In the present text the author deals with both conventional and new approaches to trade theory and policy, treating all important research topics in international economics and clarifying their mathematical intricacies. The textbook is intended for undergraduates, graduates and researchers alike. It addresses undergraduate students with extremely clear language and illustrations, making even the most complex trade models accessible. In the appendices, graduate students and researchers will find self-contained treatments in mathematical terms. The new edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect the latest research on international trade.
There is no lack of good international economics textbooks ranging from the elementary to the advanced, so that an additional drop in this ocean calls for an explanation. In the present writer's opinion, there seems still to be room for a textbook which can be used in both undergraduate and graduate courses, and which contains a wide range of topics, including those usually omitted from other textbooks. These are the intentions behind the present book, which is an outcrop from undergraduate and graduate courses in international economics that the author has been holding at the University of Rome since 1974, and from his on going research work in this field. Accordingly the work is organized as two-books in-one by distributing the material between text and appendices. The treatment in the body of this book is directed to undergraduate students and is mainly confined to graphic analysis and to some elementary algebra, but it is assumed that the reader will have a good knowledge of basic microeconomics and macroeconomics (so that the usual review material on production functions, indifference curves, standard Keynesian model, etc. , etc. has been omitted) . Each chapter is followed by an appendix in which the treatment is mainly mathematical, and where (i) the topics explained in the text are treated at a level suitable for advanced undergraduate or first-year graduate students and (ii) generalizations and/or topics not treated in the text (including some of those at the frontiers of research) are formally examined.
Specifically, it explores the robustness of the Heckscher - Ohlin framework and its two core propositions - the Stolper - Samuelson and Rybczynski theorems - by relaxing its underlying assumptions in four ways: limiting the inter-industry mobility of factors of production in the short run; allowing for industry economies of scale; introducing uncertainty of commodity prices; and endogenizing a country's supply of labor. Part II addresses issues related to first-best trade policies which had gained prominence during the period of multilateral trade liberalization under the auspices of the GATT, such as: the scope and limits of negotiated tariff agreements; first-best policy justifications for import restrictions and export promotions; and the use of import-quality standards as a substitute for tariffs. Part III explores the political economy of trade policy formation.
Modern economies become more and more open and the external sector of an economy becomes more and more important. This textbook aims at clarify ing how an open economy functions, in particular at explaining the determi nants of international fiows of commodities and financial assets. It also aims at examining the effects of these fiows on the domestic and international econ omy and the possible policy acti.ons at the national and international level. Particular attention will be paid to the problems of international economic at both the commercial and monetary level. integration Students will be able to read and interpret the balance of payments of a country, evaluating the various types of balance, to explain the behaviour of commercial fiows in the light of the theories studied, to analyze fiows of financial assets according to interest-rate differentials and other elements, to study the forces that determine exchange rates and cause currency crises, to understand the reasons behind international economic integration such as the European Union, to evaluate the effects of national and international policies.
