Husker faculty and students have an important tool for economic analysis thanks to newly acquired university-wide access to the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP), renowned for its comprehensive data sets and rigorous economic modeling.
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Clayton Yeutter Institute of International Trade and Finance purchased licensing that enables GTAP access throughout the university. Jayson Beckman, an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and a faculty chair for the Yeutter Institute, will lead an April 3 workshop for faculty and students to explain GTAP and help participants explore the use of its modeling tools.
Specialists in international trade studies regularly use GTAP to study potential export opportunities, indicating its direct relevance for Nebraska’s agricultural sector. GTAP software and modeling also have broad applicability in addition to trade studies, which is why the April 3 workshop is geared to any Husker faculty member or student with an interest in economic or policy-focused analysis.
GTAP draws on comprehensive data and modeling provided through its worldwide network, which includes major institutions such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, World Bank and International Monetary Fund as well as more than 33,000 researchers in more than 175 countries. As a result, GTAP enjoys wide confidence and regularly provides the central analytical support for major projects by U.S. government agencies and multilateral institutions.
The network’s data sets include comprehensive economic information on an array of topics. Examples include data on land use, capital expenditures, macro-level consumer purchases and agricultural production inputs such as fertilizer, seeds and chemicals.
GTAP provides a “universal language” for economists because the program’s database is formatted for various software tools, making it accessible to a wide range of users, said Beckman, the Michael Yanney Chair in International Trade and Finance.
Policymakers and businesses find great value in the predictive capability of GTAP’s economic modeling, known as Computable General Equilibrium (CGE). During his years as a policy-focused economist with USDA’s Economic Research Service, Beckman drew on GTAP for multiple projects including analysis of prospective ramifications for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement as well as the European Union’s “farm to fork” initiative focusing on sustainable agriculture.
Beckman currently is using GTAP to study possible economic ramifications if the U.S.-Mexico border were closed in response to the threat from the New World screwworm fly.
GTAP benefits from the constant refinement of its economic modeling by the network’s worldwide membership, said Thomas Hertel, a research professor in agricultural economics at Purdue University. Hertel, a leading figure in agricultural economic analysis, launched the GTAP project in 1992 and was Beckman’s doctoral adviser at Purdue.
Beckman is one of 13 current research fellows for the GTAP network, as is Edward Balistreri, the Duane Acklie College of Business Yeutter Institute Chair.
The April 3 workshop, open to any UNL faculty, student or staff member, will be from 9 a.m. to noon in Room 47 in Filley Hall on East Campus. This Google document has additional information and enables registration: https://go.unl.edu/gtap-workshop.
