International Trade: A source of resilience and a vehicle for structural transformation.

The first chapter assesses the resilience capacity of European international firms to multiple types of shocks—both supply- and demand-related—using open-source World Bank data from before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The following two chapters explore the role of trade in fostering structural change. On the one hand, they examine how trade can reduce developing countries' dependence on agricultural production. On the other hand, they consider how a temporary decoupling from foreign-owned imported inputs might protect the industrial sector, enabling less developed economies to catch up.