with the spread of information communication technologies in recent decades labour markets have been profoundly affected particular types of jobs often routine ones are increasingly performed by machines and workers have needed to acquire new skills for other workers however the introduction of new technologies has complemented their existing skills and made them more productive gains from trade accrue from the ability to allocate resources to the sectors and locations where they can be most efficient in particular global trade integration has facilitated the efficient production of intermediate goods thanks to the organisation of fragmented supply chains more open economies tend to grow faster and participation in global value chains is associated with better knowledge diffusion and stronger productivity growth