Learning objectives
More in general students will learn how:
to conduct an empirical research applying the acquired tools to a particular context:
to analyze quantitative data;
to communicate the results of an empirical research through a ppt presentation or a written report.
More in particular:
to assess the risks facing European companies within the context of international competition and to think about alternative firms' strategies vis-à-vis different trade policies;
to suggest possible concrete solutions to the most important unresolved problems of the EU, namely unemployment, the productivity gap, inequalities and the sovereign debt crisis.
Prerequisites
Basic courses of micro- and macro-economics
Course unit content
The course aims at analyzing the context within which the European Union has to operate and at providing the critical knowledge needed to deal with each of the following broad issues: the European firms in the global value chains, the EU trade policy. customs union and Single Market, the Monetary Union and the euro, the role of the European Central Bank, the Eu fiscal policies and the Fiscal Compact, finally the most important unresolved issues like: unemployment, the productivity gap, inequalities and the debt crisis.
Full programme
1. Europe and the global shift in the world economy. Comparative statistical analysis of data relating to GDP, population, employment, trade flows, FDI, multinationals
2. Global Value Chains and Value Added Trade: European versus Asian and North American firms
3. Trade policy and restrictions
4. The main stages of economic integration and the EU Customs Union
5. Principles of EU’s trade policy, multilateralism versus bilateralism
6. The EU’s Preferential Trade Agreements and the new regional mega-agreements
7. The “New” Trade Policy of the European Union
8. The Single European Market
9. The stages of the European Monetary Union and the theory of Optimum Currency Areas
10. Costs and benefits of a common currency
11. The ECB and its monetary policy
12. The Maastricht convergence criteria
13. Fiscal policies, the Stability and Growth Pact and the Fiscal Compact
14. Problems (a): the productivity gap
15. Problems (b): unemployment
16. Problems (c): inequalities
17. Problems (d): the sovereign debt crisis
Bibliography
Economics of European Integration - 5th edition, by Richard Baldwin and Charles Wyplosz, McGraw Hill, paperback 2015
Economics of Monetary Union - 11th Edition, by Paul De Grauwe, Oxford University Press, paperback, 2016
The European Union: Economics, Policy and History, 3/e, by Susan Senior Nello, McGraw Hill, paperback, 2011
Teaching methods
The course includes both formal, but interactive, lectures by the instructor, and presentations by the students on agreed-upon subjects related to the course. All the slides presented in class by the instructor plus the titles of the compulsory readings will be posted on the net. Case studies and videos on the most relevant issues will be presented and discussed in class. Students are responsible for consulting the net on a regular basis in order to know in advance the general lines of the subjects and to be able to contribute actively to class discussions.
Updates and additional material are posted on the website of the course.
In preparing for lectures students are also welcomed to extend their study beyond required readings to related papers or newspaper articles.
Students are kindly asked to observe the following courtesy rules:
1. Arrive in class on time; do not leave early without prior explicit instructor’s approval
2. Keep your mobiles and laptops off; do not chat with your classmates
3. Prepare presentations and hand in assignments on time. No late submissions are allowed.
Assessment methods and criteria
Although no intermediate formal test will be offered, students will be evaluated in a continuous way on the basis of their participation to the class discussions and of their presentations. The final exam is written and based on three questions without choice. Its length is 2 hours. Grade is based on the final written exam (70%) and on class participation, including students’ presentations (30%). Grades will be published within two weeks from the date of the exam.
Other information
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