International Trade Theory and Policy

ECON 2181 - Undergraduate Trade Course
George Washington University

This repository contains the complete course materials for an undergraduate course in International Trade Theory and Policy taught at George Washington University (GWU).

Course Description

This course studies the foundations of international trade and policy, covering:

• Classical and neoclassical theories of comparative advantage
• The specific-factors and Heckscher–Ohlin models
• Firm heterogeneity and intra-industry trade
• Trade policies under perfect and imperfect competition
• Contemporary topics linking theory to real-world applications

Learning Objectives

By the end of the semester, students should be able to:

1. Comprehend and explain the modern trade theories and their assumptions
2. Illustrate each theory using standard analytical tools (e.g., PPFs, GE diagrams, gravity) and data
3. Solve for the equilibrium of different models, using pen-and-paper as well as a computer
4. Interpret policy implications and distributional effects of trade and trade policy

Repository Structure

Lecture Materials

• Lecture0.tex - Lecture19.tex: Complete lecture slides (LaTeX Beamer format) covering the full course curriculum
• ReviewMidterm.tex: Comprehensive midterm review materials
• ReviewFinal.tex: Comprehensive final review materials

Course Assignments

• psets/: Problem sets and answer keys
• datalabs/: Data analysis labs
• exams/: Exam materials including questions, answer sheets, and grading rubrics

Supporting Materials

• handouts/: Course handouts (Handout0-Handout6) providing supplementary materials
• figs/: Figures and graphics used in lectures and materials
• data/: Datasets for analysis and exercises
• scr/: Python scripts for data visualization (e.g., trends-and-maps.py)
• archive/: Historical course materials

Administrative

• _syllabus_update.tex: Course syllabus with schedule, policies, and requirements

Textbook

Required: Krugman, Paul, Maurice Obstfeld, and Marc Melitz. International Trade: Theory and Policy. 11th edition.

Prerequisites

ECON 1011 and ECON 1012 (or equivalents)

Course Format

All materials are in LaTeX format (.tex files) and can be compiled to PDF using a standard LaTeX distribution. The lectures use the Beamer class for presentation slides.

Technical Requirements

To compile the course materials:

• LaTeX distribution (e.g., TeX Live, MiKTeX)
• Required LaTeX packages: beamer, pgfplots, tikz, biblatex, and others as specified in each file
• Python 3.x (for data analysis scripts)
• Required Python packages: pandas, geopandas, matplotlib

Instructor

Carlos Góes, Ph.D.
Professorial Lecturer
George Washington University

License

Course materials for educational use.

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This repository represents a comprehensive undergraduate economics course on international trade, combining theoretical foundations with practical applications and data analysis.