GCP 791: Advanced Trade Policy Analysis
Revised: October 25, 2022
Kenneth A. Reinert
Phone: 703-993-8212
Email: kreinert@gmu.edu
Office: Founders Hall, 627
Office hours: TBA
Course Description
This course introduces the student to both international trade theory and trade policy analysis. It is intensive in graphical analysis. Schar School students should not take this course unless they have either done well in ITRN 504 of have taken PUBP 720. Students from other programs are welcome to take the course if they have completed the equivalent of intermediate microeconomics.
For Ph.D. students taking PUBP 881, there will be an additional one-credit independent study that is part of the course. I will work with Ph.D. students to determine the content of that additional credit.
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding: This course introduces the student to a more advanced treatment of trade theory than does ITRN 504 and emphasized how this theory helps us understand the reasons for and processes of international trade in goods and services.
Analytic Skills and Abilities: The course develops general equilibrium reasoning in microeconomics as shows how this reasoning can be applied to understanding the political economy of trade and trade policy analysis.
Professional Development and Leadership: The course further introduces the student to the lexicon of trade policy analysis, better preparing the student for potential employment in this field.
Main Course Material
The main course material will be a set of detailed notes posted on a week-by-week basis on Blackboard.
Useful Books
Bhagwati, J., A. Panagariya, and T.N. Srinivasan (1998) Lectures on International Trade, MIT Press.
Feenstra, R.C. (2004) Advanced International Trade: Theory and Evidence, Princeton University Press.
Feenstra, R.C. and A. M. Taylor (2017) International Trade, Worth Publishers.
Francois, J.F. and K.A. Reinert (eds.) (1997) Applied Methods for Trade Policy Analysis: A Handbook, Cambridge University Press.
Helpman, E. and P.R. Krugman (1989) Trade Policy and Market Structure, MIT Press.
Hertel, T.W. (ed.) (1997) Global Trade Analysis: Modeling and Applications, Cambridge, University Press.
Hoekman, B. and M. Kostecki (2009)The Political Economy of the World Trading System, Oxford University Press.
Reinert, K.A. (2012) An Introduction to International Economics, Cambridge University Press.
van Marrewijk, C. (2002) International Trade and the World Economy, Oxford University Press.
Vousden, N. (1990) The Economics of Trade Protection, Cambridge University Press.
World Bank (undated) A Guide to Trade Data Analysis.
Course Requirements and Grading
Problem Sets- 20 percent
Midterm exam- 30 percent
Final exam- 30 percent
Class participation- 20 percent
Course Outline and Readings
Weeks 1 and 2 (August 23 and 30): Introduction and Microeconomics of Closed and Open Economies
Reinert, “Microeconomics,” posted on Blackboard.
Problem Set #1 Posted on Blackboard
Recommended:
Humphrey, T.M. (1996) “The Early History of the Box Diagram,” Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Economic Quarterly, 82:1, 1996, 37-75.
Maneschi, A. (2009) “Comparative Advantage,” in K.A. Reinert, R.S. Rajan, A.J. Glass and L.S. Davis (eds.), Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy, Princeton University Press, 198-205.
Week 3 (September 6): Ricardian Model
Reinert, “Ricardian Model,” posted on Blackboard.
Problem Set #1 Posted on Blackboard
Recommended:
Bhagwati, Panagariya, and Srinivasan, Chapters 2 through 4.
Deardorff, A. (2009) “Ricardian Model,” in K.A. Reinert, R.S. Rajan, A.J. Glass and L.S. Davis (eds.), Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy, Princeton University Press, 973-980.
Grossman, G.M. and E. Helpman (1995) “Technology and Trade,” in G. Grossman and K. Rogoff (eds.), Handbook of International Economics, Volume III, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1279-1337.
Ruffin, R.J. (2002) “David Ricardo’s Discovery of Comparative Advantage,” History of Political Economy, 34:4, 727-748.
Stern, R.M. (1962) “British and American Productivity and Comparative Costs in International Trade,” Oxford Economic Papers, 14:3, 275-296.
Week 4 (September 13): Heckscher-Ohlin Model
Reinert, “Heckscher-Ohlin Model,” posted on Blackboard.
Problem Set #2 Posted on Blackboard
Recommended:
Bhagwati, Panagariya, and Srinivasan, Chapters 5, 6, and 8.
Panagariya, A. (2009) “Heckscher-Ohlin Model,” in K.A. Reinert, R.S. Rajan, A.J. Glass and L.S. Davis (eds.), Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy, Princeton University Press, 591-597.
Reinert, K.A. and K.W. Roland-Holst (1998) “North-South Trade and Occupational Wages: Some Evidence from North America,” Review of International Economics, 6:1, 74-89.
Stolper, W. and P.A. Samuelson (1941) “Protection and Real Wages,” Review of Economic Studies, 9:3, 58-73.
Trefler, D. (1995) “The Case of Missing Trade and Other Mysteries,” American Economic Review, 85:5, 1029-1046.
Week 5 (September 20): Specific Factors Model Problem Set #1 Due
Reinert, “Specific Factors Model,” posted on Blackboard.
Problem Set #2 Posted on Blackboard
Recommended:
Bhagwati, Panagariya, and Srinivasan, Chapter 7.
Jones, R.W. (2009) “Specific-Factors Model,” in K.A. Reinert, R.S. Rajan, A.J. Glass and L.S. Davis (eds.), Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy, Princeton University Press, 1021-1026.
Jones, R.W. (1971) “A Three-Factor Model in Theory, Trade, and History,” in J.N. Bhagwati et al., Trade, Balance of Payments and Growth, North Holland, 3-21.
Neary, J.P. (1978) “Short-Run Capital Specificity and the Pure Theory of International Trade,” Economic Journal, 88:351, 488-510.
Week 6 (September 27): Movements of Labor and Capital Problem Set #2 Due
Reinert, “Movements of Labor and Capital,” posted on Blackboard.
Recommended:
Mundell, R.A. (1957) “International Trade and Factor Mobility,” American Economic Review, 47:3, 321-335.
Purvis, D.D. (1972) “Technology, Trade and Factor Mobility,” Economic Journal, 82:327, 991-999.
Reinert, Chapters 9, 10 and 11.
Week 7 (October 4): Midterm Exam
Week 8 (October 11): No Class
Week 9 (October 18): New Trade Theory: Increasing Returns to Scale and Imperfect Competition
Reinert, “Imperfect Competition and Economies of Scale,” posted on Blackboard.
Recommended:
Bhagwati, Panagariya, and Srinivasan, Chapters 11 and 30.
Krugman, P. (1980) “Scale Economies, Product Differentiation, and the Pattern of Trade,” American Economic Review, 70:5, 950-959.
Matschke, X. (2009) “New Trade Theory,” in K.A. Reinert, R.S. Rajan, A.J. Glass and L.S. Davis (eds.), Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy, Princeton University Press, 829-833.
Melitz, M.J. and D. Tefler (2012) “Gains from Trade When Firms Matter,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 26:2, 91-118.
Ruffin, R.J., “The Nature and Significance of Intra-Industry Trade,” Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Economic and Financial Review, 1999.
Week 10 (October 25): Revealed Comparative Advantage, Gravity Models and Applied General Equilibrium Analysis
Reinert, “Revealed Comparative Advantage, Gravity Models and Applied General Equilibrium Analysis”
Recommended:
Belassa, B. (1965) “Trade Liberalization and ‘Revealed’ Comparative Advantage,” Manchester School of Economic and Social Studies, 33:2, 92-123.
Reinert, K.A. (2009) “Applied General Equilibrium Models,” K.A. Reinert, R.S. Rajan, A.J. Glass and L.S. Davis (eds.), Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy, Princeton University Press, 74-78.
Reinert, K.A. (2009) “Gravity Models,” K.A. Reinert, R.S. Rajan, A.J. Glass and L.S. Davis (eds.), Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy, Princeton University Press, 567-570.
Rodrigo, G.C. (2009) “Revealed Comparative Advantage,” in K.A. Reinert, R.S. Rajan, A.J. Glass and L.S. Davis (eds.), Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy, Princeton University Press, 971-973.
Weeks 11 and 12 (November 1 and 8): Trade Policy Analysis Problem Set #3 Handed Out
Reinert, “Trade Policy Analysis,” posted on Blackboard.
Reinert, K.A. (2014) “Sensitivity Analysis in An Imperfect Substitutes Model of Preferential Trade,” Journal of Economic Studies, 41:5, 630-643.
Problem Set #3 Posted on Blackboard
Recommended:
Francois, J.F. and Hall, H.K. (1997) “Partial Equilibrium Modeling,” in J.F. Francois and K.A. Reinert (eds.) Applied Methods for Trade Policy Analysis: A Handbook, Cambridge:University Press, 122-155.
Francois, J.F. and Reinert, K.A. (2009) “Partial Equilibrium Models,” in K.A. Reinert, R.S. Rajan, A.J. Glass and L.S. Davis (eds.) The Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy, Princeton University Press, 891-894.
Rouslang, D.J. and Suomela, J.W. (1988) “Calculating the Welfare Costs of Import Restrictions in the Imperfect Substitutes Model,” Applied Economics 20:5, 691-700.
Week 13 (November 15): Global Value Chains and Trade in Value Added Problem Set #3 Due
Reinert, “Global Value Chains and Trade in Value Added,” posted on Blackboard.
Ahmad, N. (2013) “Estimating Trade in Value Added: Why and How?” in D.K. Elms and P. Low (eds.), Global Value Chains in a Changing World, World Trade Organization, 85-108.
Low, P. (2013) “The Role of Services in Global Value Chains,” in D.K. Elms and P. Low (eds.), Global Value Chains in a Changing World, World Trade Organization, 61-81.
Recommended:
Baldwin, R. (2016) The Great Convergence: Information Technology and the New Globalization, Harvard University Press.
Feenstra, R.C. and B. Jensen (2009) “Outsourcing/Offshoring,” in K.A. Reinert, R.S. Rajan, A.J. Glass and L.S. Davis (eds.), Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy, Princeton University Press, 881-887.
Gupta, P. (2017) “Global Production Networks,” in K.A. Reinert (ed.), Handbook of Globalisation and Development, Elgar, 153-168.
Taglioni, D. and D. Winkler (2016) Making Global Value Chains Work for Development, World Bank.
World Trade Organization TiVA Statistics
Week 14 (November 22): No Class
Week 15 (November 29): Review of Semester (May 1)
Week 16 (December 6): Final Exam
Some Policies
No texting in class unless it is an emergency.
Exams are not “open book” or “open notes.”
There is no “extra work” that can be done for “extra credit.”
Students are responsible for obtaining notes from other class members if they miss a class.
The GMU honor code will be enforced. To be more specific: If I can show that a student cheated on an exam, that student will fail the course.
It is my personal policy to not discriminate among students based on race, ethnicity, religious faith, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or physical ability (see below).
Academic Accommodation for a Disability
If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please see me and contact the Disability Resource Center (DRC) at 703-993-2474. All academic accommodations must be arranged through the DRC.