The aim of the course is to provide students with the skills required to comprehend and analyze some of the contemporary international economic issues, and in particular to present them the modern theory of the multinational enterprise (MNE), its working and the consequences of multinational activities for trade, FDI, jobs and development.
Prerequisiti
Microeconomics/Macroeconomics
Metodi didattici
Lectures, presentations by professionals, team work by the students
Verifica Apprendimento
Team presentations by students, written and/or oral exam
Testi
Frederick Guy, The global environment of business, Oxford U.P (2009). Giorgio Barba Navaretti and Anthony J. Venables, Multinational Firms in the World Economy, Princeton University Press (2004).
Contenuti
The focus will be on the role of technology, factor endowments, economies of scale, demand and transport costs in explaining the patterns of trade and multinational activity. Another key issue will be that of the consequences of MNEs for wages, employment, and productivity. Some of the questions that will be addressed are:
- Why do countries trade? And why do MNEs arise? - Who gains and who loses from MNEs and FDI? - What determines the actual behavior of contemporary MNEs?
After sketching the main recent theories of the multinational firm, some empirical evidence and some case studies will be surveyed.
Students will actively participate in presenting and comparing specific experiences of multinational activity.
Risultati di Apprendimento Attesi
Students will learn how MNEs are designed and take their investimenti and trade decisions. Moreover, they will learn the fondamentals of commercial policies both on the economic and the political side. Project work activities will be carried out in order to set a presentation on a case study of international investiment.
Criteri Necessari per l'Assegnazione del Lavoro Finale