This course provides the basic theoretical and methodological tools to frame international trade problems and policies. Special emphasis will be given to the recent disruptions in global trade induced by the pandemic and energy crises, as well as the recent controversies over tariffs. International trade in goods and services expanded rapidly over the last 60 years, thanks to a drastic reduction in trade barriers and shipping costs, the outsourcing of production activities and the improvements in communication technologies. By increasing the exchange of products, technological advances and information, globalization has brought benefits in terms of wealth, production, economic growth and improvements in the overall well-being of the involved countries. However, it has also created a redistribution of resources across sectors and countries and new risks in terms of national security and supply volatility. The course will also discuss novel research on the current structure of global value chains and the recently introduced trade-related regulation in both the US (i.e., Chips Act, Inflation Reduction Act) and the EU (i.e., Net Zero Industry Act).

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The course focuses on the main concepts, models and theories of international trade. Salient topics in the political economy of trade (i.e., the structure, resilience and robustness of global value chains, EU/US trade-related regulations, the instruments of trade policy etc.) will be explored in student-led discussions and presentations.

- Krugman, P., Obstfeld, M., & Melitz, M. (2023). International Economics Theory and Policy 12e. Pearson. (Hereafter KOM) https://tinyurl.com/5ywtpwn6 Other materials, the slides of the lectures, relevant reports and journal articles will be provided on the website during the course.

On campus lectures will be devoted to the main topics/models of international trade theory. Exercise sessions will provide the opportunity for students to test their understanding of trade models. Group presentations will be leveraged to discuss current policy issues.

GROUP PRESENTATIONS (30% of the final grade): Students will form groups of 2/3 individuals and be asked to deliver a presentation on an assigned topic (20/25 minutes for the speakers and 5/10 minutes for questions from the rest of the class). Groups will be assigned an article that will be the backbone of the presentation. You are required to summarize and illustrate the article to the class, but you are welcome to enrich it with additional research/literature. Presentations are evaluated on: i) clarity (i.e. did you correctly identify and report the issue of the article?), ii) depth of research (i.e. did you enrich the presentation with additional resources?), iii) exposition (i.e. was the presentation well delivered?), iv) critical thinking (i.e., can you identify additional relevant issues/questions?). NOTE: Everyone is required to read the assigned articles, and their content will be part of the material from which the exam can draw from. INDIVIDUAL REPORTS (30% of the final grade): You can freely pick the topic of your report among relevant issues in international trade and globalization. Reports are due on the last week of the course, they should be between 4 and 6 pages long (excluding references) and be structured as a short literature-review thesis (please refer to the “Master’s Thesis Guide” on Moodle for additional information on structure, quality criteria, etc.). EXAM (40% of the final grade): The final exam will have 3 parts: 1. Multiple choice questions (35% of the exam grade), 2. Exercises (35% of the exam grade), 3. Short open questions (30% of the exam grade). We will have 4 exercise sessions during the year to train for the exam. You can get some additional practice by solving the exercises in the textbook. Multiple choice questions and open questions can include topics from the articles assigned for the presentations.