China’s demand for commodities is reshaping global trade with Uruguay’s beef exports seeing significant growth and a knock on dramatic impact on suppliers’ employment, wages, and productivity across different industries. As part of the Private Sector Development Research Network, the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development, hosted a seminar on Friday, 14th March 2025, from 1-2pm GMT on Zoom. The session was led by Giorgio Chiovelli, Associate Professor of Economics at Universidad de Montevideo and moderated by Tiago Martinho, Executive Director of the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development.
This seminar presented a study exploring the global phenomenon of increased commodity exports to China, with a specific focus on Uruguay’s rapidly growing beef exports. The researchers integrated various data sources, including customs data, tax records, and employer-employee information, to analyse the impact of this trade surge on Uruguay’s economy.
The presentation detailed the methodology used to identify effects on the production network by examining buyer-supplier linkages and changes in beef exporters’ trade with China over time. Attendees learned about the study’s findings, which revealed a significant increase in sales for suppliers to beef exporters, particularly smaller suppliers and those in the service sector. The seminar also covered the observed impacts on suppliers’ employment, wages, and productivity across different industries. A key component of the presentation introduced a general equilibrium model of production networks developed by the authors. The researchers will demonstrate how this model can be used to analyse the aggregate impact of surging beef exports on the economy, breaking down the effects into direct, indirect, and network.
An in-depth write of the seminar will be published on the Wheeler blog soon.
About the speakers
Giorgio Chiovelli is an Associate Professor of Economics at Universidad de Montevideo, a position he has held since 2023. He obtained his Ph.D. in Economics from the Università di Bologna in 2015. Before his current role, Dr. Chiovelli served as an Assistant Professor at Universidad de Montevideo from 2019 to 2023 and as a Research Fellow at the London Business School from 2015 to 2019. His research focuses on Development, Political Economy, and Economic History. Dr. Chiovelli’s work has been published in leading journals including American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, and the Journal of the European Economic Association. His studies often explore the interplay between economic development, political institutions, and historical factors, with a particular emphasis on Africa and Latin America. As co-director of the MONT² Econ Lab and co-organizer of RIDGE’s Workshop Towards Sustained Growth, Dr. Chiovelli actively contributes to advancing economic research and fostering academic collaboration in the region.
About PSDRN
The Private Sector Development Research Network is a community of institutions with an active research agenda on Private Sector Development. The PSD Research Network is a collaboration between the Wheeler Institute, British International Investment (BII), Centre for Global Development (CGD), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), IDB Invest, International Finance Corporation, International Growth Centre (IGC), Think Tank ODI, Islamic Corporation for Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), which aims to promote the exchange of ideas and facilitate collaboration.