25751 - International Economics

Learning outcomes

This course is intended to analyze the regulatory framework for trade and the regulatory issues relating to international markets and regional markets, such as U.S. and EU markets, and emerging markets in Africa and Asia. The students acquires knowledge: - about Institutional structures (GATT/WTO, NAFTA, EU, APEC, SADEC, CEDEAO) and Regulatory authorities; - about International dimensions of market regulation (tariffs and customs regulations, product safety and environmental restrictions, trademark and patent regulations); - about disputes settlement.

Course contents

This course is intended to provide students with a basic understanding of the fundamentals of international finance, with particular emphasis on a few relevant topics: international pricing and exchange rate pass-through; uncovered interest parity and international capital flows; macroeconomic stability in regime of open economy.

The course will provide an overview of the state of the art of both the theoretical and empirical literature available on theselected topics, highlighting micro-foundations and economic rationales for the most important stylized facts.

Part of the course is devoted to the study of recent episodes of international macroeconomic/financial crises.

 

Pre-requisites: Even a limited background in macroeconomics (and microeconomics) is desirable. Students who lack acquaintance with this subject are invited to contact the instructor at the beginning of the course.

Readings/Bibliography

Materials for this course are taken entirely from the “Handbook of International Economics”, Vol. 4, pp. 1-740, edited by Gopinath, Helpman and Rogoff, 2014. Single chapters of the Handbook are easily available online; in any case, the corresponding url is provided by the instructor, upon request.

Nonentheless, these chapters detail many technicalities and are therefore not recommended for under-graduate students. Notes and/or slides with a simplified content (soon available on the univeristy platform) will be used instead; and will be enough to get through the final exam successfully. Please take the readings above into consideration only for personal deepening (not requested, nor even necessary to pass the exam!).

It stands to reason that class participation (either in-presence or on-line) is then highly recommended in order to fully grasp the content of the lectures. Students are also kindly invited to print slides in advance, i.e. before the lectures, for a better understanding and enjoyment.

Teaching methods

The course will be held in blanded mode (in--presence+on-line on Microsoft Teams) using a wide variety of formats, including lectures, classroom discussions, and students’ presentations. Class attendance of at least 70% is compulsory.

Assessment methods

The exam combines in-class assessment (class participation and homeworks), valid for 1/3 of the total mark, and a final exam valid for 2/3 of the total mark.

• In-class assessment (10 points max): Students will be evaluated based on a combination of class participation and group performance. Each group, consisting of maximum 5 students (max. 1 Erasmus student per group), must select a topic among those proposed by the instructor and prepare a short essay (max 5 pages) which might be requested to be object of in-class presentation, if there will be a chance to do so. The contribution of each member of the group must be clearly outlined, as it will be factored into the in-class evaluation. Peer-to-peer evaluation might also be required, even though for a max of 2 points out of 30 (thus to an extent lesser than 10% over the final mark). In your essay, make sure to specify your references: plagiarism will not be tolerated. Additional information and specific readings will be proposed by the instructors.
  
• Final exam (20 points max): students will have to answer both multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions.

More detailed information on the written exam will be given throughout the course.

 

Additional exam rules

• Students are required to register for the exam by using the online application procedure.
• Students can refuse a passing mark but only once. Each mark higher than 18/30 will automatically be registered by the instructor after the student’s second attempt.
• Participants will not be granted the possibility to integrate/substitute marks with oral examinations.
• For students who are authorized by the Degree Course Board to register for the exam without attending the lectures, the final exam will consist of a written exam with only multiple-choice and open-ended questions. The same applies to students who retake the exam upon rejecting a positive mark from a previous attempt.

Teaching tools

On-line platforms and other equipments provided by the Univeristy will be used to provide this course in the blended mode agreed to face the on-going emergency situation related to Covid-19.

Students are also invited to take advantage of the office hours, held by appointment.

Office hours

See the website of Stefano Antonio Bolatto