CORSO DI STUDIO: Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Economia aziendale                                                 a.a. 2015/2016

Denominazione insegnamento

International Economics

Lingua dell’insegnamento: Inglese
Crediti e ore di lezione: 6 CFU – 48h

Moduli: NO

Settore scientifico disciplinare: SECS-P/02

Docente (nome e cognome): Paolo Ermano
Indirizzo email: paolo.ermano@uniud.it
Pagina web personale: https://people.uniud.it/page/paolo.ermano

Prerequisiti e propedeuticità/Requirements

The course takes place in the first semester of the first year and it does not require any propaedeutic course.
As for the prerequisites, it requires student to reconsider the topics discussed during Microeconomics and Macroeconomics courses.

Conoscenze e abilità da acquisire/Knowledge and skills

The course would like to provide adequate knowledge of the main theories of international economics, from David Ricardo until the more modern approaches. The aim is both to develop an understanding of the models developed across the decades, and to understand the reasons that led us to consider these different economic theories.

Skills related to this discipline

The course aims to provide knowledge of the reasons that lead both nations to trade, so as to identify the key variables to determine if a company or an industry has the needed features to look out to the international market. Particular attention will be devoted to the understanding of the effects of the market on the welfare of the nations involved in international trade.
This knowledge will have a practical impact in providing the necessary tools to understand the dynamics of the globalization process under way, and will bring the student to deal with a series of models linked by very strict economic logic, logic that forms the modus operandi of an economist

Soft skills

The ways in which the course is organized should provide students with the tools used to independently manipulate a model for a better understanding of reality, starting from the identification of the most critical cases, to the development of models with new specifications.
It will also be given the opportunity to compare theoretical models with data and trends in international trade, so as to be aware of the advantages and limits of the interpretation keys presented during the course.

Programma e contenuti dell’insegnamento/Course description

After a brief introduction about the international trade context, the course will focus on three main themes:
• Theoretical models of the international economy:
• Comparative advantages model
• Specific factors model
• Heckscher-Ohlin model
• The Standard Trade Model
• Theoretical models from the point of view of the enterprise:
• External Economies of Scale: Industry
• Internal economies of scale: the enterprise
• The main economic policies:
• Tariff
• Subsidies
• Dumping
• Free Trade versus Protectionism

Attività di apprendimento e metodi didattici previsti/Teaching and Learning activities

Lecture Slides (which will be released during the semester) cover the entire teaching program.
They form part of the material that will be made available to the student.
The course will follow the setting of the book's main text. For some of the topics we will be provided additional materials.
There are also optional readings on issues not related to the course.

Modalità di verifica dell’apprendimento/Examination

The exam is written and consists of 3 parts:
o Questions to evaluate the theoretical knowledge gained from the study of course materials
o A question on recent events to assess the ability to adapt their knowledge to the flow of events that change the economic framework
o An optional question to assess the analytical capacity and sensitivity on a broader economic issue.

Testi/Bibliografia/Bibliography

Krugman, Obstfeld & Melitz (2014) International Economics, global edition – 10° edition
Pearson International

Strumenti a supporto della didattica/Further readings and support material

Lecture slides can be downloaded from the teacher’s page at “Materiale Didattico”.

Tesi/Thesis

In the light of the above, you can carry out two types of theses related to the course:
• Theoretical: by modelling or analysing the approaches in the literature reference;
• Analytical: studying the trends described by international organizations in order to assess, understand and predict the development of international trade.

Note/Remarks

The course requires the commitment by the student to know the major events related to the on going process of globalization.
Without this commitment, many of the ideas and issues raised during the course will be difficult to grasp, because distant both geographically and in epistemological terms.