APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Research Project
APEC is a confederation of 21 Pacific Rim economies that encourages economic cooperation and promotes free trade among its members. The APEC Business Advisory Council, or ABAC, studies issues of economic importance and provides a business perspective on them.
Since 2003, the USC Marshall School of Business has been the only business school worldwide whose MBA students have conducted research for ABAC. Each year, outstanding Marshall MBA students are selected to conduct a research project on specific issues requested by APEC economies. The selected students extend their PRIME trip as a fact-finding mission to meet and interview business/government leaders for their research. The work associated with this project is conducted in addition to each team member’s GSBA 580 PRIME project and course work.
In November, the ABAC Marshall MBA team will travel to the ABAC CEO Meeting and present their findings. Their research will be included in the annual prioritized advice report that ABAC gives to the 21 APEC Heads of State.
| Year | Destination | Project |
| 2003 | Bangkok, Thailand | Connecting BizAPEC and E-IAP to the Business Community |
| 2004 | Santiago, Chile | Developing the E-Commerce Environment |
| 2005 | Seoul, South Korea | Barriers to Global Trade Through Marine Ports |
| 2006 | Hanoi, Vietnam | The Proliferation of Free Trade Agreements in the Asia-Pacific Region: A Business Perspective |
| 2007 | Sydney, Australia | Rules of Origin Regimes and Impact on Business in the APEC Region |
| 2008 | Lima, Peru | Behind the Border: Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade in the APEC Region |
| 2009 | Singapore | Labor Mobility |