From SMEs to Unicorns: What Role for Trade, Standards and New Tech?

THE IMPORTANCE OF FIRM SIZE IN TECH DEVELOPMENT: WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE FUTURE? The Dunlop story clearly illustrates that firm size and structure, technological innovation and trade policy have been closely linked for more than a century. [...] In the real world, where multiple trade frictions and economic imperfections are at play, Nocco and co-authors argue that free trade allocation of resources may be inefficient in terms of products available and their characteristics, and that the extent of inefficiency varies across countries depending on market size, state of technology, and geography. [...] The EU is behind both the US and China, and even behind India, in terms of the number and value of unicorn companies headquartered across all EU Member States. [...] In terms of number of unicorns, Germany and France lead in Europe (accounting for 60% of the total), followed at a distance by Sweden, the Netherlands, and Spain. [...] According to the World Economic Forum, the reduction of trade costs thanks to blockchain solutions could result in more than 1 trillion dollars of new trade in the next decade.