Economics 188 -
Management and the Global Economy
Spring
Quarter 2012
Professor
Alan Spearot
Overview
and Expectations
In
this course, we will study the behavior of firms in the international economy, and
the motivations for governments to regulate international commerce. To do so, we will incorporate the
modern theory of the firm within standard models of international trade. Doing so requires economic theory, so I
will expect that everybody gives an honest effort in
working through the derivations that we cover in class. Further, we will also cover various
empirical studies. As such, I will
expect that students read through these studies in preparation for class. Finally, we will cover a handful of
business case studies to study how individual firms made decisions related to
participation in the global economy.
Coursework
and Grading
Grading
will be based on five items. There
will be two quizzes that follow critical sections of the course. Each will be worth 25% of your final
grade. The rest of the grade will
be based on various steps in developing a paper/presentation for the
course. I will discuss the paper/presentation
below. The precise grading
breakdown is summarized in the following table:
|
5% Paper
Topic |
10%
Paper Outline |
15%
Paper Presentation |
20%
Paper |
|
25%
Exam 1 |
25%
Exam 2 |
|
|
Cheating
will be dealt with harshly. You
will fail the course and be reported for academic misconduct.
TA
Sameh
Habib - sfhabib85@gmail.com
Office
Hours: 2-3PM and 4:45-5:45PM Monday, 403 E2
Section:
Monday, 3:30PM-04:40PM, Baskin 372
Eva
Shapiro - esshapir@ucsc.edu
Office
Hours: 2-4PM Tuesday, 403 E2
Section:
Wednesday, 11:00AM-12:10PM, Baskin 372
Readings
Reading
and assignments are posted on the webpage. Readings are linked for download. Most readings must be downloaded from JSTOR, in which case
you must download them from a university computer or be logged into the library
prior to download. Please plan
ahead. If you have a problem with
downloading these papers, please let me know.
Business
case studies must be downloaded from Harvard Business publishing. Please use the following link to access
the 188 course module:
http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/access/13410486
The
cost of each study is roughly $4, so you will have to pay via credit card when
downloading each case.
Paper/Presentation
In
this course, 50% of your grade will be determined by a paper and
presentation. The assignment is to
pick an industry that interests you, and to write a paper summarizing that
industry and how it interacts in the global economy. Who are the major players? What expansion strategies did these players choose? What are the major global policies that
affect this industry?
Office
Hours
My
office hours will be 1-3 on Fridays.
My office is 459 Engineering 2.
My email is acspearot@gmail.com. The Course website is the following:
http://people.ucsc.edu/~aspearot/Econ188.htm
Exam
Re-grades
Exam
re-grade requests must be submitted in writing, and only after looking at the
answer key. I reserve the right to
re-grade the entire exam during a re-grade.
Course
Schedule and readings:
|
Date |
Section |
Title |
Reading |
Notes |
Assignments |
|
3-Apr |
Intro |
Review and Intro |
|
|
|
|
5-Apr |
|
Modeling Firm
Behavior |
|
|
|
|
10-Apr |
Exporting |
Firms and
Exporting |
|
Optional Reading: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
12-Apr |
|
Firms and
Exporting |
|
Optional Reading:
Helpman 2.1-2.3, 2.7 (Link above) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ben and Jerry's |
Harvard Case |
|
|
17-Apr |
|
Policies that
affect exporters |
Optional Reading:
Helpman 2.1-2.3, 2.7 (Link above) |
Proposal (2 pages) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
19-Apr |
|
Policies that
affect exporters |
|
|
|
|
24-Apr |
Exam 1 |
|
EXAM |
||
|
26-Apr |
Writing
Practicum |
|
|
|
|
|
1-May |
FDI |
Which firms invest
and why? |
|
Optional Reading:
Helpman 2.4 (Link above) |
Detailed Outline (2 pages) |
|
3-May |
FDI |
Which firms invest
and why? |
Optional Reading:
Helpman 3 (Link above) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Offshoring of
America |
Harvard Case |
|
|
8-May |
FDI |
Policies that
affect foreign investment |
Ireland, FDI in
China |
Harvard Case |
|
|
10-May |
FDI |
FDI Case Studies |
Walmart in Germany, Autos,
NAFTA |
Harvard Case |
|
|
15-May |
Exam 2 |
|
EXAM |
||
|
17-May |
Presentation
Practicum |
|
|
|
|
|
22-May |
Management |
Management
Practices |
|
|
|
|
24-May |
Management |
Management
Practices |
|
Detailed Outline (4 pages) |
|
|
29-May |
Policy |
GATT/WTO and Trade
Agreements |
|
|
|
|
31-May |
Policy |
GATT/WTO and Trade
Agreements |
Tokarick, Cambodia, HongKong |
Harvard Case |
|
|
5-Jun |
|
Presentations |
|
|
|
|
7-Jun |
|
Presentations |
|
|
Paper Due (10 pages) |
|
11-Jun |
4-7PM |
Presentations |
|
|
|