26th Jacques Polak Annual Research Conference:

“The Evolving Landscape of Global Trade and Financial Integration”

November 6-7, 2025

The International Monetary Fund will hold the 26th Jacques Polak Annual Research Conference on November 6-7, 2025, in Washington D.C., USA.

The international economy is undergoing profound and rapid transformations, driven by a complex interplay of economic, technological, and geopolitical forces. Shifts in trade networks, evolving patterns in capital flows, the rise of digital innovation, and the risk of increasing geoeconomic fragmentation are reshaping the global landscape of trade and financial integration. These changes present both opportunities and challenges for policymakers, businesses, and researchers, through their impact on economic stability, development, and the distribution of benefits and risks across countries. Understanding these dynamics is essential for fostering inclusive growth, managing cross-border spillovers, and ensuring resilience in an interconnected world.

To delve into these issues, the 2025 IMF Annual Research Conference will bring together academics and policy makers, promote innovative research, and provide a platform for a fruitful exchange of views.

The Program Committee welcomes empirical and theoretical work on topics including, but not limited to:

  • Evolving patterns in international trade flows and global value chains
  • Cross-border capital flows, spillovers and policy responses
  • Bilateral and multilateral sovereign lending to developing countries
  • The international monetary system and the role of multilateral organizations
  • Geoeconomic fragmentation
  • The role of digital innovation in shaping trade and financial flows

Interested contributors should submit a full paper or an extended proposal via the submission portal, which can be accessed by clicking here. The deadline for submissions is July 1, 2025. Please use the contact author’s name as the name of the file (Last name, First name (e.g., Smith, John). The Program Committee will evaluate all proposals in terms of originality, analytical rigor, and policy relevance and will contact the authors whose papers have been selected by mid-August, 2025.1 Further information on the conference program will be posted on the IMF website (www.imf.org).

Conference Program Committee: Jesús Fernández-Villaverde (Editor-in-Chief of the IMF Economic Review and the University of Pennsylvania), Emine Boz (IMF, Co-Editor of the IMF Economic Review), Jiaqian Chen (IMF) and Nikhil Patel (IMF).

Conference Coordinators: Tracey Lookadoo, Nicole Jales and Daniela Rojas.

Submissions co-authored with IMF staff members will be evaluated by the IMF Economic Review editor-in-chief.