Economic Regulations in a Digital World

13^th WIRE (Workshop on International Relations)

Toronto, March 26th, 2019

Analytical theme

In recent years, the digital revolution has offered many exciting opportunities for both public and private actors. Many believe that the digitization of various economic activities will help diminish transaction costs and increase productivity. At the same time, it also raises many pressing issues for regulators worldwide (i.e. privacy violations, tax evasion, fraud, workforce disruption, etc.). Just as global regulators are under increasing pressure to find new ways to regulate this new economy, their role is increasingly challenged by new actors precisely empowered by digital technologies. In this context, how can global actors spur innovations while also maintaining a stable and fair global economic system?

Proposals addressing this broad puzzle or any of the following questions are welcome:

• What do technological innovations mean for state’s regulatory capacity and sovereignty?
• How do states accommodate their role as promoters of the technological industry while simultaneously managing its negative externalities?
• How does international competition affect states’ actions and regulations in the technology sector?
• What role do private actors play in the regulation of technological innovations?
• How can the fast-paced nature of technological innovations function with the rather slow governmental regulatory process?
• How can traditional market structures and actors adapt to technological innovations?
• When do innovations pose a threat to the stability of the international and domestic economic system?

Workshop format

The workshop will take place one-day prior to the next ISA annual convention in Toronto (March 26^th). To favour in-depth discussion, the number of participants will be limited to twenty, full papers will be distributed long before the event, and authors will only speak at the closure of the half-hour group discussion of their paper.

Deadline for poposals: June 10th 2018

To submit a proposal, please submit an abstract (200 words), a short biographical note and full CV by email at gemstonesworkshop2019@gmail.com. As we are currently preparing a funding request under the ISA Venture Research Grant, we would also need a short statement indicating that you intend to participate in the next ISA convention and pay the registration fee if you are not already a member. Selected candidates are expected to send a complete version of their paper (7,000 – 8,000 words including references) by February 28^th, 2019. Due to the format of the workshop, authors who fail to send their paper on time will be removed from the program.

Funding opportunities 

There is no registration fee. Catering during the workshop will be provided for all participants. Travel and accommodation costs will be covered upon availability of funds.

Publication

The organizers intend to publish a collection of short papers as a forum in a leading journal of the field. Interested participants will be invited to join this project at the end of the workshop.

Sponsor

This workshop is funded by the GEM-STONES project (https://gem-stones.eu) under the European Union's horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 722826).

Workshop organizers

Guillaume Beaumier (Warwick University & Université Laval)