88079 - INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

Al termine del corso, lo studente: - apprende le cause e le conseguenze del commercio internazionale, gli effetti delle politiche commerciali, le cause dei movimenti internazionali dei fattori produttivi, la funzione degli investimenti diretti esteri da parte delle imprese multinazionali e il ruolo dell'Organizzazione Mondiale del Commercio. - ha acquisito una comprensione empirica e teorica delle complesse questioni sollevate dall'interdipendenza economica delle nazioni ed è in grado di analizzarle in modo sistematico.

Contenuti

This course gives an overview of the causes and consequences of international trade, as well as the institutional context in which trade (and factor movements) take place in the modern economy. Topics in the general area of trade theory and commercial policy include: determinants of trade flows, effects of trade on economic welfare and income distribution, efficiency and redistributive effects of tariff and nontariff protection of domestic industries, the theory of preferential trading agreements. Institutional topics include: the history of the global trading system, multilateral trade negotiations and the GATT/WTO system, empirical approaches to capturing trade patterns, and the regionalism movement. More specifically, the first part of the course will focus on theoretical frameworks designed to understand the drivers and implications of international trade(including the Ricardian theory of comparative advantage and the Heckscher-Ohlin model) and briefly review the empirical applications of these models. The second part of the course will cover distributional consequences of trade policy instruments, arguments for trade protection, and the organization of the world trade system.

Some knowledge of the basic principles of microeconomics can be useful for this course, together with an understanding of high-school linear algebra and graph analysis using Cartesian axes. More advanced topics in microeconomics will be introduced throughout the course.

 

Course Outline 

1. Introduction to the World of International Economics. Early trade theories. The Classical Theory oof Trade: The Ricardian Model.

2. Extensions to the Ricardian Model: Wage and exchange rate limits, Transportation costs, Multiple Commodities and Countries.

3. Setting up the Neoclassical Model: The Edgeworth Box and the Concave PPF. Gains from Trade in Neoclassical Theory: Production and Consumption Gains. Minimum Conditions for Trade and the Compensation Principle.

4. The basis for Trade: Factor Abundance and Factor Intensity in the Heckscher-Ohlin Model. The Factor Equalization Theorem and The Samuelson Theorem.The theoretical qualifications of the H-O model and the Specific-Factors Model.

5. Post-Heckscher-Ohlin Theories of Trade: Linder Theory and the Krugman Model. Intra-Industry Trade.

6. International Factor Movement: FDIs and Multinational Corporations, Labour Movements Between Countries.

7. The Instruments and the Impacts of Trade Policies.

8. Arguments for Interventionism: Trade Policy and Imperfect Competition

9. The political Economy of Trade Policy. Multilateral Negotiations

10. The Theory of Regional Economic Integration: Trade Creation and Trade Diversion.

Testi/Bibliografia

Dennis R. Appleyard and Alfred J. Field, International Economics, 9th. ed. (International Student Edition), McGraw Hill (2017)

or

ISBN 9781307917956 CREATE MCGRAW-HILL - INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS – ALVISI (2023)

Slides prepared by the instructor and other materials will be made available during the course.

Metodi didattici

Lectures, class discussion, courseworks. Students are advised to read the material beforehand. The material pertaining to every single lecture is indicated in the detailed syllabus published in the website

https://virtuale.unibo.it/

at the beginning of the course.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Students attending lectures:

1.Class attendance and participation (10%), assessing the ability to discuss the material during class discussions.

2. 20-minute video presentation, assessing the ability to manage and apply the methods and knowledge absorbed during the entire course. Topics for the presentation will be delivered during the second week of the course. Videos will be shown and discussed in class during the last two lectures. Students are strongly encouraged to work in groups of five.

3. Written exam (counting for 50% of the final grade). A 1h15mnts, closed-book written examination, testing the theoretical knowledge acquired during the course.

The exam consists of 1 open question (with choice, 1 of 2 available questions, maximum 16 points) and 4 multiple-choice questions (in which the student is asked to justify his/her answer based on the theory studied - maximum 4 points each) on the whole program. The whole exam is worth a total of 32 points maximum. Students with 31 or 32 points get a "30 cum laude" mark.

 

Students not attending lectures:

The assessment will be 100% based on a 2-hour, closed-book written examination, testing the theoretical knowledge acquired during the course. The exam consists of 2 open questions (maximum 10 points each) and 6 multiple-choice questions (in which the student is asked to justify his/her answer based on the theory studied - maximum 2 points each) on the whole program. The whole exam is worth a total of 32 points maximum. Students with 31 or 32 points get a "30 cum laude" mark.

 

Assessment Method

In their answers, students must prove a good mastering of the topics, ability to perform critical analysis and appropriate technical jargon.

Therefore, excellence (16 points or cum laude in the open question and 4 points in the multiple-choice questions) is awarded to answers showing excellent mastering of the topic (exhaustive, correct, and complete), excellent analysis and perfect use of the jargon.

Sufficiency (9 - 10 points in the open question or 2 points in the multiple-choice questions) is achieved with correct answers, showing a satisfactory ability to perform critical analysis and mostly correct jargon.

Good performance (11 - 13 points in the open question or 3 points in the multiple-choice questions) is achieved with correct answers, showing a good level of completeness and exhaustivity and fairly good critical analysis.

Very good performance (14 - 15 points in the open question or 3/4 points in the multiple-choice questions) is achieved with correct, fully exhaustive, and complete answers, showing a very good critical thinking.

Non programmable calculators are allowed during the exam. However, no substitutes (cell phones, tablets or similar) are permitted.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

Slides and other material will be available on the course website.

During the first three weeks a tutor will offer 1-2 review sessions on the economic tools that the Professor will use in the remainder of the course.

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Matteo Alvisi