In recent years, the words “supply chain issues” have emerged as a familiar explanation for the inability of families and businesses in the United States and elsewhere to access certain goods, from toilet paper to computer chips.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its related shortages were likely the first time many American consumers had really considered supply chains — the complex networks through which products are created and distributed. They weren’t alone. Historically, outside of business schools, supply chains have generated little general interest even from academic economists, says Yale economist Aleh Tsyvinski.
During a recent conference hosted by Yale’s Tobin Center for Economic Policy and the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics (and organized by Tsyvinski and Princeton economist Ernest Liu), experts from academia and the business world discussed how research can support efforts to predict, avoid, and manage supply chain disruptions. The conference featured a keynote by Benjamin Gordon ’95, managing partner and CEO of Cambridge Capital and a leading advisor to, and investor in, supply chain companies. Continue Reading.
