SDG Detail

ECON 741 : Topics in International Trade

Postgraduate course

Project description

The goal of the course is to provide students with a detailed understanding of key policy issues in international trade and how theory helps understand them. In this course, we will tackle questions such as: Why does New Zealand export dairy products, the US export aircraft and China export electronics? Why is there such passionate debate over trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)? Does outsourcing increase wage inequality? Should governments impose taxes on firms that outsource tasks to East-Asia? What implications will trade wars between countries have on welfare? A guiding principle governing the structure and content of the course is that the relevance of international trade theory is best understood through empirical analysis and application to real world issues. Hence, the course will have a strong theoretical and empirical component. The course structure includes lectures on theory, computer-based empirical exercises where we �test� and explore the theory using statistical software on actual data and seminars where we debate relevant trade-related questions.

Year 2022

Location New Zealand

Organization University of Auckland

Project aims

Project outcome

By the end of this course, students will be able to: Analyse why countries trade and who benefits and loses from trade. (Capability 1, 4.2 and 6) Apply theoretical and econometric skills to current trade-related real-world issues. (Capability 1 and 2) Communicate the evolution of the trade literature, from classic models to more recent developments. (Capability 4.1) Evaluate what trade policies are appropriate for developed and developing countries. (Capability 3 and 5.2) Identify pros and cons of trade policies and/or trade agreements pursued by countries in recent times. (Capability 1 and 2)