国际经济发展(贸易部分)
Course Description
This module introduces international trade as a core dimension of economic development. It begins with why trade matters in the world economy, using the rise of trade shares, China's WTO entry, the US-China trade war, and the Belt and Road Initiative as motivating cases. The course then develops the main analytical questions of international trade: whether countries gain from trade, why they specialize, how trade patterns are shaped by size, distance, and barriers, and how economists use models such as comparative advantage, new trade theory, and gravity to interpret real-world outcomes. The final weeks connect theory to current policy.
Learning Goals
- Explain why international trade matters for growth, development, and contemporary global politics.
- Use comparative advantage and related trade models to describe gains from trade and distributional effects.
- Interpret trade patterns through the intuition of endowments, scale, distance, borders, and the gravity model.
- Evaluate major applied issues, especially trade policy, the US-China trade war, and trade-environment tensions.
Weekly Schedule
| Week | Topic | Core Ideas | In-class Focus |
|---|
| 1 | Introduction | Why trade matters; global trade shares; China and WTO; US-China trade war; Belt and Road Initiative; framing the major questions of international trade. | Course overview |
| 2 | Comparative Advantage | Gains from trade, Ricardian logic, and the intuition for specialization even when countries differ in productivity. | Idea pitches begin |
| 3 | New Trade Theory | Scale economies, monopolistic competition, heterogeneous firms, and the link between trade and market structure. | Idea pitches continue |
| 4 | Trade Policy | Tariffs and non-tariff barriers, borders, impediments to trade, and the policy side of trade integration. | Coding clinic I |
| 5 | US-China Trade War | China shock, labor-market and political effects, and the use of trade policy as a geopolitical instrument. | Coding clinic II |
| 6 | Trade and Environment | Environmental consequences of trade, development trade-offs, and frontier issues such as carbon and global production. | Proposal presentations |
Applied Components
| Stage | Purpose | Student Preparation |
|---|
| Idea Pitch (Weeks 2-3) | Test whether the question is interesting and feasible. | Bring a concise project idea. Individual or pair work allowed, ~4 minutes per project. |
| Coding Clinic (Weeks 4-5) | Turn the idea into real research practice. | Prepare an up-to-2-page proposal plus one clearly labeled dataset. |
| Proposal Presentation (Week 6) | Present a focused research design and receive feedback. | 5 minutes presentation + 1 minute feedback. |
Reference Materials
- Reference textbook: KOM (for background only)
- Head, K. and Mayer, T. (2014). "Gravity Equations: Workhorse, Toolkit, and Cookbook."
- Anderson, J. and Van Wincoop, E. (2003). "Gravity with Gravitas: A Solution to the Border Puzzle."
