International Trade and Investment

Objectives

Familiarity with the theories, practice and institutions of international trade and trade policy to such an extent that the student is able to understand and assess inquisitively and critically actual developments in and international reporting on these areas.

Contents

This course studies the theory and practice of international trade relations and foreign direct investments. The course starts by discussing the classical trade theory in which absolute and relative cost and productivity advantage provide the impetus for trade. Subsequently, the neoclassical trade theory is reviewed with a focus on the Heckscher-Ohlin model and its implications for income redistribution and factor price equalisation. The so-called new trade theory focuses on imperfect competition models and explains intra-industry trade. International factor movements include international labour mobility and flows of investments across borders are increasingly important in the present-day world economy. The course also extensively investigates the practice of trade by examining the forms and impacts of trade policy (the various instruments and their effects), the political economy of trade policy and regional trade agreements (NAFTA, EU, etc.).

Registration at

Please go to https://www.sis.uva.nl.

Format

Weekly: a three-hour lecture and a three-hour tutorial.

Time

Please go to http://www.rooster.uva.nl .

Study materials

1. Krugman, P. R., Obstfeld, M. and Melitz, J. (2011), International Economics. Theory & Policy, 9th edition, Pearson International Edition, ISBN-10: 013274483X, ISBN-13: 978013274483, c. €69. To be studied chapters 1-11;
2. Appleyard, D. R., Field, A. J. Jr. & Cobb, S. L. (2010), International Economics, 7th edition, McGraw-Hill, ISBN 978-0-07-017268-5. To be studied chapter 17;
3. transparencies of the lectures and other materials that will be distributed via Blackboard at https://blackboard.ic.uva.nl.

Assessment

1. a one-hour midterm in the fourth week counting for 30% of the final grade: only multiple-choice questions;
2. a two-hour final examination counting for 70% of the final grade: 50% open questions + 50% multiple-choice questions;
3. the final mark for the course is the weighted average of the marks for the midterm and the final examination. If the mark for the open questions is below 45%, the final mark is given by that average with a maximum at 5;
4. In the case of a resit, the results obtained for the partial examination within the midterm will be disregarded. In the resit, the full course material will be tested;
5. all exams are in English.

Examination date

Please go to http://www.rooster.uva.nl and http://www.student.uva.nl/feb-academicyear.