316-301
International Trade Policy
SUBJECT GUIDE
Semester 1, 2009
Prepared by
Russell Hillberry
Economics
Faculty of Economics and Commerce
Contents
Subject Outline 3
Introduction 3
Subject Aims 3
Prerequisites 3
Learning Outcomes 3
Subject Objectives 3
Contact Details 4
Lecturer Contact Details 4
Tutor Contact Details 4
Email Protocol 4
Lectures and Tutorials 5
Lecture Times 5
Lecture Schedule 5
Enrolling in Tutorials Using Alloc8 7
Using Lectopia 7
Assessment 7
Assessment Overview 8
Plagiarism and Collusion 9
Special Consideration 10
Further Assistance 10
Lecturer Consultations 10
Tutor Consultations 10
Revision Tests 10
Teaching & Learning Unit 10
Subject Outline
Introduction
Welcome to International Trade Policy. This course has three broad sections. First, you will learn various economic models that explain why a country might engage in international trade. Second, you will be exposed to the implied consequences of trade and trade policies for the economies of countries that engage in international trade. Third, you will be introduced to international trade institutions, and their roles in economic policymaking in the area of international trade. Throughout the course you will exposed to academic research that qualifies and/or extends the basic theories and knowledge that appears in the book.
Subject Aims
The overall aim of this subject is to develop an understanding of why countries trade, how engaging in international trade affects a country’s economy, whether countries can benefit their citizens with trade policy, and how trade policy institutions that govern international trade policy affect policy making in this area.
Prerequisites
316-202 Intermediate Microeconomics
Learning Outcomes
Subject Objectives
On successful completion of this subject you should be able to: explain the rationale for international trade in a variety of models, critically assess the models in terms of their assumptions and implications, discuss supplementary research that qualifies and extends the basic models, and critically discuss the implications of international trade institutions and agreements.
Contact Details
Lecturer Contact Details
Your coordinator for International Trade Policy is Russell Hillberry
Email:
Room: Economics and Commerce 611a
Phone: 5344-5354
Consultation Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 11-12
Tutor Contact Details
Meetings with the tutor are by appointment with the tutor Ben Methakullawat. His e-mail address is
Email Protocol
While academic staff endeavor to address queries received via email, it is more appropriate to resolve substantive questions face-to-face during normal consultation hours. With this in mind, we encourage all students to familiarize themselves with the consultation hours offered by lecturers and tutors in this subject.
Please note that we are only able to respond to student emails coming from a University email address. Please do not use personal email addresses such as Yahoo, Hotmail or even business email addresses. Emails from non-University email addresses may be filtered by the University’s spam filter, which means that we may not receive your email. All correspondence relating to this subject will only be sent to your University email address. Note that you must first activate your University email address before you can send or receive emails at that address. You can activate your email account at this link: http://accounts.unimelb.edu.au/.
Lectures and Tutorials
Lecture Times
Tuesday / 10:00am - 11:00am / LFR-Lower TheatreThursday / 10:00am - 11:00am / Old Arts-Theatre E
Lecture Schedule
This section provides a timetable of lectures for the entire semester.
Week / Date of Lecture / Topic / Required Reading1 / March 3, 5 / Introduction and overview;
Historical antecedents / Textbook, Chapter 1;
Irwin, Douglas, 1996, Against the Tide: An Intellectual History of Free Trade, “Chapter 1: Early Foreign Trade Doctrines.”
2 / March 10, 12 / Comparative advantage;
Ricardian model / Chapter 2;
Daniel M. Bernhofen and John C. Brown (2004), “A direct test of the theory of comparative advantage: the case of Japan”, Journal of Political Economy 112(1), 48-67.
3 / March 17, 19 / The Standard Theory of International Trade / Chapter 3;
Cuddington, John, Shamila Jayasuriya, and Rodney Ludema, 2002, “Prebisch-Singer Redux”
4 / March 24, 26 / Offer Curves and the Terms of Trade / Chapter 4;
5 / March 31, April 2 / Heckscher-Ohlin/ Specific Factors / Chapter 5;
Schott, Peter, 2004, “Across-Product versus Within-Product Specialization in International Trade,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 119(2):647-678 (May 2004).
Bernard et al. 2002, “Factor Price Equalization in the UK?” NBER Working Paper 9052.
6 / April 7 / Dutch Disease
(guest lecture) / Corden, W. Max and J. Peter Neary 1982, “Booming Sector and De-Industrialisation” The Economic Journal 92, pp. 825-848.
6 / April 9 / Economies of scale; / Chapter 6;
Bernard, Andrew, J. Bradford Jensen, Stephen Redding, and Peter Schott, 2007, “Firms in International Trade” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21(3) 105-130.
7 / April 21, 23 / External economies, Reciprocal dumping / Brander, James and Paul Krugman, 1983, “A Reciprocal Dumping Model of International Trade” Journal of International Economics 15, 313-323.
Friberg, Richard and Mattias Ganslandt, 2006, “An Empirical Assessment of the Welfare Effects of Reciprocal Dumping” Journal of International Economics 70, 1-24.
8 / April 28 / Mid-term examination
8 / April 30 / Economic Growth and International Trade / Chapter 7;
Hanson, Gordon and Matthew Slaughter, “The Rybczynski Theorem, Factor-Price Equalization, and Immigration: Evidence from U.S. States” NBER Working Paper 7074.
9-10 / May 5, 7, 12, 14 / Tariffs and other Trade Policy Instruments / Chapters 8-9;
Tyers, Rod and William Colman, 2005, “Beyond Brigden: Australia’s Pre-War Manufacturing Tariffs, Real Wages and Economic Size”
Chengyan Yue, John C. Beghin, 2007, “The Tariff Equivalent and Forgone Trade Effects of Prohibitive Technical Barriers to Trade” Iowa State Working Paper
Brander, James and Barbara Spencer, 1985, “Export Subsidies and International Market Share Rivalry” Journal of International Economics, 18, 83-100.
Eugene Beaulieu and Christopher Magee, 2004, “Campaign Contributions and Trade Policy: New Tests of Stolper-Samuelson.” Economics and Politics. 16(2), pp. 163-87.
Krugman, Paul R., 1987, “Is Free Trade Passe?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 1(2) 131-144.
11 / May 19, 21 / Trade institutions: WTO, preferential agreements, and endogenous trade policy / Chapter 10;
Panagariya, Arvind, undated, “Core WTO Agreements: Trade in Goods and Services and Intellectual Property,” Columbia University Policy Paper
12 / May 26, 28 / Trade and Developing Countries / Chapter 11;
Edmonds, Erik and Pavcnik, Nina, 2005, “The Effect of Trade Liberalization on Child Labor,” Journal of International Economics, 65(2), 401-419.
Enrolling in Tutorials Using Alloc8
Alloc8 is the University’s online tutorial allocation system. You must enrol in a tutorial for this subject using Alloc8 as soon as possible. Late enrolment into tutorials is handled by the Economics & Commerce Undergraduate Student Centre. More information about Alloc8, including cut-off dates and a link to the login page, can be found on the Faculty’s website: http://www.ecom.unimelb.edu.au/students/undergrad/alloc.html
Using Lectopia
An audio recording of lectures delivered in this subject will be made available for review in the days following each lecture. Audio recordings of lectures allow you to revise lectures during the semester, or to review lectures in preparation for the end of semester exam.
You can access recorded lectures by clicking on the Lectopia menu item in the LMS page for this subject.
To listen to Lectopia recordings, you must install QuickTime 7 (or a later version) on your computer.
Please note that Lectopia recordings are not a substitute for attendance; rather they’re designed for revision. On occasion a Lectopia recording can fail, usually due to technical reasons. In such cases, the lecture recording will not be made available.
Assessment
Assessment Overview
Your assessment for this subject comprises the following:
Assessment Task / Due / WeightingMid-semester exam / April 28, 2008 / 30%
End-of-semester exam / Assessment period / 70%
Mid-semester exam
The exam will take place during class time, at the regularly scheduled theatre. A revision exam will be provided in advance of the exam.
Final Exam
The time and place of the final exam is determined by the University. Do not plan to leave town before the end of the examination period. The format of the final exam will be largely similar to that of the mid-term exam. The final exam will cover the entire semester, not simply the second half. A revision exam will be provided in advance of the final exam.
Plagiarism and Collusion
Presenting material from other sources without full acknowledgement (referred to as plagiarism) is heavily penalised. Penalties for plagiarism can include a mark of zero for the piece of assessment or a fail grade for the subject.
Plagiarism is the presentation by a student of an assignment identified as his or her own work even though it has been copied in whole or in part from another student’s work, or from any other source (eg. published books, web-based materials or periodicals), without due acknowledgement in the text.
Collusion is the presentation by a student of an assignment as his or her own work when it is, in fact, the result (in whole or in part) of unauthorised collaboration with another person or persons. Both the student presenting the assignment and the student(s) willingly supplying unauthorised material are considered participants in the act of academic misconduct.
See http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/plagiarism/plagiarism.html for more information.
The Teaching and Learning Unit has developed a web-based ‘Academic Honesty Module’ that allows you to learn more about and test your knowledge of plagiarism and collusion. You are strongly encouraged to complete this module, which can be accessed at:
http://tlu.ecom.unimelb.edu.au/AcademicHonestyTest/index.cfm
Special Consideration
Students who have been significantly affected by illness or other serious circumstances during the semester may be eligible to apply for Special Consideration.
The following website contains detailed information relating to who can apply for Special Consideration and the process for making an application:
http://www.ecom.unimelb.edu.au/students/special/
Further Assistance
If you need assistance during the semester, you have several options:
Lecturer Consultations
Tuesday and Thursdays, 11-12:00, or by appointment.
Tutor Consultations
The tutor is available for consultation by appointment. He can be contacted by email at .
Revision Tests
Revision tests will be available in advance of both the mid-term and final exams.
Teaching & Learning Unit
The Teaching and Learning Unit offers a wide range of support services to students. If you are having any difficulty in studying for this subject you could arrange a consultation with the Unit’s learning skills specialist. The learning skills specialist can review your current approaches to study and offer advice on how to adjust to the demands of tertiary study. If you are a student from a non-English speaking background there is an English as a Second Language specialist who is available to help with your written work. Both of these specialists are available for face-to-face consultations or electronically through email. Go to the Faculty office to arrange for consultations or contact the specialists electronically through the Teaching and Learning Unit web page. The web page also contains a wide variety of study skills topics and information sheets for students, and a timetable of up-coming events, including focussed workshops, designed to support Economics and Commerce students in their study.
The Teaching and Learning Unit is located on the 2nd floor of the Babel Building. Please visit the TLU’s website – http://tlu.ecom.unimelb.edu.au/.
Make use of the Teaching and Learning Unit. It is there to help.
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