5184 - THE ECONOMICS OF GLOBALIZATION

The main aim of the course is to help students understand the main features of the current wave of globalization of goods and factor markets. The course starts with a brief review of the main insights and policy prescriptions from the standard trade theory. Then, it illustrates some new issues raised by globalization and the theories recently developed to address them. In particular, the main focus of the course is on: a) the effects of international trade and trade policy in the presence of imperfectly competitive markets (e.g., can protectionism raise national income in the presence of oligopolistic markets?; b) the effects of economic integration on the direction of technical change and wage income inequality (e.g., is it true that globalization causes the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer?); c) the effects of globalization on the spatial distribution of economic activity (will globalization strengthen or weaken agglomeration forces?); d) the political economy of trade policy (how is it that governments often opt for protectionism even when they reduce national income?); e) the economics of multilateral trade agreements (why do we need the WTO?); f) the impact of globalization on domestic institutions (does globalization help improve the working of domestic institutions? Does it induce a downsizing of the Welfare State?).

• Market structure, trade policy and international trade
• International trade, technical change and wage inequality
• Globalization and economic geography
• The political economy of trade policy
• The economics of trade negotiations

• Globalization, institutions and the welfare state

Written exam.

• H.P. BOWEN, A. HOLLANDER, J. VIAENE, Applied International Trade Analysis, MacMillan Press, 1998.
• E. HELPMAN, P. KRUGMAN, Trade Policy and Market Structure, MIT Press, Cambridge MA., 1989

• Additional readings will be available at the beginning of the course.

For further and continuously updated information consult the IEP web site or contact SID - Servizio Informazione Didattica - Institute of Economics - via Gobbi, 5 - Room 313.