The increased availability of micro-data has spurred a huge literature on the relevance of heterogeneity of firms. This literature largely focuses on the deep determinants of productivity, especially in regard to the impact of internationalization. This two-day conference aims to take stock of these recent developments, to discuss future directions for research, the practical applicability of the results for policy makers, and to create a forum for scientists, statisticians and policy makers.

Globalization

One of the main challenges associated with the ongoing process of globalization is how to actually measure its consequences for value added and productivity. The increasing share of enterprises running affairs on an international scale poses specific problems when compiling statistics related to value added, productivity, GDP and its various components
At the same time, the increased availability of harmonized and integrated datasets at the micro-level (i.e., firm or even individual) poses important new opportunities for research: How does the increasing global interconnectedness of nations, firms and consumers impact on factor productivity and economic growth?. An adequate grasp of the opportunities and limits of such data is vital for statisticians, academics and policy makers. Hence the need to further integrate the work of statistical offices on the one hand, and academic researchers and policy makers on the other hand

Aim

The aim of this two-day conference is to bring together an international group of experts that have hands on experience with the analysis of micro-data. In addition to a better understanding of the impact of international trade and investment on performance of firms, the conference will allow for a critical discussion on methodologies and data. The international comparative perspective should ideally result in the identification of at a set of best practices and shared knowledge of problems and solutions in this area of research.
The conference includes
• plenary sessions on micro-data and globalization and on the heterogeneity of internationalization of firms (production and services)
• parallel sessions on applications and policy implications and on measurement issues and trade in services;
• a panel on challenges for future research.
The conference is timely as the Netherlands has recently made substantial progress in building and analysing micro-datasets. This has resulted in, amongst others, the CBS Internationalisation Monitor, improved access facilities to the data and a series of studies performed by the CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis. Also university based research groups at the University of Groningen, University of Maastricht and VU University are working in this area of research.

Keynote speakers

Andrew Bernard (Director of Centre for International Business, United States) (Preliminary).
Bradfort Jensen (McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University, United States)
Robin Lynch (former Head of National Accounts, Office of National Statistics, the United Kingdom)
Art Ridgeway (Head of National Accounts, Statistics Canada)
Peter Schott (Yale School of Management, United States)
Gosse van der Veen (Director-general CBS Statistics Netherlands)
Joachim Wagner (Leuphana University and IZA Germany)

Contact

microdata@remove-this.minez.nl