PUBLG110: International Trade Policy

Dr Michael Plouffe                                                                                                                           

Office Hours: TBC                                                                                                                           

Email: michael.plouffe@ucl.ac.uk                                                                                                    

Lecture Time: TBC

Location: TBC

Course Objectives

The causes and consequences of trade liberalization are both subjects of lengthy debates. Under what conditions is free trade possible? And, under what conditions is it desirable? This course explores the various answers that scholars have provided to these questions. We assess the sources of political demands for trade-policy outcomes as well as the consequences of these policy choices.

The course is divided into two parts. The first portion focuses on the factors that shape trade-preference formation and policy outcomes. We investigate whether formal institutions (and the rules they establish to govern markets) successfully promote trade, and alternative methods of foreign-market access. The second section shifts to the implications that open trade holds for a variety of policy domains. Is liberalization welfare-enhancing? Or are critics of globalization right to be skeptical?

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Assess the validity of theories and concepts in light of the evidence.
• Offer new insights in the politics of free trade and globalization.

Students are strongly advised against taking both PUBLG110 and PUBLG050 as there are substantial overlaps. PUBLG050 is intended to be accessible for students without a strong background in IPE or economics; this background will be assumed for PUBLG110. Students should consult the reading lists for further information.

Organization of Teaching

The course is taught through weekly lectures and seminars. Each weekly session will involve a lecture of about 50 minutes and a seminar of comparable length. Attendance at both sessions is required.

The lectures will be dedicated to introducing broad theories and concepts, providing historical overviews of each week’s topic and raising questions for further discussion in the seminars. The lectures are designed to provide sufficient background for more detailed and fruitful group discussions.

The seminars will cover each week’s topic in detail. The object of the seminar is to facilitate student participation and interaction as well as broaden students’ understandings of the issues and debates introduced in the lectures. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the relevant theories and concepts, apply these theories to particular policy domains, and to identify and problems or shortcomings in the literature. Students will present at least one paper from the additional readings (subject to prior approval), focusing on its contribution and research design.

Assessment Criteria

Students will be assessed by a 3,000 word essay on the topic of their choice (pending approval by the instructor). Guidelines and expectations will be distributed in class.

Essays must be double-spaced, have numbered pages, be correctly and consistently referenced, and include a bibliography. Essays must also include a cover page with the following information: course title, essay title, essay number, and submission date. To ensure essays are marked anonymously, students should omit their names from their essays. Student names should only be included on the header sheet.

A note on plagiarism. Cheating and plagiarism are unacceptable. Students caught committing either of these breaches of conduct will be subject to the disciplinary procedures detailed in the University Handbook. Students should consult the Handbook for a comprehensive description of academic dishonesty. Students with any questions should seek clarification prior to submission of work.

Course Outline

There is no mandatory textbook for the class. Listed readings are available in electronic article format and can be located easily through the links provided on the Moodle page.

The readings for most weeks are divided into three sections. Required readings indicate those with which all students are expected to demonstrate strong familiarity. Background readings are provided as a brief introduction to underlying economic models that will be referenced during a particular week’s lecture and seminars. Students unsure of their familiarity with a particular topic may want to reference these first. Finally, the recommended readings provide a sampling of the best research on each week’s topic.

For students seeking a supporting text on the economics of international trade, or international political economy, the following are recommended:

Krugman, Paul, Maurice Obstfeld and Marc Melitz. 2014. International Trade: Theory and Policy, 10/E. New York: Pearson.

Oatley, Thomas. 2012. International Political Economy, 5/E. New York: Pearson-Longman.

Frieden, Jeffry A. 2007. Global Capitalism: Its Rise and Fall in the Twentieth Century. New York: WW Norton.

1. A Brief History of International Trade
2. Classic Models of Policy Preferences
3. Firms and Trade-Policy Preferences
4. Transforming Preferences into Policy
5. Alternatives to Trade
6. The International Trading System: GATT/WTO and Regionalism
7. Trade and Immigration
8. Trade, Development, and Inequality
9. Trade and the Environment
10. Risk, Economic Integration and Trade Volatility

This module begins with an introduction to the history and development of trade, along with the development of theories used to explain the phenomena. With this overview in mind, the module then explores sources of preferences over trade policy and the ways that these are channeled by political institutions to create policy outcomes. The focus then shifts to international institutions and overlapping (and frequently controversial) concerns with other issue areas before closing with an examination of trade in the context of broader economic globalization.