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

Contents:

1. Introduction to International Economics.
2. An overview of World Trade.
3. Labor Productivity and Comparative Advantage: the Ricardian Model.
4. Specific Factors and Income Distribution.
5. Resources and Trade: the Heckscher-Ohlin Model.
6. The Standard Trade Model.
7. External Economies of Scale and the International Location of Production.
8. Firms in the Global Economy: Export Decisions, Outsourcing, and Multinational Enterprises.
9. The Instruments of Trade Policy.
10. The Political Economy of Trade Policy.
11. Trade Policy in Developing Countries.
12. Controversies in Trade Policy.
13. National Income Accounting and the Balance of Payments.
15. Money, Interest Rates and Exchange Rates.
16. Price Levels and the Exchange Rate in the Long Run.
17. Output and the Exchange Rate in the Short Run.
18. Fixed exchange rates and foreign exchange intervention.
20. Financial globalization: opportunities and crisis.

Textbook:

Paul Krugman, Maurice Obstfeld, Marc Melitz; International Economics: Theory and Policy (10th edition); Pearson; 2014; 1292074582;
Chapters 1 to 13, 15 to 18, 20.

Digital tools (optional):
www.MyEconLab.com

Suggested readings:
Barbara Ingham; International Economics; Financial Times Management; 2004; 140587029X;

Further readings will be distributed in class.

Learning objectives:

This course provides instruments to understand the Theories of International Trade and to analyze the main international economic events over time and space. 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, foreign exchange intervention of a central bank, and financial globalization, its opportunities and drawbacks.

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.
Optionally, students might study over the digital tool www.MyEconLab.com to get acquainted with interactive graphics, questions, and all the material in the chapters.

The teacher will mix traditional slides and videos with a dynamic interactive mode.

Students are required to solve INDIVIDUALLY simple homework and critically discuss the issues in class, once a week.

NEWS: Students are required to attend the parallel course of “Business Communication in English”, where they will learn COMMUNICATION techniques and English for academic purposes, including ACADEMIC WRITING. More information will be provided at the beginning of the course lectures.
In December, students will prepare a poster on a topic of their choice (from the program) and present it at a poster session, to experiment those COMMUNICATION techniques. This is a TEAM work, and the teacher will set each team. More details and instructions will be given at the beginning of the course lectures.
Finally, students INDIVIDUALLY will prepare a 2/3 page paper on a topic of choice (from the program) to put in practice their acquired ACADEMIC WRITING skills, such as e.g. in-text citations and referencing. They are required to hand in the paper and present it in class in front of the other classmates.

Other information:

Students are expected to study the main textbook, solve their homework, and read suggested readings for in-depth analysis.

RULES FOR NON ATTENDING STUDENTS:
Slides will be distributed to facilitate comprehension.
They CANNOT hand in homework.
They MAY participate to poster session and hand in the term paper IF AND ONLY IF they are able to attend most Business Communication lectures.
They MUST take the final test (starting from January).
Their final grade is based on final test only.

Assessment method:

Each of the requested activities has a specific weight in the final evaluation:
[30%]: Poster session active participation at the end of the course.
[30%]: Term paper.
[10%]: Homework: brief discussions once a week, about topics we discussed in class the week before, or exercises or data analysis (graphs or tables).
[30%]: Written test at the end of the course (starting from January). Students will answer theoretical and technical questions about international economics.