Dr Veronica Rappoport-Redondo NAB5.29

This course is available on the MSc in Economics and Management, MSc in International Management, MSc in Management and Regulation of Risk, MSc in Management and Strategy and MSc in Risk and Finance. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

Basic Knowledge of Mathematics and Economics

The course studies a key component of the "globalization" process: the negotiation, implementation and implications of international trade agreements (ITAs). These include the World Trade Organisation and the fast-growing web of regional trade agreements. We analyse the challenges and opportunities faced by companies engaged in the global economy in this context. The course relies on recent theoretical and empirical research to gain insight into the motivations for ITAs and their consequences for consumers and firms. Globalisation - trends in the international economy and overview of their causes and effects. The sources of international trade. Trade barriers - restrictions to international trade and their consequences. The economics and politics of international trade agreements. The rules, accomplishments and shortcomings of the GATT/WTO system. Regional trade agreements - motivation, implications, and recent trends. The costs and benefits from exporting for individual firms. Challenges and opportunities for national and multinational firms in the global economy.

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the MT. 1 hour of lectures in the ST.

Students on this course will have a reading week in Week 6, in line with departmental policy.

A mock examination will be held.

Robert Feenstra and Alan Taylor, International Economics, Worth Publishers, 2008. Kyle Bagwell and Robert W. Staiger, "The Economics of the World Trading System," MIT Press, 2004. The World Trade Organisation, "The WTO and preferential trade agreements: From co-existence to coherence," World Trade Report, 2011. Bernard M. Hoekman, Aaditya Mattoo, Philip English (editors), "Development, Trade, and the WTO: A Handbook," World Bank, 2002. Andrew Bernard, J. Bradford Jensen, Stephen Redding and Peter Schott, Firms in International Trade, Journal of Economic Perspectives 21(3), 105-130, 2007.

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the main exam period.