Taught by center director Andrew Bernard and senior associate director Matthew Slaughter, this course focuses on the interaction between countries and firms in the arenas of international trade, investment, and finance by applying and extending the tools acquired in Global Economics for Managers (also taught by professors Bernard and Slaughter). Our ultimate objective is to help you, and your firm, make decisions in today’s global economy.
Two broad themes recur throughout the term. One emphasizes the decisions faced by firms themselves as they participate in the international economy. Across a range of countries we look at issues surrounding production location, market entry, cross-border pricing, protectionist trade policies, exchange rate risk and hedging, integrating the supply chain, and industrial relations.
The second theme of the course concentrates on the analysis of decision-making at the country level with emphasis on the constraints implied for individual firms. We visit a number of countries around the world that are at various stages of economic and market development and thus that face issues of monetary union, currency crisis, trade liberalization, and economic integration. In each case we consider how these events provide opportunities and constraints for firms.
