A paper by Mathilde Muñoz, a University of California, Berkeley scholar, recently earned a prestigious award.
The paper, called "Trading Non-Tradables: The Implications of Europe's Job Posting Policy," won the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Young Economist Essay Award, according to a news release from the organization.
"The paper brings out very interesting information that can help policymakers look at what is really happening in trade in services within the EU and draw appropriate conclusions, and I think the work can be extended even further in ways that can benefit developing countries," Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the WTO, said in a meeting with Muñoz in Geneva, the news release noted.
Muñoz's paper explores the implications of so-called job posting on labor market outcomes and welfare, according to the news release. Job posting occurs when workers move temporarily to a foreign country to perform a contracted job but remain employed and paid by the foreign firm. Muñoz showed how this creates large economic gains in low-wage countries that are sending employees but hurts low-paid workers in high-wage countries where the work is done.
"I think the future of trade is services, is green, is digital, and this work focuses on one particular area which I think is the future," Okonjo-Iweala said. "I'm very proud that the WTO has this prize and sets out to look for young people who are doing exciting, cutting-edge work."
Muñoz's paper was ranked first by the Selection Panel, the news release noted. She received CHF 5,000, which converts to almost $5,200, at the annual meeting of the European Trade Study Group in Groningen, Netherlands.
"I'm incredibly honored to win this award," Muñoz said in the news release. "I think it's incredibly useful for economists and young researchers to meet policymakers and to talk about these very important issues, to connect research to people who try to implement trade policy and understand what are the actual problems and what the negotiations are about. I would encourage all young economists, in particular women and people from underdeveloped countries, to apply to this award."
Muñoz is a French national and received her Ph.D. from the Paris School of Economics this year, according to the news release. She is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, and will become a faculty member there in July 2023. She is affiliated with the university's Stone Center on Wealth and Income Inequality.
The Selection Panel gave an honorable mention to Torsten Søchting Jaccard of the University of Toronto for his paper titled "Who Pays for Protectionism? The Welfare and Substitution Effects of Tariffs," the news release noted.