Trade in G&S, New Trade Theory, and Trading Partners

I have finalized the country projects and sent out the country project assignments. You will receive your assignment with an invitation to edit your country's Google doc. If you do not see the email in your Inbox, please check your spam folder.
I organized the country groups the best I could given the preferences you stated. A large number of countries were listed, but there was only a critical mass for a more limited number and there was excess demand for a few.
The project files are set up as Google docs. Only those of you in the group (3-4 per group) can edit the document, but everyone in the class can see it. This will allow everyone to learn not only from their own work but from that of the other groups.
NOTE: You MUST be logged in to Brandeis in order to access your Google doc. The easiest way to access the doc is to log into LATTE and click the link for your country in the project section.
The project docs are divided into four sections, one for each section of the course. Target due dates for each project section are included in the section heading.
It may be useful to divide up the work but also to get together to discuss the findings and write-ups. Please refrain from using long quotations in your write-ups. You should describe your findings in your own words and cite your sources. Also, please identify who contributed to which answer.
As I mentioned in class, the purpose of the projects is to give you a chance to do some of your own research and learn about and how to use some of the available resources for international economics. I have included some resources in the project section of LATTE. For example, the UN Comtrade database contains detailed trade data. Pugel used the Comtrade database to construct the tables for trade by product category in the text. The world's trade data are at your fingertips!
Please read the above instruction email that was sent out from my instructor and then see the attached document for a copy of the "google doc" that he was mentioned before. please tell me whether you can see the links along the doc or not. Please do most of the questions that was in part one (due 3/13), thank you!

I.       Trade in G&S (by 3/13)

The UN Comtrade database and the country pages in The International Trade Statistics Yearbook are useful sources for trade data.

A.      The Heckscher-Ohlin theorem and trade patterns.

• In what factors of production, e.g., capital, unskilled labor, is your country relatively abundant?  Relatively scarce

[Your discussion here.]

• Does the actual pattern of trade, i.e., what G&S your country imports and exports, appear to be consistent with your country’s factor endowment?

[Your discussion here.]

• Are there major categories of imports or exports (SITC or HS codes) that have experienced significant changes over time?

[Your discussion here.]

B.      New trade theory.

• To what extent is trade intra-industry vs. inter-industry?  (You might look at data for SITC or HS codes for which your country has significant trade.)

[Your discussion here.]

• Is your country home to oligopoly firms in world markets (internal economies of scale) or industry clusters (external economies of scale)?

[Your discussion here.]

C.      Trading partners.

• Which countries are your country’s main trading partners?  Are they at similar or different levels of economic development?

[Your discussion here.]

• Have there been significant changes in the relative importance of particular trading partners over time?

[Your discussion here.]

D.      Is there anything else interesting you discovered in your research?

[Your discussion here.]

II.      Trade Policy (by 3/27)

If your country is part of a customs union or common market, use the information for the trade bloc where appropriate.

A.      Tariffs and nontariff barriers.

• Does your country, in general, have high or low tariff barriers?  What is the average tariff rate?

[Your discussion here.]

• Are there industries, like the U.S. sugar industry, that benefit from significant protection?

[Your discussion here.]

• Does your country tax or limit exports (aside from economic sanctions)?

[Your discussion here.]

B.      Dumping and export subsidies.

• Does your country have an anti-dumping law?

[Your discussion here.]

• If so, has the anti-dumping law been used extensively?  What industries have received protection through anti-dumping duties?

[Your discussion here.]

• Has your country used safeguard policy?  In what industries?

[Your discussion here.]

• Has your country accused other countries of subsidizing exports?  In what industries?

[Your discussion here.]

• Has your country been accused of dumping or subsidizing exports?  In what industries?

[Your discussion here.]

C.      Trade blocs.

• What preferential trade arrangements or regional trade agreements does your country belong to?  Are these free trade areas, customs unions, or common markets?[Your discussion here.]

• Does your country have any special economic zones?  Do the special economic zones offer free trade and preferential rules to encourage FDI or the location of export industries within the zone?

[Your discussion here.]

D.      Economic sanctions.

• Does your country have economic sanctions in place against another country or countries?  What target country behavior do the sanctions seek to alter?

[Your discussion here.]

• What types of economic interactions do the sanctions restrict?

[Your discussion here.]

E.      WTO.

• Is your country a member of the WTO?  If so, when did it first join the GATT or WTO?

[Your discussion here.]

• Is your country party to any WTO disputes?  If so, briefly describe one or more of the most recent disputes.

[Your discussion here.]

F.      Is there anything else interesting you discovered in your research?

[Your discussion here.]

III.     International Factor Movements (by 4/7)

A.      MNEs.

• Is your country the home of any major MNEs?

[Your discussion here.]

• Does your country host any major MNEs?

[Your discussion here.]

B.      Foreign direct investment (FDI) and taxation.

• Does your country restrict foreign direct investment?  If so, how does it do so?

[Your discussion here.]

• Is your country a significant source of FDI?  A significant destination for FDI?

[Your discussion here.]

• How does your country tax the income of MNEs?  Is your country a tax haven?

[Your discussion here.]

C.      Migration.

• Is there significant immigration to your country?  If there is significant immigration, approximately how many people immigrate per year?  What are the main sending countries?

[Your discussion here.]

• Is there significant emigration from your country?  If there is significant emigration, approximately how many people emigrate per year?  What are the main receiving countries?

[Your discussion here.]

• Does your country attempt to limit immigration or emigration?  If so, how does it do so and what are the limits imposed?

[Your discussion here.]

• Does your country receive significant remittances from workers abroad?  Do workers in your country send significant remittances abroad?

[Your discussion here.]

• Has immigration generated social frictions in your country?  Have emigrants from your country met with hostility in the receiving countries?

[Your discussion here.]

D.      Is there anything else interesting you discovered in your research?

[Your discussion here.]

IV.     Understanding Foreign Exchange (by 4/30)

A.      Current account balance and net international investment position.

• Does your country have a current account surplus or deficit?  How large is the surplus or deficit as a % of GDP?

[Your discussion here.]

• Is your country a net international creditor or net debtor?  How large as a % of GDP?

[Your discussion here.]

B.      Currency and exchange rate regime.

• Does your country have its own currency?  Or does it share a currency with a larger economic bloc or simply use another country’s currency?

[Your discussion here.]

• If your country has its own currency, does the currency float or is it fixed?  If floating, does the central bank intervene frequently to influence its value?  If fixed, what currency is it pegged to and what is the mechanism used to fix its value?  How much is its value allowed to fluctuate?

[Your discussion here.]

• Does your country allow capital to flow freely into and out of the country or does it have some form of capital or exchange rate controls that limit such flows?

[Your discussion here.]

C.      Foreign exchange reserves.

• What is the current value of your country’s international reserves?  (If your country is part of the eurozone, use data on European Central Bank reserves.)

[Your discussion here.]

• Have your country’s international reserves experienced a significant increase or decrease recently?  If so, what does this suggest about the current value of the currency relative to its equilibrium value?  In other words, has the intervention sought to increase or decrease the currency’s value?

[Your discussion here.]

D.      Is there anything else interesting you discovered in your research?

[Your discussion here.]