Portale di Ateneo - Unibs.it Portale di Ateneo - Unibs.it

Contents:

Introduction to International Economics.
An overview of World Trade.
Labor Productivity and Comparative Advantage: the Ricardian Model.
Specific Factors and Income Distribution.
Resources and Trade: the Heckscher-Ohlin Model.
The Standard Trade Model.
External Economies of Scale and the International Location of Production.
Firms in the Global Economy: Export Decisions, Outsourcing, and Multinational Enterprises.
The Instruments of Trade Policy.
Trade Policy in Developing Countries.
Controversies in Trade Policy.
National Income Accounting and the Balance of Payments.
Money, Interest Rates and Exchange Rates.
Price Levels and the Exchange Rate in the Long Run.
Output and the Exchange Rate in the Short Run.
International Monetary Systems.
Optimum Currency Areas and the European Experience.

Textbook:

Paul Krugman, Maurice Obstfeld, Marc Melitz; International Economics: Theory and Policy (10th edition); Pearson; 2014; 1292074582;
Chapters 1-17, 19, 20.

Digital tools:
www.MyEconLab.com

Suggested readings:

Barbara Ingham; International Economics; Financial Times Management; 2004; 140587029X;

Paul De Grauwe; Economics of Monetary Union (10th edition); Oxford University Press; 2014; 978-0-19-968444-1.

Learning objectives:

This course provides instruments to understand the Theories of International Trade and to analyze the main international economic events over time. We deal with the role of international economic institutions and trade policies, their evolution over time and across developed and developing countries. We also discuss the role of interest rates and exchange rates in an open economy.
Finally, we analyze the Optimum Currency Area theory, and critically discuss whether the Eurozone is indeed an OCA.

Pre-requisites:

Students must have a good knowledge of Principles of Micro and Macroeconomics (undergraduate level), General Mathematics and English language. Proficiency in English is useful but not required.

Teaching method:

It is advisable to attend each lecture, because the course requires students’ active learning.
We use, experimentally for the first time, the digital tool www.MyEconLab.com to get acquainted with interactive graphics, IE questions, and all the material in the chapters. This is a new method, so the teacher will mix traditional slides and videos with this dynamic interactive mode.

Students must solve simple homeworks and critically discuss them in class, once a week. A final presentation of a group project in English is required, in December. Groups of work will be defined by the teacher.

Other information:

Students must study the main textbook, being able to solve the exercises, and read part of the suggested books for in-depth analysis.
Slides will NOT be distributed to students.
NEWS! students need to enrol to www.MyEconlab.com site with the access code provided by the textbook and the guidelines provided by the teacher. We use experimentally, for the first time, the MyLab & Mastering tool to understand the material and solving exercises interactively.

Assessment method:

[50%]
Presentation of a project in English. Students will critically evaluate and discuss specific international economic issues, using either one of self-made video/ web page/ wiki/ slides to present in class. Working in group is mandatory. Presentations at the end of the course.

[10%]
Value of homeworks: brief discussions of the news appearing in international newspapers once a week, about topics we discussed in class the week before, or solving for exercises. Students can also surf databases to build graphs or tables to describe analytically the topic of their choice.

[40%]
Written test at the end of the course (starting in January). Students will answer theoretical and technical questions about international economics.