University
of Washington
GEOG
349: Geography of International Trade (focus
on North America)
Autumn 2004
Contents of this syllabus:
COURSE SYNOPSIS
The fundamental rationale for trade is to gain from comparative
advantage, though there are important political motivations, as well.
The bases for comparative advantage are geographic, economic, and institutional.
The degree to which a particular country gains from trade with a
potential partner also depends on geography (logistics), economics
(costs and prices), and institutions (policies and practices in
the internal economies and regulating international relations). Further,
geography, economics, and institutions determine the social and geographic
distribution of gains from trade, within each country. Canada
and the U.S. provide important empirical examples of the geographic,
economic, and political bases for the patterns, policies, and impacts of
trade and foreign direct investment (FDI).
STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES
From this course, students should:
-
Gain familiarity with basic principles of international trade and FDI,
including principles of policy formulation.
-
Gain some familiarity with trends and influences on Canadian and US trade
and FDI flows and policies.
-
Gain experience in using concepts and statistical information to develop
and present arguments about trade policies.
-
Gain experience in articulating the complex effects of international trade
and FDI.
-
Become aware of key processes of and decision criteria for foreign exchange,
exporting, and supply logistics.
INSTRUCTOR, TIMES, and PLACES
Professor James
W. Harrington; 408 Smith Hall; jwh@u.washington.edu;
206-616-3821; fax 206-543-3313
Class meetings: TTh, 10:30 a.m. -
12:20 p.m., 105 Smith
Hall
Office Hours: by appointment (e-mail
Prof. Harrington)
REQUIREMENTS
Meetings and readings. The course
meets twice a week. Read the assigned material before the class;
we will discuss the assigned readings. The assigned readings include:
the instructor's on-line notes (which will be linked to this syllabus in
the Schedule section);
two required specialized books and two optional textbooks available at
University Book Store [UBS], 4326 University Way NE, 206-634-3400;
several on-line articles that are linked to this syllabus; and
five articles or chapters available to be copied at Rams Copy Center, 4144
University Way NE, 206-632-6630.
All the assigned readings are listed below.
-
Bello, W. no date [c.2001]. Building an iron cage: the
Bretton Woods institutions, the WTO, and the South. S.Anderson, ed.
Views
from the South: The Effects of Globalization and the WTO on Third World
Countries. Sausalto, CA: International Forum on Globalization.
[Required: Rams]
-
Brainard, L. and Shapiro, H. 2001. Fast Track Trade
Promotion Authority. Policy Brief #91. Washington DC:
Brookings Institution. [Required: linked
online]
-
Britton, J.N.H. 1996. Introduction. Ch. 1 in Canada
and the Global Economy: The Geography of Structural and Technological Change,
J.N.H. Britton, ed. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University
Press. [Required: Rams, OUGL reserve]
-
Clement, N.C. et al. 1999. North American Economic
Integration: Theory and Practice. Cheltenham, UK: Edward
Elgar. [Required: UBS, OUGL reserve]
-
Curtis, J.M. 2001. Trade and civil society: toward greater
transparency in the policy process. Trade Policy Research.
Canada Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. [Required:
linked
online]
-
Curtis, J.M. and Ciuriak, J. 2002. The nuanced case
for the Doha round. Trade Policy Research. Canada Department
of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. [Required: linked
online]
-
Daniels, J.D. and L.H. Radebaugh. 2004. International
Business, Environments and Operations, 10th edition. Reading,
MA: Addison-Wesley. [Optional: UBS, OUGL reserve]
-
Dicken, P. 2003. The changing global economic map. Ch.3
in Global Shift: Transforming the World Economy, 4th edition.
New York: Guilford Press. [Required: Rams, UBS, OUGL reserve]
-
Dicken, P. 2003. Global Shift: Transforming the World
Economy, 4th edition. New York: Guilford Press. [Optional:
UBS, OUGL reserve]
-
Dicken, P. 2003. Making a living in developed countries:
where will the jobs come from? Ch.16 in Global Shift: Transforming
the World Economy, 4th edition. New York: Guilford Press. [Required:
Rams, UBS, OUGL reserve]
-
Hart, M. 2003. A Trading Nation: Canadian Trade Policy
from Colonialism to Globalization. Vancouver BC: UBC Press.
[Optional: OUGL reserve]
-
Larson, F. 2001. The IMF’s dialogue with nongovernmental
organizations.
Finance and Development 38(1). [Optional: linked
online]
-
Lustig, N.C. 1997. NAFTA: Setting the Record Straight.
Policy Brief #20. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution. [Required:
linked
online]
-
Norcliffe, G. 1996. Foreign trade in goods and services.
Ch. 2 in Canada and the Global Economy: The Geography of Structural
and Technological Change, J.N.H. Britton, ed. Montreal:
McGill-Queen’s University Press. [Required: Rams, OUGL reserve]
-
Schultze, C.L. 2004. Offshoring, Import Competition,
and the Jobless Recovery. Policy Brief #136. Washington,
DC: Brookings Institution. [Optional: linked
online]
-
Stiglitz, J.E. 2002. Globalization and Its Discontents.
New York: W.W. Norton. [Required: UBS, OUGL reserve]
Writing assignments. There are three
short writing assignments. We'll discuss these assignments and your
results in class, and you should make use of the website
established to identify library resources, the website
established to identify international statistical data sources, the course's
site of potentially useful resource
links to www materials and print
information sources, and the instructor's guide
to formatting papers.
For Tuesday 5 October, write an approximately 500-word statement
that answers these questions (and subquestions):
-
How does this course fit into your academic program? You should discuss
your major, what year you are in your degree program, why you selected
that major, whether this course will count, or whether it's part of your
broadening. Please note what courses you've taken in Canadian studies,
economics, economic geography, international development (in Geography
or elsewhere), or Business.
-
How does this course fit into your life interests and experiences?
You should discuss any international experiences and any business experiences
to date; your career plans; and/or your interest in current
events. Please note if you were born in or have spent as much as
a month in any country besides the US.
-
What do you hope to learn in this course?
-
What do you think are key differences between Canada and the U.S., especially
those relevant to their international economic relations?
For Tuesday 26 October, write an approximately 750-word paper
(plus tables) that provides an overview of patterns (e.g., sectors,
bilateral balences) and trends of Canada-US trade and FDI, through
as much of the second half of the 20th century as possible. Briefly,
what seem to be the sectors and sources of comparative advantage
of each country -- so far as this is indicated by their bilateral trade?
|
For information about Canadian trade policies and statistics, and
the Canada-U.S. trade relationship, see the Canada
section of this courses links
page.
|
For Tuesday 23 November, write an approximately 1300-word paper
on
the development of trade policy in Canada, during the 20th century,
with a major focus on North America:
-
What have been the dominant policies, at what times, during the century?
-
How would you characterize the comparative advantage of the country (especially,
relative to the other two countries)? What factor endowments have
influenced that? Has the factor endowments and the comparative advantage
changed during the 20th century?
-
Why did Canada enter into a FTA with the US? Why did Canada join
NAFTA?
-
Given the elements above, how should NAFTA affect the country: who
should benefit and who should suffer? What empirical evidence is
there, to date?
-
You should make reference to Chapters 4-7; the Lustig
briefing paper; and at least two other research-based
references (in other words, you can use an opinion piece, documentary,
or news article, but you need to read two additional pieces that lay out
a research question, explain the research design, and provide conclusions
based on the research).
| An alternative topic for 23 November: analyze the effect
of NAFTA on a particular economic sector in Canada or the US:
what effect would you expect? why? What effect has been seen
so far, by what researchers, using what methodologies? You should
make reference to at least five research-based references. Also see
links
to sites on sectoral trade data. [Dicken's Part 3 has several global
sectoral studies]. |
Participation. Be prepared to ask
and answer questions about the readings, lectures, and your projects.
In addition, we will have structured discussions on 5 October and 9 and
16 November: your presence and participation are very important.
Tests. There will be two in-class
tests: they will not be explicitly cumulative. Each test will
likely employ a range of question formats.
GRADING
Grades on tests and assignments. Each
test and assignment will be graded on a percentage basis. Content,
clarity, writing, and format all count in the grading of the assignments.
Be especially careful about plagiarism: more than three words
in the order you read them somewhere else (including on the WWW, including
my own lecture notes) must be set off in quotation marks and given a full
citation.
Late assignments. Tests must be taken
on the scheduled day, except by prior arrangement with the instructor or
ex
post written communication with the instructor based on illness (in
this latter circumstance, the instructor will need documentation of your
illness or that of someone in your care; this will be handled on
a case-by-case basis). Assignments received after 5:00 p.m. on the
day following the due date will be penalized by 20 percentage points (e.g.,
a two-day-late assignment that is judged to be 85% successful would receive
65% credit); assignments 7 or more days after the due date will be
penalized by 40 percentage points. Because of the deadlines for grading,
the instructor cannot accept any material after 5:00 p.m. Wednesday 15
December.
Final grades. The final grade for
the course will be calculated as follows. Each graded item (participation,
three tests and three assignments) can contribute up to a specified number
of points toward the quarter's total that can equal up to 100 points.
Each student’s final grade reflects the number of these 100 points the
student has earned during the quarter.
|
Assignment 1
|
5 points |
Test 1
|
23 points |
|
Assignment 2
|
12 points |
Test 2
|
23 points |
|
Assignment 3
|
25 points |
Scheduled Discussions
|
8 points |
| |
|
Other Participation
|
4 points |
Total scores (on a scale of 0 - 100) will translate into final grades
(on a scale of 0.0 - 4.0) approximately according to the scale below
(Table 2): the instructor may be more lenient than this.
Table 2: Schedule of Points and Grades
|
TOTAL SCORE
|
FINAL GRADE
|
| 90 - 100 points |
3.6 - 4.0
|
| 75 - 89 points |
2.5 - 3.5
|
| 60 -74 points |
1.5 - 2.4
|
| 50 - 59 points |
0.7 - 1.4
|
| 0 - 50 points |
0.0
|
SCHEDULE (with
links to on-line notes)
Thursday 30 September
Overviews
of International Business
Clement et al., pp. 93-4
optional reading: Daniels and Radebaugh,
Ch. 1
Tuesday 5 October
Trends
in Canada-US Trade & Investment
Dicken, Ch. 3
Britton, Ch.1
Norcliffe
follow link
to statistical website
Report
on the state of Canadian trade
First assignment is due Tuesday 5 October
Thursday-Thursday 7-14 October
International
Trade Theory
Clement et al., pp. 23-7
optional reading: Daniels and Radebaugh,
Ch. 5; Dicken pp.73-77, 183-4.
Tuesday 19 October
Comparative
Advantage, Competitive Advantage, and Competitiveness
optional reading: Daniels and Radebaugh,
pp. 161-163; Dicken, pp. 140-144
Thursday 21 October
Dynamic Comparative Advantage in a Resource-Based Economy: The Case
of Canada
Britton (Ch.1)
Tuesday 26 October
International
Trade Policy
Clement et al., pp. 37-46
optional reading: Daniels and Radebaugh,
Ch.6; Dicken, pp. 129-140
Second assignment is due Tuesday 26 October
Thursday 28 October
Economic
Integration
Clement et al., pp. 47-52
Curtis &
Ciuriak, pp.71-80 & 91-105
optional reading: Daniels and Radebaugh,
Ch.7; Dicken, pp.144-162
Tuesday 2 November
FIRST TEST (review
sheet)
Thursday 4 November
Forms of
International Business
optional reading: Daniels and Radebaugh,
Ch. 8 and pp. 419-429
FDI: Motivations
and Impacts
optional reading: Daniels and Radebaugh,
Ch. 8; Dicken, pp. 202-212, 278-304
assign the 9 & 16 November discussions
Tuesday 9 November
Multilateral
Institutions
Bello
Brainard
& Shapiro
Stiglitz, Ch.1
optional reading: Larson
Thursday 11 November
HOLIDAY: No class meeting
Tuesday 16 November
Exchange
Rates
Clement et al., pp. 53-66
see links (1,
2)
to data on exchange rates
Stiglitz, Ch.4
optional reading: Daniels and Radebaugh,
Chs. 9, 10
Thursday 18 November
No class meeting
Tuesday 23 November
discussion of the ways in which formal and informal institutions
affect trade. investment, and the gains from trade
discussion of findings from the third assignment: whither
Canadian trade policy?
Clement et al., pp.103-15
Dicken, Ch. 16
Third assignment is due Tuesday 23 November
Thursday 25 November
HOLIDAY: No class meeting
Tuesday 30 November
International
Business in Practice: Getting Traded Goods and Trade Documents from
Here to There
optional reading: Daniels and Radebaugh,
Ch.17 & 18; Dicken, Ch. 8
Thursday 2 December
International Business in Practice: Trade
Logistics; International
Logistics
optional reading: Daniels and Radebaugh,
Ch.17 & 18; Dicken, Ch. 8
Tuesday 7 December
Governance
of International Trade
Bello
Brainard
& Shapiro
Clement et al., pp.251-316
Stiglitz, Ch. 9
optional reading: Larson
optional (excellent) reading: Dicken,
Ch.18
Thursday 9 December
SECOND TEST (review
sheet)
copyright James W. Harrington, Jr.
revised 1 December 2004