Ninth International Astril Conference

22 - 23 22 - 23 January 2026
Scuola di Economia e Studi Aziendali
Via Silvio D’amico 77, Roma
In Person Only
 

Today’s rapidly changing global environment needs to explore the complex interactions between labour markets, industrial structures and macroeconomic policies. In the last four decades, the process of global trade integration has had contradictory effects on growth and income distribution. A convergence between developed and developing countries has been accompanied by polarization in income distribution due to the fragmentation of production processes across countries, the uneven sharing of profits across value chains, and the rules governing market access. In developed countries, inequality has increased through lowering blue-collar employment opportunities and reducing the wages of unskilled workers compared with skilled and white collar workers. Moreover, larger firms in particular have been able to increase their profits because of cheaper imports from abroad and disciplined labour at home. From this perspective, it is understandable that affected communities and manufacturing-sector unions have opposed free trade and supported tariffs, especially in the United States. However, the current return of tariffs and reaction against the multilateral trading system will probably not reverse these effects. On the one hand, the impact on employment in developed countries is uncertain due to the possible negative effect on the volume of international trade (which, however, has not yet materialised), their industrial structure and their position in the value chain. On the other, cost increases will probably be passed onto domestic prices and uncertainty characterises the evolution of the international monetary system and exchange rates. All this highlights the renewed importance of domestic industrial policies, the defence of real wages in the face of inflationary pressures, and the capacity of industrial relations systems to adapt to trade and technological changes. National resilience when faced with these structural changes needs proactive, transparent measures on different levels, from industrial policies to macroeconomic responses.

We cordially invite scholars, researchers and experts in economics to submit their papers and join us at the Ninth International ASTRIL Conference where we will explore the multifaceted challenges that are emerging in the evolving labour market landscape. The conference provides a forum for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners to discuss how institutional arrangements, distributional dynamics and policy choices shape long-run growth, stability and social cohesion.