Erica Owens, associate professor and associate dean, the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh
Tuesday, March 3, 202612:30 PM (Pacific Time)
As firms in rich countries adopt robots and advanced technologies, their trade partners feel the effects. This talk examines how automation in advanced economies like the U.S. reshapes trade and labor markets in emerging economies, altering development pathways and raising consequences that extend beyond economics to politics and policy debates.
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Erica Owen is an associate professor of international affairs in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. During the 2025-2026 academic year, she is also a visiting fellow at the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance at Princeton University. Her research focuses on the politics and economics of trade, global production, and automation, with an emphasis on the economic well-being and political influence of workers and firms. She has previously held appointments at Texas A&M University and the University of Zurich.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
Margaret Peters is Associate Director of the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations and a Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Chair of the Global Studies major at UCLA. She is also a non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Her research on the political economy of migration. She is currently working on a book project on how the process of forced displacement affects migrants’ sense of dignity and how these dignity concerns affect decisions of whether to move from the crisis zone, where to move, and when to return. She is additionally writing a book on how dictators use migration, including forced migration, to remain in power. Her award-winning book, Trading Barriers: Immigration and the Remaking of Globalization, argues that the increased ability of firms to produce anywhere in the world combined with growing international competition due to lowered trade barriers has led to greater limits on immigration, as businesses no longer see a need to support open immigration at home.