World Bank Group – IE University Conference 2026

Production networks, the web of buyer–supplier linkages connecting firms within and across borders, are central to how modern economies grow, innovate, and adjust to shocks. These connections shape how ideas diffuse, how firms upgrade, and how productivity gains translate into exports and jobs. They also determine how vulnerabilities propagate and how resilience is built.

Understanding the structure and functioning of production networks is therefore critical for private sector development, particularly in low- and middle-income economies (LMICs), where strengthening domestic linkages and integrating firms into regional and global value chains remain central development challenges.

This conference will provide a forum for frontier research on production networks and their implications for growth, resilience, and job creation. It will showcase recent IFC-led analytical work, including new evidence based on firm-to-firm and value-chain data, and engage with cutting-edge academic research at the intersection of trade, development, industrial organization, and macroeconomics.

The conference will bring together leading scholars, rising researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and private sector leaders, to bridge rigorous research with operational and policy perspectives, with the aim of informing actionable strategies for strengthening production networks and mobilizing private investment that can create more and better jobs, in line with the World Bank Group’s knowledge strategy.