Details
Instructor: Maria Luigia Segnana
Class hours: 36 (6 ECTS)
Objectives
As the world economy grows, international trade increases in importance and complexity, creating many new challenges for international relations. This course deals with the basics of international trade and competitiveness that will help formulate effective policies and negotiations. As the economic and business environments become more global and complicated than ever, traditional paradigms of international trade may be no longer effective. This course compares and contrasts old paradigms of international trade and new paradigms of international competitiveness. The new paradigms include for instance the stage models of international competitive advantage. The course will help students to understand and solve competitiveness problems that countries and firms face in today's new international environment.
By the end of the course students will:
• be familiar with basic information and international reports on international trade and firm behavior in open economies.
• reproduce and present the main results of papers published in international journals.
• learn how to work with students from different background in order to address presentations to business audience.
Pre-requirements
This course is designed for postgraduate students with a business perspective, that have already taken basic courses in economics.
The textbook by Feenstra and Taylor, International Trade, is recommended as a pre-requisite for the course but other basic introductory textbooks can be utilized.
Contents
The course consists of three parts:
- the first one is devoted to the country and firm level of the analysis. It offers initially an overview of traditional and less traditional theories as well as the empirical evidence on them with a focus on firm-behavior in open economy. Then it focuses upon the firm and the market structures as units of analysis in international trade; imperfect competition and increasing returns to scale will be at the center stage. Firm-behavior in open economies is here organized both in terms on 'new' and 'new new' theories and policies.
- the second one focuses on traditional and less traditional instruments of trade policy and deals with the case for free trade and the cases for protection. New forms of protection, more sophisticated than traditional quotas and tariff barriers, will be addressed in the frame of the political economy of protection ('median voter' and 'protection for sale'- approaches)
- the third one is devoted to WTO as an international organization, its cornerstones and empirical assessment. Empirical cases and in-class presentations of selected cases follow.
Teaching methods
Lectures, classes with assignments and students' presentations.
Evaluation of learning
The final grade (ranging from 1 to 30) will depend on the following components:
- final written exam on all the materials presented during the course (including active learning and presentations)
- group presentations
- class participation and assignments
Texts
Feenstra R. and A. Taylor (2014) International Trade, 3th Edition, can be an excellent introduction. The textbook is associated to Reports, materials and case-studies. Other basic introductory textbooks can be utilized.
A detailed Syllabus with suggested utilization of all the materials will be available in the course-site.
More information
Materials drawn from WTO will be frequently utilized. For instance recent WTO Reports, materials on trade disputes and data from WTO website. Being familiar with WTO website is a useful pre-requisite.