March 18th, 2014
This year’s annual panel discussion and reception for the Washington Alumni Chapter was again hosted by the Embassy of Switzerland and took place on March 18th, 2014. Deputy Chief of Mission and Head of Political and Legal Affairs of the Swiss Embassy, Daniel Hunn, welcomed the 60 alumni and friends in attendance. We were happy to have Jacqueline Coté, director of public relations at IHEID, in attendance.
This year’s topic was “Global Value Chains: Determining the New Prosperity in the World Economy”. The panel was composed of Richard Baldwin, Professor of International Economics, at The Graduate Institute, and Policy Director of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), London, and Shara Aranoff, Commissioner at the US International Trade Commission (USITC) in Washington DC and alumnus of The Graduate Institute. The panel was moderated by Sherry Stephenson, Senior Fellow at the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), in Geneva and a member of the Washington Alumni Chapter.
The panel discussion was preceded by opening remarks given by Paul Mathieu on behalf of the Washington Alumni Chapter. He provided an overview of the seventh year of the chapter, highlighting its growing membership (over 200) and scope of activities, including the teaching of a course at HEID, by nine chapter members, on financial flows to developing countries led by Corinne Delechat. The chapter has welcomed a number of new graduates to the area, many from the MIA program. The Steering Committee also added a new member, Mitch Robinson, working with the Department of Defense. The chapter is also hosting “Happy Hours” on a regular basis, coordinated by Miranda Witzig, for recent graduates living in the Washington area.
There are now a total of 22 Alumni chapters around the world, double that in 2012, the latest ones in Bogota and Mexico City. The Institute has over 13,000 alumni all around the world. Last year was notable for the celebration of the first ever international alumni reunion in Geneva, timed to coincide with the recent opening of the new building and library of The Graduate Institute “La Maison de la Paix”. Sherry Stephenson attended the reunion from the Washington Chapter and reported on its tremendous success. The alumni reunion will be repeated every two or three years in Geneva.
Of particular note is the growing success of chapter’s annual doctoral scholarship. With a matching grant from the Friends of the Graduate Institute Foundation, Paul indicated that the scholarship totaling CHF18,000 is on its way to being fully funded for the coming academic year 2014/15, despite the adverse exchange rate with the Swiss franc. This scholarship is destined to either a PhD or Master’s student who has lived or studied in the United States. Candidates are prescreened by the Institute. Also notable, was the growing representation of The Graduate Institute at the four APSIA and other recruitment fairs, an effort led by Michael Jelenic. Student interest in, and applications to, The Graduate Institute continue to grow.
The panel discussed the phenomenon of global value chains, which have come to the forefront of attention in the international economy in recent years. Firms are moving to dynamically combine inputs from suppliers around the globe into final products – a result of the lowering of transport costs and especially the information technology revolution. Global value chains are one of the most important forms of globalization, with significant implications for economic growth and development. The ability of firms from lesser developed countries, which are located farther from global centers of demand, to insert themselves into supply chains will be critical for growth and innovation and for capturing the benefits of globalized markets, but it is often challenging. Value chains thus raise new questions about the distribution of growth and equity in the world economy.
Richard Baldwin underlined the reasons for this “unbundling” in the production process and explained that it is being driven by foreign investment and the technological ability of firms to separate out the sourcing of their various inputs to the lowest cost suppliers globally. He labeled the supply chain phenomenon the “international movement of firm specific know-how”. Shara Aranoff gave as an example the case of the i-phone, which we think of as being made in China (its final assembly point), but which contributes less than 5% to the total cost of production, the bulk coming from several other countries. Sherry Stephenson pointed out that services are playing a key role in making it possible to combine various inputs into the supply chains.
The evening concluded at the Ambassador’s residence, where attendees enjoyed a raclette and other fine Swiss culinary delicacies.
A warm thanks to the Swiss Embassy for its continued support and hospitality!
Welcome by Swiss Embassy DCM Daniel Hunn
Chapter news and developments by Paul Mathieu
Panel on Global Value Chains: Shara Aronoff, Sherry Stephenson, Richard Baldwin
Professor Richard Baldwin
Guests at the reception