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Digitalization has increased the scope, scale, and speed of trade. It has also reduced costs, facilitated coordination of global value chains (GVCs) and globally connected many firms and consumers. Although digitalization lowers the entry barriers to international trade, it also gives rise to new and complex business models, trade transactions and policy issues.

How is digitalization changing our understanding of trade and the international economy? How is it altering the nature and scale of trade? How is the economic governance at the national and multilateral level adapting to disruptions brought by digital trade? What does market openness and free trade mean in the digital era? Topics can include but are not restricted to the following:

• Impact of digitalization to production, consumption, and trading patterns
• National and multilateral regulatory frameworks (including those agreed in regional free trade agreements) 
• Evolving roles and configurations of economic actors (e.g. WTO, multinational corporations, digital platforms)
• E-commerce 
• Digital trade and under-represented trade segments (e.g. women, SMEs)
• New technologies (e.g., cloud computing, AI and block chain)
• State of globalization and the driving forces of techno-nationalism
• Closing the digital trade divide

Policy-oriented contributions on Asia, either as a region or individual country studies or sub-regions are encouraged.

KAS will provide an honorarium of 900 EUR for each accepted paper. Accepted papers will also be published by KAS in an edited book volume that will be released in October/November 2020. KAS will also cover the flight and hotel costs of the accepted paper’s author (one representative if the paper has multiple authors) at a planned conference on digital trade in Tokyo, Japan in 2021.

Important dates:

• Initial abstract submission: 22 July 2020
• Notification of acceptance: 7 August 2020
• Draft paper: 4 September 2020
• Final paper: 18 September 2020

The submitted abstract should not exceed 350 words; a minimum of three keywords and the email address/es and affiliation/s of the author/s should also be included. The completed paper should have 3,000 - 5,000 words (excluding any footnotes and references). 

Submissions should be emailed to Cristita Marie Perez, Senior Program Manager (SOPAS), cristita.perez@kas.de, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Japan Office, Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan. www.kas.de/japan

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