Department of Economics
Kansas State University
 
 

ECON 981 - International Trade Theory and Policy
 
 

Spring 1999




Professor:  Y. M. Chang

Office:       Waters Hall 319
Phone:       532-4573
E-mail:       ymchang@ksu.ksu.edu

Objectives:  This course is intended to familiarize students with the fundamentals of
international trade and recent literature in trade theory and policy under imperfect competition.
Class discussions will be focused on the following topics: (i) the causes of international trade
in imperfectly competitive international markets, (ii) strategic trade policies such as export
subsidies, tariffs, voluntary import expansions, and voluntary export restraints, (iii) issues
related to dumping and antidumping, (iv) international trade and environmental economics,
(v) political economy of trade protectionism, (vi) the welfare effects of trade liberalization,
(vii) and other issues.

Prerequisite:    ECON 735
 

Tentative Course Outline:

         Students are expected to read the articles with asterisks.  Some supplemental papers are
provided for each topic.  Students may read unassigned papers at their discretion.
 

(1)  Intra-industry Trade and Oligopoly

        *Brander J. A., ��Intra-industry Trade in Identical Commodities,�� Journal of
          International Economics 14 (1981), 1-14.

        *Brander, J. A. and P. R. Krugman, ��A 'Reciprocal Dumping' Model of International
          Trade,�� Journal of International Economics 15 (1983), 313-323.   (Included in Gene M.
          Grossman, ed., Imperfect Competition and International Trade, The MIT Press,
          Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1992.)

        *Hwang, H., ��Intra-industry Trade and Oligopoly,�� Canadian Journal of Economics 7
          (1984), 126-137.

          Venables, A. J., ��Trade and Trade Policy with Imperfect Competition: The Case of
          Identical Products and Free Entry,�� Journal of International Economics 19 (1985),
          1- 20.

(2)  Strategic Trade Policy

        *Brander, J. A. and B. J. Spencer, ��Export Subsidies and International Market Share
          Rivalry,�� Journal of International Economics 18 (1985), 83-100.

        *Eaton, J. and G. M. Grossman, ��Optimal Trade and Industrial Policy under
          Oligopoly,�� Quarterly Journal of Economics 101 (1986), 383-406.  (Included in Gene
          M. Grossman, ed., Imperfect Competition and International Trade, The MIT Press,
          Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1992.

        *To, T., ��Export Subsidies and Oligopoly with Switching Costs,�� Journal of
          International Economics 37 (1994), 97-110.

        *Brander, J. A. and B. J. Spencer, ��Tariff Protection and Imperfect Competition,�� in
          Monopolistic Competition and International Trade, ed. by H. Kierzkowski, Oxford
          University Press, 1984.  (Included in Gene M. Grossman, ed., Imperfect Competition
          and International Trade, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1992.

        *Brander, J. A. and B. J. Spencer, ��Trade Warfare: Tariffs and Cartels,�� Journal of
          International Economics 16 (1984), 227-242.

        *Bjorksten, N., ��Voluntary Import Expansions and Voluntary Export Restraints in an
          Oligopoly Model with Capacity Constraints,�� Canadian Journal of Economics 27
          (1994), 46-457.

          Dixit, A. K. and G. M. Grossman, ��Targeted Export Promotion with Several
          Oligopolistic Industries,�� Journal of International Economics 21 (1986), 233-249.

          Carmichael, C. M., ��The Control of Export Credit Subsidies and Its Welfare
          Consequences,�� Journal of International Economics 23 (1987), 1-19.

          Ito, M. and K. Kiyono, ��Welfare-enhancing Export Subsidies,�� Journal of Political
          Economy 95 (1987), 115-137.

          Spencer, B. J., ��Capital Subsidies and Countervailing Duties in Oligopolistic
          Industries,�� Journal of International Economics 25 (1988), 45-69.

         Tanaka, Y., ��Tariffs and Welfare of an Exporting Country in a Free Entry Oligopoly
         under Integrated Markets,�� Oxford Economic Papers 44 (1992), 317-321.

        *Dixit, A. K., ��International Trade Policy for Oligopolistic Industries,�� Economic
          Journal 94 (1984 supplement), 1-16.

          Krishna, K., ��Trade Restrictions as Facilitating Practices,�� Journal of International
          Economics 26 (1989), 251-270.

          Greaney, T. M., ��Import Now! An Analysis of Market-Share Voluntary Import
          Expansions (VIEs),�� Journal of International Economics 40 (1996), 149-163.

(3)  Issues Related to Dumping and Antidumping

        *Stiglitz, J. E., ��Dumping on Free Trade: The U.S. Import Trade Laws,�� Southern
          Economic Journal 64 (1997), pp. 402-424.

        *Dixit, A., ��Anti-dumping and Countervailing Duties under Oligopoly,�� European
          Economic Review 32 (1985), 55-68.

        *Bernhofen, D. M., ��Price Dumping in Intermediate Good Markets,�� Journal of
          International Economics 39 (1995).

        *Anderson, J. E., ��Domino Dumping I: Competitive Exporters,�� American Economic
          Review 82 (1992), 65-83.

          Anderson, J. E., ��Domino Dumping II: Anti-dumping,�� Journal of International
          Economics 35 (1993), 133-150.

          Reitzes, J. D., ��Antidumping Policy,�� International Economic Review 34 (1993),
          745- 763.

(4)  Strategic Trade Policy under Uncertainty

        *Cooper, R. and R. Riezman, ��Uncertainty and the Choice of Trade Policy in
          Oligopolistic Industries,�� Review of Economic and Studies 56 (1989), 129-140.

         Arvan, L., ��Flexibility versus Commitment in Strategic Trade Policy under
         Uncertainty,�� Journal of International Economics 31 (1991), 341-355.

        *Shivakumar, R., ��Strategic Trade Policy: Choosing Between Export Subsidies and
          Export Quotas under Uncertainty,�� Journal of International Economics 35 (1993),
          168- 183.

(5)  International Trade under Monopolistic Competition

        *Krugman, P., ��Increasing Returns, Monopolistic Competition, and International
          Trade,�� Journal of International Economics 9 (1979), 469-480.

        *Krugman, P., ��Scale Economies, Product Differentiation, and the Pattern of Trade,��
          American Economic Review 70 (1980), 950-959.

        *Dixit, A. K. and V. Norman, ��Product Differentiation and Intraindustry Trade,�� in
          Theory of International Trade, Cambridge University Press, 1980. (Included in Gene
          M. Grossman, ed., Imperfect Competition and International Trade, The MIT Press,
          Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1992.)

          Lancaster, K., ��Intra-industry Trade under Perfect Monopolistic Competition,�� Journal
          of International Economics 10 (1980), 151-176.

          Helpman, E., ��International Trade in the Presence of Product Differentiation,
          Economies of Scale, and Monopolistic Competition,�� Journal of International
          Economics 11 (1981), 305-340.

          Venables, A. J., ��Optimal Tariffs for Trade in Monopolistically Competitive
          Commodities,�� Journal of International Economics 12 (1982), 225-242.

          Francois, J. F., ��Optimal Commercial Policy with International Returns to Scale,��
          Canadian Journal of Economics 25 (1992), 184-195.

          Anderson, F. J., ��Trade, Firm Size, and Product Variety under Monopolistic
          Competition,�� Canadian Journal of Economics 24 (1991), 12-20.

(6) International Trade and Environmental Economics

        *Whalley, J., ��The Interface Between Environmental and Trade Policies,�� Economic
           Journal 101 (1991), 180-189.

        *Barrett, S., ��Strategic Environmental Policy and International Trade,�� Journal of Public
          Economics 54 (1994), 325-358.

        *Rauscher, M., ��On Ecological Dumping,�� Oxford Economic Papers 46 (1994),
          822-840.

        *Ludema, R. D. and I. Wooton, ��Cross-border Externalities and Trade Liberalization:
          The Strategic Control of Pollution, Canadian Journal of Economics 27 (1994), 950-966.

        *Kennedy, P. W., ��Equilibrium Pollution Taxes in Open Economics with Imperfect
          Competition,�� Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 27 (1994), 49-63.

         Hung, N. M., ��Taxing Pollution in an International Duopoly Context,�� Economics
         Letter 44 (1994), 339-343.

(7)  Political Economy of Trade Protectionism

        *Moore, M. O. and S. M. Suranovic, ��Lobbying and Cournot-Nash Competition:
          Implication for Strategic Trade Policy,�� Journal of International Economics 35 (1993),
         367-376.

        *Moore, M. O. and S. M. Suranovic, ��Lobbying vs. Administered Protection,�� Journal of
          International Economics 32 (1992), 289-303.

        *Hillman, A. L., ��Protection, Politics, and Market Structure,�� in Elhanan Helpman and
          Assaf Razin, ed., International Trade and Trade Policy, The MIT Press, Cambridge,
          Massachusetts, 1991.

       *Maggi G. and A. Rodriguez-Clare, ��The Value of Trade Agreements in the Presence of
         Political Pressures,�� Journal of Political Economy 106 (1998), 574-601.

         Hillman, A. and H. Urspring, ��Domestic Politics, Foreign Interests and International
         Trade Policy,�� American Economic Review 51 (1988), 59-79.

         Hofer, T. and C. Woodruff, ��Domestic Politics, Foreign Interests, and International
         Trade Policy: Comment,�� American Economic Review 84 (1994), 1474-1475.

         Hillman, A. and H. Urspring, ��Domestic Politics, Foreign Interests and International
         Trade Policy: Reply,�� American Economic Review 84 (1994), 1476-1478.

         Cassing, J. and A. Hillman, ��Political Influence Motives and The Choice between
         Tariffs and Quotas,�� Journal of International Economics 19 (1985), 279-300.
 

(8) Issues Related to Trade Liberalization, Economic Integration, and Others

        *Buffie, E. F. and P. T. Spiller, ��Trade Liberalization in Oligopolistic Industries,��
          Journal of International Economics 20 (1986), 65-82.

        *Eldor, R. and D. Levin, ��Trade Liberalization and Domestic Monopoly: A Welfare
          Analysis,�� International Economic Review 31 (1990), 773-782.
 

        *Krugman, P., ��Is Bilateralism Bad?��, in Elhanan Helpman and Assaf Razin, ed.,
          International Trade and Trade Policy, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts,
          1991, pp. 9-23.

         Frankel, J. A., E. Stein, and S. J. Wei, ��Regional Trading Agreements: Natural or
         Supernatural?�� American Economic Review 86 (1996), 52-56.

         Perroni, C. and J. Whalley, ��How Severe Is Global Retaliation Risk under Increasing
         Regionalism?�� American Economic Review 86 (1996), 57-61.

        *Bhagwati, J. and A. Panagariya, ��The Theory of Preferential Trade Agreements:
          Historical Evolution and Current Trends,�� American Economic Review 86 (1996),
          82- 87.

         Sampson, G. P., ��Compatibility of Regional and Multilateral Trading Arrangements:
         Reforming the WTO Process,�� American Economic Review 86 (1996), 88-92.

         Brander, J. A. and B. J. Spencer, ��Foreign Direct Investment with Unemployment and
         Endogenous Taxes and Tariffs,�� Journal of International Economics 22 (1987), 257- 279.

         Saggi, K., ��Entry into a Foreign Market: Foreign Direct Investment versus
         Licensing,�� Review of International Economics 4 (1996), 99-104.

         Spencer, B. J. and J. A. Brander, ��International R & D Rivalry and Industrial
         Strategy,�� Review of Economic Studies 50 (1983), 702-722.

          Aoki, R. and T. J. Prusa, ��International Standards for Intellectual Property Protection
          and R & D Incentives,�� Journal of International Economics 35 (1993), 251-273.
 

Relationship of the Course to Other International Economics Courses

          This course does not cover the same ground as, but is complementary to, International
          Trade (Econ 681), International Economics (Econ 823), and International Markets and
          Agricultural Trade (Agec 840).
 

Exams and Grading:

           An important part of this course is class presentation and a term paper.  Each student
           is fully responsible for leading a class discussion once during the semester on one of the
           topics listed in the course outline.

           Grades will be based upon a mid-term exam, class presentation and term paper, and a
           final exam.  The weights for grading are as follows:

                                Mid-term Exam                                     30%
                                Class Presentation and Term Paper        35%
                                Final Exam                                             35%

            There will be no make?up exams and no extra credit work available.
 

Plagiarism and cheating:

             The administration requires that each syllabus include the following statement
             regarding KSU's policy on plagiarism and cheating:

             "Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses and may be punished by failure on the
             exam, paper or project; failure in the course; and/or expulsion from the university.
             For more information refer to the 'Academic Dishonesty' policy in Inside KSU."
  Updated: 9/12/23