Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Culture, Politica e Società

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS AND GLOBALIZATION

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS AND GLOBALIZATION

Anno accademico 2023/2024

While the Precourse starts on Sept. 25 and runs for 6 weeks, with a total of 34 teaching hours, plus 6 hours of review, the course in International Economics and Globalization starts in the second half of the semester, on October 30 at 12pm (in general: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 12-2pm).

Sommario insegnamento

• Obiettivi formativi
• Risultati dell'apprendimento attesi
• Programma
• Modalità di insegnamento
• Modalità di verifica dell'apprendimento
• Testi consigliati e bibliografia
• Note
• Strumenti didattici
• Scheda del corso

Obiettivi formativi

The course aims at providing the basic theoretical instruments for the comprehension of the historical and ongoing processes of globalization in a "global political economy" perspective that combines theory, history, and contemporary issues and debates, allowing students to understand the current discussion about globalization and the main paradigms and orientations as regards international cooperation. The main focus is on how the policies of autonomous nations and regions interact at the international level in a globalized economy and on the desirability of a global economic order (and related institutions) able to enhance the policy space available to member countries (and emerging economies in particular). 

Risultati dell'apprendimento attesi

On completion, students will demonstrate the following:

- to have acquired knowledge of the terminology, principles, primary techniques, and the historical evolution of the discipline of global political economy (knowledge and understanding),

- to have acquired the ability to understand theoretical and applied aspects conveyed by the textbook and complementary readings (knowledge and understanding),

- to be able to use the methods of global political economy and international macroeconomics to analyze socio-economic issues related to globalization, evaluate the available forms and possibilities of international cooperation, as well as to understand the current debate on economic policies in the international and regional contexts (applying knowledge and understanding),

- to analyze the effects and implications of economic policies, as well as the trade-offs implied in policy-making, in environments shaped by strong regional and international interdependence (applying knowledge and understanding),

- to be able to identify rooms for maneuver available to policy-makers of national and regional entities in globalized contexts, and reflect upon the character of a desirable reform of the international architecture (making judgments), 

- the autonomy of judgment and the skills required to present logically and efficiently the knowledge acquired during the course, in both oral and written form, by using communication forms adequate to different categories of listeners (communication skills),

- to be able to interpret available international macroeconomic data, showing full awareness of the existence of (and the possibility to use) different interpretative models for macroeconomic phenomena (applying knowledge and understanding),

- to detect the impact of globalization (de jure and de facto) on national countries' and regional economies' policy space (making judgments),

- to have acquired the competencies and abilities to learn required to apply in original manner methods and tools they have become familiar with during the course to conduct further independent research (in different contexts, that is, in both professional contexts and in specializing educational contexts) intended to deepen, extend and update the course contents (learning skills).

Programma

Introduction to "international economics and globalization" as a field of study and global political economy as a discipline.

History and periods of globalization.

Basic principles and main theoretical tools of open-economy macroeconomics. 

Anarchy in the international environment and the need for a global framework promoting the general interest: the historical evolution of the international economic order, from the gold standard of the first era of globalization to the current disorder.

The Bretton Woods system: the birth of a monetary system, its developmental orientation, the legacy of its "embedded liberalism" to today's world, and the continuing relevance of the "Keynes plan" for global reform. 

The rise and fall of development economics from a historical perspective, from the dawn of the discipline to recent approaches. 

The problem of policy space in a globalized world: impact of globalization on the state; regionalism and globalization; the future of the international economic order. 

South-South cooperation: relevance, challenges, opportunities. 

Modalità di insegnamento

The course consists of 36 hours of frontal face-to-face lectures in English. Additional teaching materials will be available on the Moodle platform page for this course (students must register at the link reported at the bottom of the page).

Students will be actively engaged in learning and asked to apply and contextualize the theoretical concepts acquired in real-life issues by producing solutions and arguments for specific case studies.  

Modalità di verifica dell'apprendimento

In this course, assessment is through a written exam at the end of the course (requiring physical presence; it can be carried out remotely in case of COVID-19 positivity or of residence abroad but only if students cannot come to Italy because of restrictions for international travels; these conditions must be self-certified when booking the exam) on the whole ensemble of topics covered during the course.

Students must take a 90-minute written exam on the whole ensemble of topics covered during the course. This includes five short-answer questions (each yielding a maximum score of 2/30), needed to evaluate whether students have acquired the actual contents of the course (principles, methods, concepts, terms, and theories), and 2 long-answer questions (each yielding a maximum score of 10/30), which will serve to assess the acquisition of competencies and know-how required to analyze a problem related to globalization and international cooperation, suggest an interpretation, and adequate solutions, in full awareness of the complexity of such issues, which imply endless repercussions, and of the possibility to employ alternative basic assumptions and theoretical frameworks.

To access the written exam, students must register online using the Esse3 - System of the University of Turin and an identification card. During the exam, it is not allowed to use mobile phones, textbooks, or notes of any kind, nor papers different from those made available at the beginning of the exam. To pass the examination, students must reach a score of 18/30. 

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Students who are forced to miss class and to take the exam online (see above) are allowed to take an oral examination on Webex (https://unito.webex.com/meet/mario.cedrini) of some twenty minutes, aiming at verifying whether they have acquired the main contents of the course as well as the competencies required to analyze the problem of policy space in a context of globalization. The examination is based on the textbooks and teaching material listed on this page (maximum score of 30/30).

When enrolling for the exam session, it is necessary to write in the "Note" section that
you are in one of the conditions that allow you to take the online exam. Note that the University can demand further in-depth analysis of what is self-certified.

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The course employs "Global Political Economy", edited by John Ravenhill (Oxford University Press, 2016), as mandatory reading for both attending and nonattending students, as well as a central theoretical foundation for the understanding and analysis of globalization and international cooperation (chapters 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13).

The course is also based (suggested reading) on The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) "Trade and Development Report" (TDR), issued every year for the annual session of the Trade and Development Board. The Report analyses current economic trends and significant policy issues of international concern and makes suggestions for addressing these issues at various levels.

Students will also have to read (mandatory for both attending and nonattending students) Part 1 (chapters 1-6) of the book "Trade and Development Report 1981-2011. Three decades of thinking development" (available at: http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/gds2012d1_en.pdf).

As to suggested (nonmandatory readings), students are invited to read the latest TDR (available at: http://unctad.org/en/Pages/Publications/TradeandDevelopmentReport.aspx) and some selected monographic chapters from some recent issues of the TDR.

Attending students will be given selected advanced material to read for further study. Dani Rodrik's "The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy" (Oxford University Press, 2012) is highly recommended.

Note

The course in International Economics and Globalization starts in the second half of the semester, on October 30 at 12pm (in general: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 12-2pm).

Students affected by Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) or disability are invited to read carefully the supporting tools (https://en.unito.it/services/students-special-needs-0) and facilities made available by the University of Turin (SLD: https://en.unito.it/services/students-special-needs/students-specific-learning-disability-sld/services-students-sld; disability: https://en.unito.it/services/students-special-needs/disabled-students/services-disabled-students), and, in particular, the procedures to follow in order to receive support for the exams (SLD: https://en.unito.it/services/students-special-needs/students-specific-learning-disability-sld/support-taking-exams; disability: https://en.unito.it/services/students-special-needs/disabled-students/support-taking-exams-disabled-students). 

• Materiale didattico
• Bacheca appelli
• Orario lezioni
• Vai a Moodle
• Registrati a questo insegnamento
• Studenti registrati
• Invia email agli studenti registrati
• Esporta tabella