International Trade

Theory, Evidence and Policy

International Trade: Theory, Evidence and Policy provides an integrated non-mathematical account of trade theory and policy that can be read straight through. The footnotes provide caveats, extensions and entry points, or further reading.

This book is divided into three parts. The first part focuses on the core theoretical analysis of international trade that has evolved over a quarter-millennium. The second part reviews recent empirical research in global value chains, trade costs, and heterogeneous firms, particularly from analysing large datasets of individual firms' characteristics and of trade flows disaggregated to very finely detailed levels. The third section of the book analyzes trade policies and discusses current policy debates.

This edition is based on Pomfret's Lecture Notes on International Trade Theory and Policy, first published in 2008. The content has been extensively updated and revised to stand as a new volume.

Contents:

• Theory:

  • Introduction
  • The Ricardian Model
  • Why International Trade?
  • The Neoclassical Model
  • A Partial Equilibrium Model of International Trade
  • International Trade and the Distribution of Income
  • The Leontief Paradox and Technology-based Trade Theories
  • Growth and Trade
  • Economies of Scale and Imperfect Competition
  • Factor Flows

• Empirics:

  • Global Value Chains
  • Trade Costs
  • Heterogeneous Firms

• Policy:

  • The Theory of Trade Policy
  • The Political Economy of Trade Policy
  • Instruments of Trade Policy
  • International Trade Law and Multilateral Trade Negotiations
  • Discriminatory Trade Policies and Regionalism
  • Trade and Development
  • Trade Costs, Trade Facilitation and Trade in Services
  • Globalisation

• Epilogue

• References

• Index

Readership: It is intended primarily for students with some background in economics — at a minimum an Economics Principles course, preferably an intermediate course in Microeconomics.