Research on trade and development has long been a high priority for Project staff and PhD students. This includes detailed studies of the trade policy regime (including pioneering estimates of effective rates of protection), the political economy of protection, sector-specific trade policies, export performance, Indonesia in the regional and global economy, general overviews of the private sector, the structure and performance of the private sector, private sector and industrial dynamics before and after crisis episodes, and private sector and industry case studies.

The researches in this area have been facilitated by access to various datasets, including the excellent firm-level databases of the Biro Pusat Statistik, supplemented by international trade data and firm-level research. The training of doctoral students has been an integral component of this research. Since the 1990s, many PhD dissertations have been completed in this field, mostly by Indonesian researchers. Much of the past and current work involves collaboration with Indonesian researchers.