We invite submissions of papers and expressions of interest in attending the Sixth Empirical Investigations in Services Trade Conference. Deadline for abstracts is 01 July 2026.
We invite submissions of papers and expressions of interest in attending the Sixth Empirical Investigations in Services Trade conference. The meeting will take place on October 14 and 15 2026 in Paris, France, hosted by ESSEC Business School and the OECD.
The focus of the conference is the economic and international political economy analysis of trade and investment in services. We welcome submissions with an empirical component and related to any aspect of international trade and investment in services, including, among others:
· services trade, structural transformation and economic development; services tradability, digitalisation and technology;
· services trade and global imbalances;
· labor market effects of internationalization of services activities;
· services trade and environmental sustainability;
· patterns and determinants of comparative advantage in services trade;
· determinants and effects of services trade policy.
We encourage submission of papers featuring policy dimensions, in particular studies of plurilateral agreements and international initiatives designed to facilitate trade in services, including trade and investment agreements, digital partnership agreements, mutual recognition arrangements and international regulatory cooperation.
Award:
A prize, sponsored by the National Board of Trade Sweden, will be awarded for best conference paper written by an early-stage researcher.
To qualify for this award, all authors of the paper must be 39 years old or younger at the time of submission.
Logistics:
Participants who are interested in attending should plan on funding their own travel expenses as only limited funding is available. Please indicate when submitting your Abstract whether financial support is required. The meeting is open to attendees who are not presenting papers, subject to space constraints. Please indicate if you would like to attend but are not submitting a paper, and, if so, would be willing to serve as a discussant.
Conference Format:
The venues for the conference are the OECD headquarters and one of the ESSEC campuses (either Paris district La Defence or in Cergy-Pontoise), with hybrid option available if needed. The programme will include 7-10 papers, with one hour per paper devoted to presentation, discussant remarks, and open discussion.
Submissions:
Abstracts should be submitted by 1 July 2026.
Selections will be made and authors will be notified by 15 July.
Completed papers will be due on 15 September.
Abstracts and papers should be submitted via the online application form.