TRADE AND INTERNATIONAL FIRM DEVELOPMENT

International Teaching TRADE AND INTERNATIONAL FIRM DEVELOPMENT

Back

SE22200020
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
EQF7
ECONOMY
2025/2026

OBBLIGATORIO
YEAR OF COURSE 1
YEAR OF DIDACTIC SYSTEM 2025
SPRING SEMESTER
CFUHOURSACTIVITY
1060LESSONS
Objectives
THE COURSE (IN ENGLISH) AIMS TO PROVIDE THE ESSENTIAL ANALYTICAL TOOLS TO EXAMINE SPECIFIC ISSUES OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND REAL ECONOMIC INTEGRATION. THE PROGRAM IS A COMBINATION OF THE ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE THEORY AND SPECIFIC CASE STUDIES IN AN ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK THAT ENHANCES THE LINKS BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL TRADE, FACTOR MOBILITY AND POLICIES. THE CASE STUDIES AND THE APPLIED ANALYSIS PROVIDE A PICTURE OF THE MOST RECENT LITERATURE ON THE TOPIC OF THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF COMPANIES, TREATING EUROPE, AND ITALY IN PARTICULAR, AS A CASE STUDY.

IN THE ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND FDI WE TAKE A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE ON SELECTED ISSUES OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE, COMPETITIVENESS AND GLOBAL INVESTMENT ACTIVITIES. THEMATICALLY OUR RESEARCH FOCUSES ON GLOBAL TRADE PATTERNS AND THE DYNAMICS OF TRADE SPECIALISATION, FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT ACTIVITIES AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ORGANISATION AS WELL AS THE INTERNATIONALISATION OF INNOVATION AND R&D ACTIVITIES.

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
KNOWLEDGE OF MICRO- AND MACRO-ECONOMIC THEORIES OF TRADE, OF THEORIES ON REGIONAL INTEGRATION, OF FACTOR MOBILITY, OF THE LOCATION OF COMPANIES AND OF COMPETITION.
UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROCESS OF REAL INTERNATIONAL INTEGRATION OF THE MARKETS, OF THE FORMS OF EXCHANGE LINKED TO OUTSOURCING AND OFFSHORING, OF THE ROLE OF MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES, OF THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF COMPANIES.
ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
APPLICATION OF THEORIES ON COMMERCIAL AND PRODUCTIVE INTEGRATION FOR THE ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT SITUATION / FUTURE PERSPECTIVE OF INTERNATIONAL INTEGRATION PROCESSES.
ABILITY TO DISCUSS AND EVALUATE PATHS OF INTERNATIONALIZATION OF COMPANIES, CHANGE OF THE DIVISION OF LABOR AT INTERNATIONAL LEVEL AND INTEGRATION OF ECONOMIES IN THE GLOBAL VALUE CHAIN.
ABILITY TO INDEPENDENTLY ACQUIRE AND SELECTIVELY EVALUATE INFORMATION RELATED TO POLICIES TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT AND INTERNATIONALIZATION OF PRODUCTION SYSTEMS.
KEYWORDS: GLOBALIZATION, SLOWBALIZATION, MODELLI DI COMMERCIO. CATENE DEL VALORE, OFFSHORING, FDI .
Prerequisites
THE ATTENDANCE OF THE COURSE ENTAILS A SPECIFIC BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS, MICRO, MACROECONOMICS AND MATH AND STATISTICS. A GOOD KNOWLEDGE OF ENGLISH IS ALSO REQUIRED AS MOST OF THE STUDY MATERIAL IS IN ENGLISH.
Contents
TOPICS MODULO 1: (30 HOURS)

* TRADE AND INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC INTEGRATION: TRADE POLICY;
THE NEW NEW TRADE THEORIES
*GRAVITY MODELS;
*FIRM HETEROGENEITY
* TRADE INTEGRATION AND INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTION FRAGMENTATION: THE GOOD AND SERVICES OUTSOURCING AND THE GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS
* CAPITAL INTERNATIONAL MOBILITY
* IMPACT OF FDI ON HOST AND DESTINATION COUNTRIES
* POLICIES FOR INTERNATIONALISATION AND FDI ATTRACTION
*ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, FDI AND SPATIAL AGGLOMERATION


TOPICS MODULE 2 (30 HOURS)


MODULE 2 IS BASED ON SEMINARS ON RELEVANT ISSUES FOR THE THEORETICAL AND POLITICAL DEBATE:
1) GLOBALIZATION, GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS; 2) FIRM HETEROGENEITY; 3) FDI AND THE ROLE OF MNES. 4) GLOBALIZATION AND MIGRATION FLOWS; 5) TRADE AND INNOVATION; 6) FDI AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES. 7) THE ITALIAN INDUSTRIAL SYSTEM BETWEEN GLOBALIZATION AND CRISIS.
Teaching Methods
LECTURES: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THEORETICAL MODELS
TUTORIALS: APPLICATIONS AND CASE STUDIES
SEMINARS AND DISCUSSION WITH ACTIVE PARTICIPATION OF STUDENTS
ESSAY WITH PRESENTATION
ORAL EXAM

LECTURES – N° 40 HOURS
SEMINARS AND LAB – N° 20 HOURS

ATTENDANCE IS NOT COMPULSORY BUT STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
Verification of learning
FINAL ASSESSMENT:
THE ASSESSMENT IS BASED ON AN ORAL EXAMINATION AND ON A PRESENTATION AND AN ESSAY DURING THE COURSE ON A SPECIFIC TOPIC BASED ON A LIST OF ARTICLES WHICH IS PROVIDED EVERY YEAR AT THE BEGINNING OF THE COURSE. THIS ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IS PROVIDED AT THE STUDENTS DURING THE COURSE.
THE EVALUATION IS IN A RANGE 18/30.


Texts
••FEENSTRA, R.C., A. M. TAYLOR, INTERNATIONAL TRADE (INGLESE), MIT PRESS, 2021, 5TH EDITION, CHAPTERS 7-11.
•KRUGMAN P.R., OBSTFELD M., AND M.J. MELITZ. INTERNATIONAL TRADE THEORY AND POLICY, NINTH EDITION, PEARSON/ADDISON WESLEY, BOSTON, 2012, CHAPTER 8.
FOR STUDENTS NOT ATTENDING IN ALTERNATIVE TO THE PROJECT WORK:BARBA NAVARETTI, G., A. VENABLES, MULTINATIONAL FIRMS IN THE WORLD ECONOMY, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2004, CHAPTERS 1-7.

LIST OF READINGS:

FIRM HETEROGENEITY

•BERNARD A.B. AND J. B. JENSEN (1995), EXPORTERS, JOBS, AND WAGES IN U.S. MANUFACTURING: 1976-1987. BROOKINGS PAPERS ON ECONOMIC ACTIVITY, MICROECONOMICS 1, 67-119.
•BERNARD, A. B., REDDING, S. J., AND SCHOTT, P. K. (2011). MULTI-PRODUCT FIRMS AND TRADE LIBERALIZATION. QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS, VOLUME 126, ISSUE 3, PP. 1271-1318.
•MELITZ, M. J. AND OTTAVIANO, G. I. P. (2008). MARKET SIZE, TRADE, AND PRODUCTIVITY. REVIEW OF ECONOMIC STUDIES, 75(1):295–316.


TRADE, FDI, AND GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS:

•DAMIJAN J.P., KOSTEVC C., (2015) LEARNING FROM TRADE THROUGH INNOVATION, OXFORD BULLETIN OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS, 77, 3 0305–9049.
•DAMIJAN, J. P., KOSTEVC, ., & POLANEC, S. (2010). FROM INNOVATION TO EXPORTING OR VICE VERSA?. THE WORLD ECONOMY, 33(3), 374-398.
•AGHION, P., BERGEAUD, A., GIGOUT, T., LEQUIEN, M., & MELITZ, M. (2021). EXPORTING IDEAS: KNOWLEDGE FLOWS FROM EXPANDING TRADE IN GOODS. MIMEO.
POL ANTRÀS, 2020. "DE-GLOBALIZATION? GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS IN THE POST-COVID-19 AGE," NBER WORKING PAPERS 28115, NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH, INC

CRESCENZI, R., L. GAGLIARDI, AND S. IAMMARINO (2015) FOREIGN MULTINATIONALS AND DOMESTIC INNOVATION: INTRA-INDUSTRY EFFECTS AND FIRM HETEROGENEITY, RESEARCH POLICY, 2015, VOL. 44, ISSUE 3, 596-609.

FDI AND ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES

•CASTELLANI, D., G. MARIN, S. MONTRESOR, A. ZANFEI (2022) “GREENFIELD FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS AND REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES,” RESEARCH POLICY 51.
•DE MARCHI, V., GIULIO CAINELLI, ROBERTO GRANDINETTI (2022) MULTINATIONAL SUBSIDIARIES AND GREEN INNOVATION, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS REVIEW 31, 102027.
- AMENDOLAGINE, V., LEMA, R., & RABELLOTTI, R. (2021). GREEN FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS AND THE DEEPENING OF CAPABILITIES FOR SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION IN MULTINATIONALS: INSIGHTS FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY. JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION, 310, 127381.
-FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT PRODUCTIVITY PREMIUM AND FOREIGN AFFILIATES' HETEROGENEITY: A COMPARISON BETWEEN ADVANCED AND EMERGING MARKET OVERSEAS INVESTMENTS IN THE EU
R PITTIGLIO, F REGANATI THE WORLD ECONOMY 42 (10), 3030-3064
EU AND ITALIAN COMPETITIVENESS:

•BUGAMELLI M., F. LOTTI (EDS.), M. AMICI, E. CIAPANNA, F. COLONNA, F. D’AMURI, S. GIACOMELLI, A. LINARELLO, F. MANARESI, G. PALUMBO, F. SCOCCIANTI E E. SETTE (2018), ” PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN ITALY: A TALE OF A SLOW-MOTION CHANGE,” BANCA D’ITALIA QUESTIONI DI ECONOMIA E FINANZA, N. 422, GENNAIO.
•BRANCATI EMANUELE & RAFFAELE BRANCATI & DARIO GUARASCIO & ANTONELLO ZANFEI (2021), «INNOVATION DRIVERS OF EXTERNAL COMPETITIVENESS IN THE GREAT RECESSION,» SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMICS.
•BUGAMELLI, M., FABIANI, S., FEDERICO, S., FELETTIGH, A., GIORDANO, C., LINARELLO, A. (2018), BACK ON TRACK? A MACRO–MICRO NARRATIVE OF ITALIAN EXPORTS. ITALIAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL, 4, 1–31
More Information
THE COURSE WILL BE HELD IN ENGLISH, SLIDES, TEXTBOOK AND READING LIST WILL BE IN ENGLISH.

TRAINING MATERIALS WILL BE AVAILABLE ON-LINE
  BETA VERSION Data source ESSE3