Arnaud Persenda

About me:

French and Malagasy citizen, I am a PhD researcher in Economics specialised in the analysis of how Global Value Chains and trade policies shape structural change and industrial development in emerging and developing economies, with a particular focus on Africa, Europe, and Asia.  I am currently a Post Doctoral Fellow for the Centre for Sustainable Structural Transformation (CSST) at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

My work examines how countries diversify, upgrade, and reposition within global and regional value chains under conditions of technological dependence, environmental regulation, limited policy space and shifting geopolitical constraints. I conduct applied economic analysis to inform trade and industrial policy decisions related to economic diversification, trade reorientation, and structural transformation. My approach combines econometric analysis, input-output modelling, network-based methods, and economic complexity tools to produce policy-relevant diagnostics, analytical reports, and evidence-based recommendations for firms, governments and international organisations.

In this context, I analyse the effects of preferential trade regimes, including African Continental Free Trade Area and European Union, environmental trade measures such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, and recent US tariff shocks on the industrialisation prospects and diversfication opportunities of developing economies.