1-3 June 2018 Trento, Italy

The Trento Festival of Economics 

The Trento Festival of Economics takes place every year in Trento since its first edition in 2006. Every year, Nobel prize winners and internationally-renowned scholars, politicians, intellectuals, economists, trade unionists and journalists, discuss and debate with the audience of the festival on extremely important and contemporary issues. Their aim is to make economics more understandable to allow everyone to access it and, at the same time, to shed light on the economists’ way of thinking for people who usually are not very familiar with the subject.

2018 Editorial 

"Technological pessimism dominates above all in times of crisis. It may be of two kinds: people fear that there will be too much innovation, leading to the destruction of jobs, or that there is too little innovation, with a low level of growth and a drop in productivity, as in the theories of secular stagnation that took off during the Great Recession.

Automation means the destruction of jobs, with machinery replacing the work carried out by man, but automation generally brings with it an increase in productivity and wages for jobs that machines are unable to replace. In its turn, this creation of value for certain jobs leads to the creation of jobs. Although the frontier of automation moves rapidly and artificial intelligence technology is developing quickly, we are still a long way from replacing human work with robots for tasks requiring flexibility and discretion, or which in more general terms do not lend themselves to codification."

Tito Boeri | Scientific Director of the Festival of Economics

OECD SESSIONS AT A GLANCE

Brochure 

1 Jun 2018 | 18.30 - #Culture

2 Jun 2018 | 11.00 - #Jobs

2 Jun 2018 | 15.00 - #Policies

2 Jun 2018 | 18.30 - #Polarisation

3 June 2018 | 09.30 - #Productivity

 English/Italian simultaneous translation provided

Sessions organised within the Spatial Productivity Lab activities of the OECD Trento Centre

_{2 June 2018 | 11.00 - #Jobs
Venue: Buonconsiglio Castle (Marangonerie) | official web page}

Impact of new technologies on jobs and its effect on local economies – Key note lecture

The potential impacts of changing technologies, automation and big data on the productivity performance of cities regions and rural localities will be examined. Issues relating to firm and organisational structures, changing demands for skills profiles, and the resulting institutional and governance challenges will all be discussed.

• 💬 Philip MCCANN, Professor of Urban and Regional Economics, University of Sheffield Management School, UK

Moderator: Joaquim OLIVEIRA MARTINS, Special Advisor, Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities, OECD

🎥 Video of the session

🔊 Podcast

📷 Photos

📎 Press release

🔎 Interview to Philip MCCANN

_{2 June 2018 | 15.00 - #Policies
Venue: Trento Province Palace (Depero Room) | official web page}

Technology & Jobs, a perspective across levels of government – Policy panel

The spread of digitalisation and new technologies has generated a polarization of professions and skills in OECD countries. This is the case also for Italy. It is essentially an urban phenomenon that results in an increasing gap between urban centres and peripheries and across cities that are able to intercept investments in innovation and those that are likely to lag behind. How will the work in the OECD countries change and what policies are putting in place the cities that want to be protagonists of their future? How can better coordination of policies across different levels of government being achieved in order to successfully address these dynamics? How are cities like Tampere (the “NOKIA city”), which are facing major labour and technological adjustments, build on opportunities created by digitalisation and strive to be an example in smart technological development?

• Aleksi JÄNTTI, Deputy Mayor of Tampere, Finland 
• Stefano SCARPETTA, Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD 

Introduction: Mari KIVINIEMI, Deputy Secretary General of the OECD

Moderator: Joaquim OLIVEIRA MARTINS, Special Advisor, Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities, OECD

🎥 Video of the session

🔊 Podcast

📷 Photos

📎 Press release

🔎 Interview to Aleksi JÄNTTI

_{1 June 2018 | 18.30 - #Culture
Venue: OECD Trento Centre | official web page}

Technology and work: The rise of Cultural and Creative Industries

In collaboration with tsm -Trentino School of Managment

Cultural and creative industries (CCIs) are a macro-sector that is attracting increasing attention due to both its dimension and its spillover and crossover relations with other key production sectors. This lecture will explore the main features of CCIs from the point of view of innovation potential, strategic complementarities and productivity issues.

• 💬 Pier Luigi SACCO, Special Adviser to the EU Commissioner for Education and Culture European Commission 

Moderator: Joaquim OLIVEIRA MARTINS, Special Advisor, Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities, OECD

📷 Photos

📎 Press release

_{2 June 2018 | 18.30 - #Polarisation
Venue: OECD Trento Centre | official web page}

The determinants of job polarisation: Lessons from the Dutch local labour markets

In collaboration with Bank of Italy, Trento branch

The pattern in the composition of employment in the last 25 years has changed:  there is an increase in the employment shares of low- and high-skilled jobs, accompanied by a decrease in middle-skilled occupations. This employment trend, defined as job polarization, has been documented in various OECD countries due to automation and globalization. What are the geographical as and gender differences in the polarization of local labor markets? Why is this trend mainly a urban phenomenon?

• Raquel ORTEGA-ARGILÉS, Professor of Regional Economic Development, University of Birmingham, UK

Moderator: Antonio ACCETTURO, Head of the Economic Research Unit, Bank of Italy - Trento branch

📷 Photos

📎 Press release

_{3 June 2018 | 09.30 - #Productivity
Venue: OECD Trento Centre | official web page}

Regional productivity catching up: The role of the EU cohesion policies and the OECD perspective 

In collaboration with the School of International Studies, University of Trento

Many OECD and EU countries are struggling with growing economic disparities between the regions in their countries. This session presents new results on what regions and regional policy can do to narrow economic gaps and promote “catching up”.

• 💬 Lewis DIJKSTRA, Head of the Analysis Unit, Directorate-General for Regional Policy of the European Commission
• 💬 Alexander LEMBCKE, Economist, Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities, OECD

Moderator: Andrea FRACASSO, Director of the School of International Studies, University of Trento

📷 Photos

📎 Press release

More information

Official website

OECD Contact

Roberto.Chizzali@oecd.org

Links

OECD Trento Centre

@OECD_local