jobs are linked directly or indirectly to exporting. The country needs a ‘go-to’ location, both intellectually and for policy formulation. By bringing a diverse group of excellent researchers together, the Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy aims to equip the UK with the capability to formulate and implement a trade policy tailored to the needs of the whole of the UK.”