30168 - ECONOMICS OF GLOBALIZATION

The goal of this course is to provide an understanding of the long-term evolution and current state of globalisation. It begins exploring the path followed by the world economy over the last two centuries to reach its present degree of integration, to then focus on current debates on the challenges faced by governments, firms and individuals in a globalised economy. The course builds on students’ earlier work in economics by applying basic theoretical insights and empirical tools to major topics on globalisation, and hence integrates material from a variety of sub-disciplines in economics, such as trade, international finance, growth theory, economic history, labour economics, and political economy.

The final structure of the course is still to be defined, but it is expected to consist of two parts. Firstly, a section on the rise of the integrated world economy, where a brief history of globalisation will be used to introduce topics such as trade and technology, factor (capital and labour) movements, commercial policies, or the various forms of interactions between core and periphery. Secondly, a section on current debates on globalisation were various issues will be discussed, such as the tension between free trade and protectionism, the pros and cons of financial globalisation, the importance of trade costs and labour mobility, or the role of institutions and culture on specialisation.

Students can choose to be evaluated in two alternative ways: via course-work  or via general exam.
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• O’Rourke, K. H., and Williamson, J. G. (2001). Globalisation and History: The Evolution of a Nineteenth-century Atlantic Economy (MIT Press)

Basic economics (Microeconomics and Macroeconomics) and quantitative methods (e.g. ‘Applications for economics, management and finance’, ‘Metodi quantitativi per l'economia’ or similar) required.