Dr Leonardo Baccini LCH 2.08

This course is available on the MPA in European Public and Economic Policy, MPA in International Development, MPA in Public Policy and Management, MPA in Public and Economic Policy, MPA in Public and Social Policy, MSc in International Affairs (LSE and Peking University), MSc in International Political Economy, MSc in International Political Economy (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in International Political Economy (Research) and MSc in Political Science and Political Economy. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

All students are required to obtain permission from the Teacher Responsible by completing the Student Statement box on the online application form linked to course selection on LSE for You. Admission is not guaranteed.

The focus of the course is on explanations of trade policy choices as the result of political and economic factors. The first part of the course covers key models in the economics of international trade, including the New New Trade Theory. The second part of the course addresses political economy theories to explain protectionism and trade liberalisation. Particular attention is devoted to the role of interest groups and domestic political institutions in trade policy. The third part of the course studies how international regimes (e.g. the WTO and preferential trade agreements) affect trade policy in developed and developing countries. The fourth part of the course focuses on the effect of trade liberalisation in developing economies. This part of the course places emphasis on the relationship between trade, foreign direct investment, and the activities of multinational companies. The last part of the course looks at the links between international trade and other policy areas such as monetary policy, migration, and environment.

There is no formal prerequisite for this course. However, some grounding in economics will be helpful for students. Quantitative training, usually in the form of some undergraduate coursework in statistics,  mathematics, trade or finance may well substitute for previous coursework in economics, provided you make the effort to work through the trade section of an undergraduate international economics textbook.

Watch a short introductory video on this course: http://www2.lse.ac.uk/internationalrelations/video/IR457-PEIT-video.aspx

10 hours of lectures and 12 hours of seminars in the MT. 10 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the LT.

A series of 20 lectures (IR457) and 18 seminars (IR457) based on student presentations. Lectures begin in week one of the MT and seminars begin in the third week of the MT. Fourteen lectures on Introduction to Some Concepts in Economics will also be given as part of IR450.1, explaining the law of comparative costs, purchasing power parity, the quantity theory of money, the balance of payments and other concepts currently used in the literature. These lectures, starting in week one of the MT, are highly recommended for MSc IPE students without any background in economics. 

Students will be expected to produce one formative essay in the MT.

The bulk of this course will be taught using journal articles published in both leading economics and political science journals. In addition, students will find it useful to consult several overview texts on the political economy of trade and the workings of the global trading system, among them Paul R. Krugman, Maurice Obstfeld, and Marc Melitz (2011), International Economics, 9th ed. Prentice Hall; Bernard M. Hoekman and Michel M. Kostecki (2010), The Political Economy of the World Trading System, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press; Douglas A. Irwin (2009), Free Trade Under Fire, 3rd edition, Princeton University Press; and Robert Feenstra (2004), Advanced International Trade: Theory and Evidence, Princeton University Press; Thomas Oatley (2009) International Political Economy, 4th edition, Pearson. A detailed reading list will be made available on Moodle.

Exam (60%, duration: 3 hours) in the main exam period.
Essay (40%, 3000 words) in the LT.

Note from the Course Coordinator: This course has changed significantly over the past three years in terms of topics and material included in the syllabus, assessment methods, and instructors involved in lectures and seminars. The current structure of the course is very similar to that offered in 2013/2014.