International Trade in the Digital Age
“Digitization is blurring the boundaries between services and production more and more. Technologies such as 3D printing enable digitally based production across borders.”
Dr. Benedikt Zoller-Rydzek, Senior research and teaching associate
Digital technology is shaping the future of global trade and investment. The growing digitalization of trade is blurring the boundary between trade in goods and trade in services and has also turned part of non-tradeable services to become tradeable.
Focus Areas
Our current research and consulting activities concentrate on the following areas of competence:
3D Printing
3D printing is one of the key technologies that will benefit strongly from digitization trends and the "Internet of Things."
Instead of manufacturing products centrally at only a few locations and transporting them worldwide to their destinations, additive manufacturing enables production information to be transferred online to any site. The physical product is then manufactured directly in the target market, closer to the end-user.
Evaluation and Testing of new cross-boarder cooperation in additive manufacturing
We are researching new business models and cross-border cooperation in the field of 3D printing.
Bauen 4.0
The "Bauen 4.0" project aims to investigate the impact of the use of new technologies on CO2 emissions in the construction industry.
News
Fragile production chains
28. Mai 2020
3D printing: Why the new technology will not establish itself as a real alternative any time soon, despite successes in the crisis. An article by Dr. Florian Keller, Head of Center for Global Competitiveness in the Handelszeitung.
Read the full article(PDF 353,7 KB) (German)
Publications
Dia-Eddine, Khaldoun, 2022. Experiencing digital storytelling. In: Yülek, Murat; Wissema, Johan G., Hrsg., Towards third generation learning and teaching : contours of the new learning. London: Anthem Press.
Keller, Florian; Zoller-Rydzek, Benedikt, 2022. Trade and attitude towards the EU : what really matters. European Foreign Affairs Review. 27(1), S. 127-154.
Mösli, Matteo; Ursprung, Dominique, 2022. Weshalb russische Exporte auf dem Weg in die Schweiz massenhaft verschwinden. Ökonomenstimme. Available at: https://www.oekonomenstimme.org/artikel/2022/04/weshalb-russische-exporte-auf-dem-weg-in-die-schweiz-massenhaft-verschwinden/
Ursprung, Dominique; Keller, Florian, 2022. Covid-pandemic as an accelerator for e-government? : an analysis of Switzerland’s progress to implement the Tallinn Declaration on E-Government from 2017 [Paper]. In: 22nd EURAM Annual Conference, Winterthur, Switzerland, 15-17 June 2022.
Ursprung, Dominique; Ziltener, Patrick, 2021. Showdown um die Freihandelszone CPTPP. Die Volkswirtschaft. 2021(11), S. 46-47.
Ziltener, Patrick; Ursprung, Dominique, 2021. Das UK läutet die Wachstumsphase des CPTPP ein - jetzt muss die Schweiz Farbe bekennen. Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
Zoller-Rydzek, Benedikt; Bläse, Richard, 2021. Sprung in eine digitale und nachhaltige Zukunft. Competence. S. 16-17. Available at: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-25036
Egger, Peter H.; Kaynak, Pinar; Zoller-Rydzek, Benedikt, 2020. Indirect effects of trade shocks on Turkish local labor markets. Regional Science and Urban Economics. 2020(83), S. 103537. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2020.103537
Farley, Michael; Keller, Florian; Zoller-Rydzek, Benedikt, 2020. Schweizer Unternehmen in der Corona-Krise : Durchstehen statt Adaptieren. Ökonomenstimme. Available at: https://www.oekonomenstimme.org/artikel/2020/06/schweizer-unternehmen-in-der-corona-krise--durchstehen-statt-adaptieren/
Ursprung, Dominique, 2020. «Herr Bohne». Swiss Export Journal. 2020(1), S. 12-13.
Zoller-Rydzek, Benedikt; Keller, Florian, 2020. COVID-19 : guaranteed loans and zombie firms. CESifo Economic Studies. 66(4), S. 322-364. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/cesifo/ifaa014
Keller, Florian; Egli, Yannic, 2019. 3D-Druck im Schweizer Mittelstand: aktueller Stand und Szenarien für die Zukunft. In: Digitalisierung in der Praxis: so schaffen KMU den Weg in die Zukunft. Wiesbaden: Springer. S. 197-208. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-26137-5_13
Dia-Eddine, Khaldoun, 2019. Creation of a framework to advance high-tech in Islamic countries. In: KL Summit 2019, Advance High‐Tech, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 18-21 December 2019.
Dia-Eddine, Khaldoun, 2019. Digital storytelling for tertiary education in the era of digitization: construction and evaluation of two experiences [Paper]. In: Boussafi, Kamel; Mathieu, Jean-Pierre; Hatti, Mustapha, Hrsg., MSENTS 2019: Social Innovation and Social Technology. Mediterranean Symposium on Enterprise-New Technology, Koléa (Algeria), 4-5 November 2019. Cham: Springer. S. 16-49. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems; 162. Verfügbar unter: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60933-7_2
Zoller-Rydzek, Benedikt, 2019. Labor market effects of trade induced technological change under intellectual property rights protection [Paper]. In: ETSG 2019 BERN 21st Annual Conference, Bern, 12-14 September 2019. European Trade Study Group. Verfügbar unter: https://www.etsg.org/ETSG2019/papers/190.pdf
Keller, Florian, 2018. Neue Formen grenzüberschreitender Kooperation mit 3D-Druck.
Dia-Eddine, Khaldoun, 2017. Tunisia export destination and gateway to Africa. In: Impulse Event: Tunisia, Zürich, 15 November 2017.