Competencies and objectives

 

Course context for academic year 2016-17

International Trade is a 6 ECTS credit subject included in the first term in the third year of the Economics BA Degree. It gives continuity to the subjects Introduction to Microeconomics and Intermediate Microeconomics which form part of the first year.


Nowadays we observe how economies are increasingly opened and frontiers become more and more diffuse. An important part of goods and services produced in a country cross borders to be sold in other countries. Similarly an important part of goods and services we buy have very different geographical origins. Furthermore, capital and, to a lesser extent, labour move almost freely in an increasingly globalized world. Hence, it becomes necessary to re-examine Microeconomics to understand the performance of our open economies.


The main aim of the course is to provide an analytical framework for understanding the open economies of our time, in a way that allow students to expand their knowledge on the causes and consequences of international exchanges.
The course is organized in three parts. The first part deals with the usual models of international trade, paying special attention to the role played by economies of scale -internal and externals. Thereafter the effects on location, distribution and spatial organization of economic activities are analysed, once the international mobility of factors -labour and capital- have been considered. Finally, the course ends with the study of trade policy and economic integration.

 

 

Course content (verified by ANECA in official undergraduate and Master’s degrees)

General Competences (CG)

  • CG5 : Capacity to take decisions by applying acquired knowledge to practical situations.
  • CG8 : Analyse problems using critical reasoning, without prejudices, precisely and rigorously.
  • CG9 : Capacity for synthesis.

 

General Competences acquired at University of Alicante (CGUA)

  • CGUA1 : Read and communicate in a foreign language in a professional environment, especially in English.
  • CGUA3 : Capacity for oral and written communication.

 

Specific Competences (CE)

  • CE1 : Contribute towards the correct management of resource allocation in both the private and public context.
  • CE10 : Capacity to apply the knowledge and skills acquired to solve theoretical and applied economic problems.
  • CE11 : Analytical skills for developing theoretical frameworks that simplify study of the real economy and the capacity to set appropriate levels of abstraction when studying different economic questions.
  • CE12 : Be able to use the appropriate tools for the analysis, diagnosis and solution of economic questions and problems.
  • CE2 : Identify and anticipate relevant economic problems relating to resource allocation in general, in both the private and public context.
  • CE3 : Bring a rational approach to the analysis and description of any aspect of economic reality.
  • CE4 : Evaluate the consequences of different options for action and select the best one according to the objectives set.
  • CE9 : Understand economic institutions as the result and application of theoretical or formal representations of how the economy works.

 

 

 

Learning outcomes (Training objectives)

  • To use analytic reasoning to broach and solve economic problems.
  • To understand the reasons why international commerce is beneficial for all the countries concerned and, in particular, the theory of comparative advantage.
  • To understand the new commercial models in which production technologies employ economies of scale.
  • To understand the implications of international mobility of production factors.
  • To understand the implications of commercial policy and of economic integration processes.
  • To understand the role of uncertainty in decision making.
  • To understand the interaction between the different markets of an economy and the concept of general equilibrium and efficiency in the allocation of resources.
  • To understand the role of the state in the presence of externalities and public goods.

 

 

Specific objectives stated by the academic staff for academic year 2016-17

  • To use analytical reasoning to confront economic problems and solve them.
  • To understand why and under what conditions international trade can be beneficial for all the countries concerned. In particular, to understand the theory of comparative advantage.
  • To understand the effects on international trade resulting from the existence of economies of scale and external economies.
  • To understand the firm's location decisions and their consequences when international factor's mobility is possible.
  • To understand the effects of trade policy and economic integration processes.

 

 

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General

Code: 35020
Lecturer responsible:
JIMENEZ RANEDA, IGNACIO
Credits ECTS: 6,00
Theoretical credits: 1,50
Practical credits: 0,90
Distance-base hours: 3,60

Departments involved

  • Dept: FOUNDATIONS OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
    Area: FOUNDATIONS OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
    Theoretical credits: 1,5
    Practical credits: 0,9
    This Dept. is responsible for the course.
    This Dept. is responsible for the final mark record.

Study programmes where this course is taught