This is a four units course with three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Information on the course, including office hours, past assignments and examinations, required readings, and current assignments are available from the course's homepage on the Internet at the following address:
http://are.berkeley.edu/courses/ECON181

Section times and locations

Textbooks

Prerequisites

Econ 100 A&B, or Econ 101 A&B, or PENR 100, or consent of instructor.

Requirements

1. Assignments

There will be five assignments that will be due at the following dates:
Thursday, September 11: Assignment 1
Thursday, October 2: Assignment 2
Thursday, October 23: Assignment 3
Thursday, November 13: Assignment 4
Thursday, December 4: Assignment 5

Assignments will be given to students two weeks before the due date. The text can also be retrieved from the course homepage on the Internet. Late homeworks will be discounted at the rate of 2 points per day. Assignment 5 will not be accepted late. Acknowledgement of receipt of homework will be posted on the Homepage within 48 hours. Answers to the homeworks will be posted on the home page one week after their due date.

2. Examinations

There will be a mid-term and a final examination on the following dates:
Mid-term examination: Thursday, October 16, 2-3.30pm.
Final examination: Thursday, December 11, 12.30-3.30pm.

3. Grades

The grade for the course will be based on the following components:
Exercises: Five times 6 percent = 30 percent
Mid-term: 25 percent
Final: 45 percent.

Office hours

Elisabeth Sadoulet: Giannini Hall 213, Friday 2-4 pm; sadoulet@are.berkeley.edu
Petra Geraats: 608-8 Evans,Wednesday 12:30-2:30; geraats@econ.berkeley.edu
Simone Peart: 608-5 Evans, Monday 12:30-1:30 and Tuesday 11-12; simone@econ.berkeley.edu
Carlos Serrano: 608-4 Evans, Tuesday 9-11 am; serrano@econ.berkeley.edu

Course Outline and Reading List

Week 1: Issues in International Trade
K & O, Chapter 1
The Economist: "War of the Worlds", October 1994, pp.1-5

Weeks 1-2: Labor productivity and comparative advantage: the Ricardian Model
K & O, Chapter 2
Krugman: "What do Undergrads need to know about trade" American Economics Review, May 1993

Weeks 3-4: Specific factors and income distribution
K & O, Chapter 3
New York Times: Crawfish Wars: Cajun Country vs. China 5/7/97

Weeks 4-5: Resources and trade: The Heckscher-Ohlin model
K & O, Chapter 4
The Economist: "War of the Worlds", October 1994, pp.14-19

Week 6
"Issues in International Trade as Seen by Private Banking" by Orlando Loera, Bank of America

Weeks 6-7: The standard trade model
K & O, Chapter 5

Week 8: Thursday October 16 - Midterm

Week 9: Issues in International Trade
K & O, Chapter 7

Weeks 9-10: NAFTA, by Alain de Janvry
The Economist: "The Nafta Effect", July 1997

Weeks 10-11: Instruments of trade policy
K & O, Chapter 8
New York Times: Europe's Banning of Treated Beef is Ruled Illegal," 5/9/97

Week 12: The political economy of trade policy
K & O, Chapter 9
Newsweek: "The Banana Wars" 4/28/97

Week 13: Trade and the environment, by David Zilberman
Reader: "Environmental Aspects of Economic Relations Between Nations"

Weeks 13-14: Trade policy in developing countries
K & O, Chapter 10

Thanksgiving

Week 15: Strategic trade policies in advanced countries
K & O, Chapter 11