AØKA08021U International Economics (p)

Volume 2020/2021
Education

MSc programme in Economics – elective course

Bacheloruddannelsen i økonomi – Prioriteret valgfag på 3. år (angivet med et p)

The Danish BSc programme in Economics - prioritized elective at the 3rd year (symbolized by ‘p’).

The course is no longer a part of the Financial line.

 

Content

The purpose of the course is to give an introduction to traditional and new trade theories and selected topics in international monetary economics.

 

The course studies causes and consequences of international trade. We seek to answer questions such as:

  • Why do countries trade?
  • What do they trade?
  • Who gains and who loses from trade?
  • What is the impact of trade policy on welfare?

 

The course also considers aspects of the globalization debate:

  • Is wage inequality affected?
  • What are the implications of multinationals and offshoring?
  • How would various policy changes discussed in the news affect trade, welfare and inequality?

 

The class centers on the work horse models of international trade: The Ricardian model, the Heckscher-Ohlin and the Krugman model, but extends on these and discuss modern theories of strategic trade policy. There will be a small number of empirical papers as well.

Learning Outcome

After completing the course the student is expected to be able to:

 

Knowledge:

  • Account for why international trade arises.
  • Define and explain trade patterns under perfect and imperfect competition.
  • Account for the extent to which there are welfare gains from trade.

 

Skills:

  • Analyze and calculate how trade affects the beahavious of firms and consumers and how trade affects welfare and inequality.
  • Analyze and calculate how trade policy affectsfirm behaviour and analyze and calculate welfare implications of trade policy

 

Competencies:

  • Convert the material of the class into actionable trade policies
  • Understand, discuss and evaluate current policy proposals in light of the theory presented in the class.

 

  • Brander, J. and P. Krugman (1983), A 'Reciprocal Dumping' Model of International Trade, Journal of International Economics, 15, p. 313-321.
  • Brander, J. and B. Spencer (1985), Export Subsidies and International Market Share Rivalry, Journal of International Economics, 18, p. 83-100.
  • Feenstra, R.C. (2016), Advanced International Trade, Theory and Evidence, 2nd edition, Princeton University Press. Selected parts of chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9.
  • Autor, D; Dorn, D. and Hanson G. Untangling Trade and Technology: Evidence from Local Labour Markets, The Economic Journal, 2015
  • Krugman, P. (1979), Increasing Returns, Monopolistic Competition, and International Trade, Journal of International Economics, 9, p. 467-476.

 

Microeconomics I and II, and Macroeconomics I and II from the first two years of the Bachelor study in Economics, University of Copenhagen, or similar.

Especially the mathematical formalities of microeconomics are recommended.

Note, this is not an easy class. Understanding of differentiation, calculus etc. is taking as a given and the class is heavy in models.
Lectures and exercise classes.

Pandemic:
In case of a pandemic like Corona the teaching in this course may be changed to be taught either fully or partly online. For further information, see the course room on Absalon.
Schedule:
3 hours lectures a week from week 6 to 20 (except holidays).
2 hours exercise class a week from week 6/7 to 21 (except holidays).

The overall schema for the 3rd year and Master courses can be seen at KUnet:
MSc in Economics => "courses and teaching" => "Planning and overview" => "Your timetable"
BA i Økonomi/KA i Økonomi => "Kurser og undervisning" => "Planlægning og overblik" => "Dit skema"

Timetable and venue:
To see the time and location of lectures please press the link/links under "Timetable"/​"Se skema" at the right side of this page (F means Spring).

You can find the similar information partly in English at
https:/​/​skema.ku.dk/​ku2021/​uk/​module.htm
-Select Department: “2200-Økonomisk Institut” (and wait for respond)
-Select Module:: “2200-F21; [Name of course]”
-Select Report Type: “List – Weekdays”
-Select Period: “Forår/Spring – Week 5-30”
Press: “ View Timetable”
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Lectures
  • 42
  • Class Instruction
  • 28
  • Preparation
  • 133
  • Exam
  • 3
  • Total
  • 206
Oral
Individual
Collective

 

Students will receive individual feedback on their written assignments.

In addition, the lecturer gives collective oral feedback for the quizzes the students take during the lectures.

Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written examination, 3 hours under invigilation
in the exam venues of the university.

The exam assignment is given in English and must be answered in English.

In the event that this summer's exams have to be conducted as online exams due to COVID-19, the exam form will be a 3 H take-home exam with aids. The reexam will be the same as the rescheduled ordinary exam, but possibly online orally if only few students register.
____
Exam registration requirements

To qualify for the exam the student must during the semester and no later than the given deadlines:

  • Hand in and have approved 3 out of 4 written assignments. 

____

Aid
Without aids

for the written exam.

 

In case of an oral reexam, please go to the section "Reexam" for further information about allowed aids.

__

Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
for the written exam. The exam may be chosen for external censorship by random check
____
Exam period

The regular exam takes place:

9 June 2021

 

Exam information:

The exact time and room will be available in  the Digital Exam  from the middle of the semester.

 

In special cases, the exam date can be changed to another time and day. In case of COVID-19 restrictions, please refer to "Type of assessment".

 

For enrolled students more information about examination, rules etc. is available at  Master students (UK), Master students (DK) and Bachelor students (DK).

_

 

 

Re-exam

The written reexam take place:

12 August 2021

NOTE: If only few students register for the written re-exam, the re-exam might change to a 20 minutes oral examination with 20 minutes preparation time.

All written aids allowed during the preparation time, no aids allowed during the examination.

If changed to an oral re-exam, the exam date, time and place might change as well. The Examination's Office then inform the students by KU e-mail. In case of COVID-19 restrictions, please refer to "Type of assessment".

 

Reexam info:

Info is available in Digital Exam early August.

More info at Master(UK), Master(DK) and Bachelor(DK).

Criteria for exam assesment

Students are assessed on the extent to which they master the learning outcome for the course.

 

To receive the top grade, the student must with no or only a few minor weaknesses be able to demonstrate an excellent performance displaying a high level of command of all aspects of the relevant material and can make use of the knowledge, skills and competencies listed in the learning outcomes.