What is International Trade

International Trade definitions, concepts, notes, questions and answers.

International trade is the buying and selling of goods and services between countries. Global trade provides consumers with access to goods and services not easily available in their own countries (or more expensive locally).

Local Business and People

Working individually, write a report on the following topic:

Engage with the local community and critically examine how work and employment issues discussed in the ‘The Individuals at Work’ half unit concern the local business and people. Possible directions of your investigation are listed below, and you can choose two to focus on.

The task: Your task is an open-ended, problem-based project to investigate the workplaces in the community of your choice. This means there is not an assigned topic to this project. To investigate how work and employment issues discussed in the ‘The Individuals at Work’ half unit concern the local business and people, you can use a variety of methods to gather information, as long as you justify how your chosen method(s) help to understand the issues and overcome challenges in conducting this project. Your information can come from different sources, such as websites, local or national statistical data, new paper articles, academic papers or interviews with individual business owners and workers.

Possible directions of investigation, from which you can choose two to focus on:

• 1. Is the community a globalised space of work, judging by the composition of the workforce and businesses?
• 2. What connection do the businesses have with workers living locally?
• 3. Is there a sense of the community, which is part of the identity for businesses and workers?
• 4. Has any big business moved in or out of the community in the past 5-10 years? What are the impacts of such move on the local people?
• What are the patterns of work in the local community? How has such patterns changed over the past 5-10 years?
• Are changes in the patterns of work a reflection of the wider national economic trend?

The Observable Field: A Local Community

The individuals: Business owners, Freelancers, Worker employed (full-time, part-time, permanent, temporary)

The workplaces:

• Ownership structure: public services, private companies, not-for-profit organisations
• Private companies can be divided into mass chains and independent outlets
• There may be ethnic businesses and family businesses

Changes and Trends

• Casualisation of work: is temporary, short-term, and part-time work on the rise or not?
• Informalisation of work: is work without employment contract on the rise or not?
• Diversification in the source of workers: has channels of recruitment diversified, e.g. direct recruit, through employment agencies, through social media, family, personal referral etc.
• Diversity in the workforce: increase or decrease in diversity?

Methods

• Secondary materials – websites, reports, news articles, published case studies and journal papers
• Observation – hanging around
• Visualisation – recording
• Fieldwork notes
• Ethnography – working and hanging around
• Interviews – ethics – inform people the research is for University course; ensure names are anonymised; seek consent for recordings

Structure of Work

• Introduction: Introduce the community with brief background; overview of work and employment issues under investigation
• Main discussions: Explain the significance of the chosen work and employment issues in the local community. Justify the method(s) adopted to collect information. Analyse and discuss the reasons behind the observed work and employment issues in the local community;
• Conclusions: A summary and reflection on the arguments presented

Example Topic:

Globalization has lead to the increasing in integration and interdependence of countries in different aspects including, economies, societies, cultures, politics and technology. This increased interconnectedness between countries has also influenced the lives of people in local communities significantly, especially the effect of globalisation and advanced technologies on work and employment in different sectors, including libraries. This project based report aims to address the effects of globalization on the work and employment patterns of Egham library and Royal Holloway University (RHUL) library in the Egham area. This report will examine the effect of globalization on employment patterns and will try to understand how these public services respond to global pressures by tapping into the local.

Academic Projects on International Trade

Academic projects, questions, assignments on International Trade.

Question: Pick a company an emerging economy.

Do a brief research on this country’s economic environment to reveal: If the country is a part of trade agreements or economic unions (see the slides above). If the country is subject to restrictive or facilitative trade regulations from other agreements/unions they are not a part of. Some country-level economic variables (e.g., GDP, economic system and freedom, level of debts, currency rates/fluctuations, inflation rates, etc.). See for example “https://data.worldbank.org/indicator, https://www.oecd.org/sdd/oecdmaineconomicindicatorsmei.htm, https://www.imf.org/en/countries, https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/global-economic-prospects”

Reflect on the findings. How does the domestic market economy influence company resources? How might it be shaping industry competition? Could it create/inhibit motivations to internationalize? Any other potential effects?

Question: Below are hypothetical production possibilities tables for Australia and the US. Each country can produce sugar and wheat.

Australia’s Production Possibilities Table
Wheat: 0, 3.33, 6.67, 10
Sugar: 30, 20, 10. 0

US’s Production Possibilities Table
Wheat: 0, 10, 20, 30
Sugar: 30, 20, 10. 0

• a. Plot the production possibilities data for each of the two countries separately.
• b. Which nation should specialize in which product? Why?
• c. Illustrate the gains from trade.
• d. Explain how comparative advantage relates to the development of free-trade zones such as the European Union, the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the impending Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement.
• e. In spite of this theory, countries still restrict trade. Why?

Question: Develop a mind map or concept map for the essay question: Will free trade end poverty?

Question: Explain the arguments against the neoliberal position that free trade will solve the poverty problem around the world.

Question: National Treatment under the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures

National Treatment under the TRIMs

• What has been the position of the National Treatment under the TRIMs?
• Briefly mention about the NT in the GATT (Art. III)
• Briefly mention about the TRIMs
• How has the TRIMs evolved over the years – Landmark Cases, 1-2 Contemporary issues regarding NT and TRIMs around the globe (popular ones)

National Treatment under the TRIMs in India

• National Treatment measures in India, issues around it
• TRIMs measures in India, issues around it
• Recent case studies (Solar Panel case between US and India)
• Brief study of India’s FDI policy – its criticisms in respect to TRIMs
• India putting a ban on FDI from China in 2020 – case study – violation of the National Treatment under TRIMs or not
• Any other contemporary issues

Question. In a country of your choice, critically analyse some of the present national cultural values that significantly influence the management, organization and performance of its firms. Review how these may or may not have evolved over time.

Question. Critically discuss the difference in the Global standardization strategy, localization strategy, international strategy and transnational strategy that are used by MNEs in their international expansion. Use appropriate examples to support your answer.

Question. Reflect critically on the entry modes of exporting and joint ventures utilised by MNEs, as outlined in the Uppsala Model. Discuss their respective advantages and disadvantages and provide examples wherever appropriate.

Question. Assess the key differences between large MNEs from developed economies with those from developing and emerging economies. Your answer should also refer to some of the other types of MNEs. Illustrate your answer with examples.

Question. Critically analyse the ‘first mover advantage’ principle for MNEs and discuss its advantages and disadvantages. Illustrate your answer wherever possible with examples.

Question. Critically reflect on the role of national legal systems and their impact on the strategic concerns that MNE managers face. Explore how these concerns differ between developing and developed economies.

Question: Using the idea of Comparative Advantage trade theory, explain the development of the value chain and reorganisation of trade in Asia caused by manufacturing business. You may want to use examples such as Apple’s iPhone or others.

Question: Critically evaluate the role the World Trade Organisation (WTO) plays in world trade and international business. Explain with examples to illustrate your answer, any three benefits of the WTO to businesses.

Question: What trade risks does a multinational company face? Can these risks be fully mitigated? Explain your answer using examples and relevant theory.

Question: The most favoured nation principle has been the basis of the WTO agreements. Has trade non-discrimination proven to be a good design for multinational businesses.

Question: What financial risks does a small German company importing goods from China face? Would using a letter of credit be enough to entirely mitigate these risks? Explain your answer using examples and relevant theory.

Question: Working with the people in your group, you are going to trace global trade. Choose one of the following topics:

1. The clothes you are wearing
2. The music on your current playlist
3. Everything in your bag

Create a Genially to show the global distribution of your topic. Save the Genially to your Microsoft Teams site and share your research.

• How has globalization allowed this interaction between the countries?
• Have you noticed any patterns in the different teams?
• Are some countries producing the same type of products all the time?
• Do you think the global distribution of production is fair?

Question on Trade Protectionism.

Rice Liberalization Bill in the Philippines

Develop your understanding of the implications of governments controlling trade in their countries. You will be given an interest group involved in the rice liberalization bill in the Philippines. You will then present your stance to the government. They will decide if they will change the bill. This exercise looks at an issue from different perspectives and develops your understanding of critical analysis. 

Take a look in depth at a bill designed to reduce control over rice trade in the Philippines. To understand the issues, watch this video:

Answer the following questions and discuss as a class:
1) Why are the government wanting to introduce the bill?
2) What are the main critiques?
3) Who has an interest in this bill?

In your groups, choose one of these:

• Local farmers advocates
• Food policy research group
• Informal housing groups Manila
• Rice exporters from Thailand
• The Philippine Government

Prepare to present your ideas to the Philippine Government. The government will then respond to the issues of the different groups and come to a decision if they will continue with the liberalisation bill.

What are the key issues in the rice liberalization bill?

Critical analysis is seeing things from different perspectives. Who are the key stakeholders in this scenario?

Australian companies take on global markets

The performance of Australian companies overseas is slowly improving as a new breed of entrepreneurs take on global markets. WiseTech Global, Gentrack Group, Aconex and other ASX-listed software companies are expanding offshore. A spike in software listings on ASX in the past three years has provided new choices for investors seeking globally focused small-caps.

Several Australian financial technology companies are growing overseas, particularly in Britain. A large pool of superannuation funds has nurtured many successful Australian fintech companies that are making good, early inroads overseas. Examples include IRESS, GBST Holdings, Praemium and Bravura Solutions.

Read more here.

What’s killing the Australian fashion Industry?