Evaluate policy choices
Estimate the effects of reforms and agreements using structural gravity, global trade models, and policy evaluation.
Policy assessments · Scenario analysisIndependent trade policy research & advice
Good policy
starts with
better evidence.
Ben Shepherd, PhD, provides independent economic analysis for governments, businesses, and international institutions. Assess reforms, diagnose trade constraints, and strengthen your team’s analytical capacity.
DTC and its principal have worked with
World BankTrade OECDTrade World Trade OrganizationGlobal trade Asian Development BankRegional cooperation & integration Inter-American Development BankTrade & investment UN Trade and DevelopmentTrade analysis · UNCTAD International Trade CentreTrade & enterprise development APECPolicy Support Unit European CommissionDG GROW · Single Market European ParliamentInternational Trade Committee UK Department for Business and TradeTrade policy & business International Chamber of CommerceTrade policy UN ESCAPTrade, investment & innovation
Experience includes direct assignments and work through partner firms.
Consulting & capacity building
From a policy question
to a practical answer.
Applied research on trade policy, services regulation, trade costs, and global value chains, supported by extensive experience in data, measurement, and training.
Find the constraints
Understand what holds back trade, from services regulation to logistics and participation in value chains.
Trade diagnostics · Applied researchBuild analytical capacity
Tailored courses in trade data, gravity modeling, and quantitative trade models, with practical policy applications.
Practical training · Technical guidanceAreas of expertise
Quantitative trade policy evaluation
Structural gravity and quantitative trade models to assess trade agreements, tariff changes, non-tariff measures, and regulatory reforms.
Services trade & regulatory reform
Services trade restrictions, domestic regulation, and regulatory cooperation, including their effects on manufacturing competitiveness and regional integration.
Trade facilitation & logistics
Border procedures, transport connectivity, and logistics performance: measuring trade costs and identifying practical reform priorities.
Global value chains & investment
Participation and upgrading in production networks, trade in value added, and the links between foreign investment, services, and development.
Trade data, indicators & measurement
Design and review of trade indicators, regulatory databases, and composite indexes, including logistics performance, economic diversification, and open markets.
Trade, sustainability & inclusive development
Trade and the Sustainable Development Goals, gender, jobs, and opportunities for smaller firms, alongside the development impacts of shipping decarbonization.
Training & analytical capacity
Practical courses in gravity modeling, quantitative trade models, trade indicators, and value chain analysis, with applications for policy teams in English and French.
Projects & training
Experience you can explore.
Research, policy advice, and training for governments, businesses, and international institutions. Find relevant experience by topic, client, or keyword.250+ projects delivered, on time and on budget.
Showing 6 of 259 projects
Open Markets Index
Independent methodological review and technical quality assurance of the indicator framework, data, and calculations for the G7 and G20+ editions.
Senior methodological reviewer
ASEAN trade and gender dashboard feasibility
Assessing indicators, data readiness, institutional ownership, and sustainability for a proposed ASEAN Women in Trade Dashboard.
Project management and quality assurance
Japan–Latin America economic partnership
Research on 50 years of Japan–LAC economic engagement, identifying complementarities and opportunities for closer trade and investment links.
Co-author · Research design and quantitative analysis
Read the reportServices in global value chains
Research and quantitative analysis of services in Asia-Pacific value chains, development opportunities, and the association between aid for trade and GVC participation.
Research and quantitative analysis
Asian Development Policy Report 2026
Background research on trade facilitation, global value chains, and inclusive development, including infrastructure, domestic reforms, and regional integration.
Background paper author
Read the reportRules of origin in EU–UK trade
Quantitative trade modeling of closer EU–UK integration through rules of origin and regulatory alignment, including scenarios with higher US tariffs.
Quantitative modeling and technical analysis
Recent & selected publications
Ideas, tested.
Journal articles on trade policy, economic modeling, and measurement. Explore the findings and policy implications, with links to the papers.
2026
Trade policy
Read summary 2026Border frictions and potential trade in the structural gravity model
Applied Economics Letters, 33(10), 1694–1698 · Online first: 2025
Methods & measurement
Read summary 2025The Surprising Bias of PPML Estimates of Structural Gravity Models With Two-Way Fixed Effects
Review of International Economics, 34(3), 615–631
Methods & measurement
Read summary 2025Bias in Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood estimation of structural gravity models: how much of a problem for applied research?
Applied Economics Letters, 32(2), 222–227 · Online first: 2023
Methods & measurement
Read summary 2023Pre-trends matter for estimating the causal effect of the WTO on bilateral trade
Applied Economics Letters · Online first: October 30, 2025
Trade facilitation & logistics
Read summary 2023Extending and understanding: an application of machine learning to the World Bank’s logistics performance index
International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 53(9), 985–1014
Trade in services
Read summary 2022Regional integration and services in African value chains: Retrospect and prospect
The World Economy, 46(11), 3231–3258
Global value chains
Read summary Modelling global value chains: From trade costs to policy impacts
The World Economy, 45(8), 2478–2509 · 2022 Corden Prize
Trade intelligence for policy
A clearer view of how trade changes—and where to look next.
Ricardo is a trade intelligence platform that brings goods and services trade, diversification, and global value chains into one research workspace, with figures, data, and documented methods. It is currently in private beta; request access to join the testing.
Request beta access Private beta · By invitation
The economist behind the work
Ben Shepherd, PhD
Principal, Developing Trade Consultants
250+projects delivered on time and on budget
20+years in applied international trade and policy
40+peer-reviewed journal articles
2022Corden Prize for trade policy evaluation
Academic depth.
Practical policy experience.
I bring more than 20 years of experience in applied international trade and policy to the questions facing governments, businesses, and international institutions. My work combines economic research, quantitative analysis, and an understanding of how policy is made.
I have delivered 250+ projects on time and on budget, spanning applied research, policy advice, and training.
I founded Developing Trade Consultants in 2009, following work with the OECD and the World Bank and a postdoctoral fellowship at Princeton University’s Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance.
I have published more than 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, alongside books, chapters, and policy reports. My 2022 article in The World Economy won the inaugural Corden Prize for contributions to trade policy evaluation.
Based in New York and working internationally, I also design and deliver practical training for policy teams in English and French.
Academic background
PhD in Economics
Sciences Po, Paris · 2008
Summa cum laudeMPhil in International Economics
Graduate Institute, Geneva · 2003
MPhil in International Relations
University of Cambridge · 2000
Law & Japanese
LLB and BA · Bond University · 1997
LLB: summa cum laudeResearch in conversation
Developing Trade Consultants supports the Trade Policy Research Forum, co-founded by Ben Shepherd to connect trade researchers and policy practitioners. Explore its webinars, topic collections, and research briefs.
Let’s work together
What trade policy question
are you trying to answer?
Send a short brief, a question, or an outline of the work you have in mind.
ben@developing-trade.com