Paulo Bastos

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About

Paulo Bastos is a leading trade economist whose research illuminates the complex interplay between automation, labor markets, and global commerce. His work centers on how technological change—particularly the rise of industrial robotics—reshapes international trade patterns and economic development. In his highly cited chapter "Robots and Trade" (2022), Bastos develops a Ricardian framework to analyze how robotization in high-wage advanced economies impacts developing countries, building on his influential collaborative work with Artuc and Rijkers (2018). This research demonstrates that robot adoption in the Global North can paradoxically boost developing-country exports by lowering production costs and expanding global demand, a finding with profound implications for trade policy and development strategy. With over 10 citations on this work alone, Bastos’s scholarship bridges the gap between trade theory and the pressing policy questions of automation and inequality. His contributions have made him a sought-after voice in debates on the future of work and global supply chains, offering nuanced insights for students and policymakers navigating the Fourth Industrial Revolution.