2015/2016

2017/2018

DM270

SECS-P/01 (POLITICAL ECONOMY)

DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES

MODERN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES

LINGUE PER L'IMPRESA

3°

2nd semester (26/02/2018 - 01/06/2018)

6

40 lesson hours

Italian

WRITTEN TEST

MISSAGLIA MARCO (titolare) - 6 ECTS

Economics is a prerequisite.

The course introduces the main topics concerning international trade theories, trade policies, Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and multinational companies. The main purpose is to understand the essential elements of “globalization” and the international division of labor, as well as their effects on growth and welfare. At the end of the course, students will be able to think critically about issues such as:
- Is it true that globalization increased the world average per capita income?
- How has such a variation been distributed among countries and within each country?
- Is it a good idea to put in place very aggressive policies to attract FDI and multinational companies? Under which conditions?
- What about the main effects of capital liberalization, i.e. the distinctive feature of globalization, in terms of both efficiency and equity?
- What is the role of multilateral organization (e.g. the World Trade Organization, WTO) in a world where regional agreements are on the rise?

Introduction: international economics as a whole, financial and trade relations among countries
1) The classical theory (Ricardo-Torrens) of comparative costs
2) Neoclassical theory of international trade
3) The fundamental theorems of orthodox theory and their policy implications
4) Trade and international mobility of capital and labor
5) Natural resources, “Dutch disease” and deindustrialization
6) Tariffs, quotas and other restrictions of free trade
7) The infant industry argument (and a bit of history of economic development)
8) Preferential trade agreements and a world subdivided in several blocks (multilateralism vs. regionalism)
9) New theories of international trade, market power and strategic trade policy
10) Multinational companies and FDI
11) Globalization and then...neo-protectionism?

On top of attending traditional classes, students will be requested to form small groups and prepare a short essay (the modalities will be illustrated at the beginning of the course)

The main text is “Fondamenti di Economia Internazionale” (Giancarlo Gandolfo and Marianna Belloc, UTET Universita’, 2009), part III (parts I and II will be useful to prepare the exam of International Macroeconomics). The texts and papers needed to prepare the essays will be indicated during the course)

The final mark will be calculated as a weighted average: the essay will be gven a weight of 20%, whereas the final exam a weight of 80%. The latter, in turn, will be a written exam with both open and multiple choice questions

No