Archive – AW-Curriculum

AW-Curriculum 2021/22

B1 (2021) Open Markets Matter

Speaker: Dr. Manfred Schekulin (BMDW)
Date: September 30, 2021
Recording Link to the Webinar: https://my.demio.com/recording/4F0kdGUT
Materials: Manfred Schekulin’s Presentation
Contents:

  • A Bit of Dogma History: Why We (Think We) Know that Liberalization is a Good Thing
  • Liberalization as a Concession: Why We Need Trade Agreements and Why They Vary So Much – from CETA to the EU to the WTO.
  • Success Model of European Integration: Why We Are So Certain that Austria Benefits from European Integration
  • The Trade Policy Objective
    • The External Dimension – Trade Policy in a Geopolitical Context: ‘Open Autonomy’ and the ‘Brussels Effect’
    • The Internal Dimension – Successful Trade Policy as Part of a Policy Package: How Do Trade Policy and Social, Educational, Technological, and Other Policies Interact?
    • The Future Dimension – Trade Policy, Sustainable Development, and the Fight Against Climate Change
  • In Conclusion: Dani Rodrik’s Globalization Trilemma (and Its Viennese Roots)

W1 (2021) Foreign Trade Promotion and Export Financing

Speakers: em. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Reinhard Moser (WU); Mag. Ferdinand Schipfer (OeKB)
Date: October 21, 2021
Recording Link to the Webinar: https://my.demio.com/ref/rIje1759emQrvoJr
Materials: Moser/Schipfer Presentation
Contents:

  • Starting point: prosperity and foreign trade
    • Setting the course centuries ago
    • Austria in international comparison
  • Challenges for exporters and foreign investors
    • Specifics for the development of foreign markets
    • Core topics: Risk hedging and financing
    • Market-based solutions versus government support
  • Framework conditions for government support, relevance of the Austrian foreign trade strategy and international legal restrictions on government foreign trade support.
  • Overview of foreign trade promotion instruments in Austria
    • Role of BMF and OeKB
    • Risk coverage: state guarantee system to cover political and economic risks versus private export credit insurers
    • Financing Procedures: Procedural Export Financing versus Offers of Credit Institutions
    • Export promotion measures and services offered by the WKÖ with the support of the BMDW within the framework of “go international
  • From export promotion to securing the location
  • Reference to other relevant institutions and their functions
    • In Austria: ministries, AWS, OeEB, ADA, etc.
    • European and international financial institutions and their objectives
  • Trends, Outlook

W2 (2021) Introduction to Trade Theory

Speaker: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ingrid Kubin (WU Vienna)
Date: November 25, 2021
Recording Link to the Webinar: https://my.demio.com/recording/UhZow3Dd
Materials: Ingrid Kubin’s Presentation; List of Literature Contents:

  • Presentation of the main theories of international trade from the past to the present.
    • Mercantilism
    • Classics
    • Neo-Classics
    • New Trade Theory
    • New New Trade Theory

W3 (2022) The impact of digitization on foreign trade

Speaker: Dr. Bernhard Dachs (AIT)
Date: January 27, 2022
Recording Link to the Webinar: https://my.demio.com/recording/WwqdOQxC
Materials: Bernhard Dachs’s Presentation
Contents:

  • Which technologies (Industry 4.0; blockchains; 3D printing; artificial intelligence; platforms; Big Data analytics; virtual reality, augmented reality …) will define the future?
  • In-depth: Digital companies
  • In-depth: Digital currencies
  • Estimation of the potential of key technologies with regard to their economic effects (GDP, foreign trade) globally, EU, Austria; role of value chains
  • How much will digitization and the accompanying automation affect the individual economic sectors?
    • To what extent will new technologies also drive digitization in the service sector?
    • How will industry structures change?
  • What effects on employment can be expected? Which jobs will be eliminated? Which jobs will be retained? Which jobs will be created or in increased demand? Will enough new jobs be created or will there need to be a fundamental reorientation in the distribution of work?
  • Digitization and data protection; data protection as an excuse for trade barriers?
  • What are the biggest challenges for companies?
  • What do these transformation processes mean for governments? To what extent should they intervene (create a framework)?
  • To what extent were these transformation processes influenced or accelerated by the Covid 19 pandemic?What role do home office and social distancing play in this context?
  • What does it mean for developing countries if there is increased automation in the manufacturing sector in the future and possibly the re-shoring of industries?Will developing countries therefore have to focus more on the service sector in order to be able to develop economically? (i.e. the Indian rather than the Chinese way).
  • Conclusions (challenges, opportunities, risks) for the Austrian (foreign) economy

B3 (2022) Trade policy instruments

Speakers: Univ.-Doz. Dr. Robert Stehrer (wiiw) and Mag. Dipl.-Ing. Oliver Reiter (wiiw)
Date: March 17, 2022
Recording Link to the Webinar: https://my.demio.com/recording/hn7M86Wf
Materials: Stehrer/Reiter Handout
Contents:

  • Overview of trade policy instruments with selected examples.
    • Tariffs and quantitative trade restrictions (quotas)
    • Export subsidies
    • Other non-tariff trade barriers
    • Regulatory trade restrictions
    • Embargoes and sanctions
  • Overview of existing free trade agreements
    • History and reasons for free trade agreements
    • Generations of free trade agreements (developments, successes and failures, declining free trade momentum and causes).
    • Network effects of free trade agreements
    • Influence of different stakeholders on free trade agreements (companies, civil society, NGOs…)
  • Recent developments and challenges, for example
    • Overview of current developments on FTAs
    • Model and implications of “open strategic autonomy”.
    • Aspects of location policy
    • European Green Deal and carbon border tax
    • Effects of Covid-19 (dependencies, location policy, etc.).

W4 (2022) Development aspects of foreign trade, commodity trade and resource curse.

Speaker: Dr. Birgit Meyer, MSc
Date: April 28, 2022
Recording Link to the Webinar: https://my.demio.com/recording/9IdoaQUV
Materials: Birgit Meyer’s Presentation
Contents:

  • Links between foreign trade and development policy
    • Is a country automatically richer the more liberal it is?
    • Conditions under which trade liberalization can lead to growth/prosperity
    • Distributional Effects of Market Openings in Developing and Emerging Countries
  • Prerequisites for functioning free trade
    • Creation of adequate framework conditions and trade-offs of the use of funds
    • positive and negative effects of free trade and multinational companies on local production
  • Overview of important strategies
    • Everything but Arms
    • Sustainable Development Goals
    • Supply Chain Management
    • China in Africa
  • Part II: The Resource Curse
  • Introduction to the resource curse
    • Empirical examples (and counterexamples)
    • Possible explanatory patterns and evidence
  • Implications for development policy
    • Challenges for developing countries
    • (Effective and non-effective) strategies against the resource curse.
  • EU trade in raw materials and commodities
    • EU dependence on raw material imports; strategies for the future
    • How does the EU as an importer deal with the resource curse in the exporting countries (poor working conditions, environmental destruction …)?

B4 (2022) Current developments in the European integration process

Speaker: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Michael Landesmann (JKU Linz, wiiw); Mag. Dr. Thomas Reininger (OeNB)
Date: May 19, 2022
Recording Link to the Webinar: https://my.demio.com/recording/sxkO9uCK
Materials: Michael Landesmann’s Presentation; Thomas Reininger’s Presentation
Contents:

  • History of the European integration process
  • EU in the global political landscape and the world economy: globalization vs. regionalization; integration in value chains; position in international competition; development of labor markets
  • EU in the Covid 19 crisis
    • EU responses to the crisis
    • Member States’ responses to the crisis
    • Lessons learned from the crisis
  • Challenges posed by China
    • Open Strategic Autonomy
    • FDI Screening Regulation
  • Future of the EU
    • EU trade and internal market policy in the period after COVID-19
    • Importance of the EU as a global player, future relationship of the EU with China and the USA
    • Integration vs. disintegration in the EU: Brexit; current status in the enlargement process.

W5 (2022) Foreign trade in services

Speaker: Mag. Elisabeth Christen, PhD (WIFO)
Date: June 2, 2022
Recording Link to the Webinar: https://my.demio.com/recording/BuQJNvZE
Materials: Elisabeth Christen’s Presentation
Contents:

  • Special features of foreign trade in services compared to trade in goods
    • Definition of terms
    • Types of services
    • Coverage, Statistical Features
  • Multilateral and bilateral regulations for liberalization of foreign trade in services
    • at EU/WTO level (GATS, TiSA)
    • Regulation of foreign trade in services with the United Kingdom after Brexit
  • Analysis of global foreign trade in services and outlook
    • Structural change by service type, role of global value chains
    • Barriers to trade in services
    • Development of service exports compared to goods exports during crises: Financial Crisis 2008/09; Covid-19 Pandemic Note: if technically feasible (data availability; adjustment of BoP manual)
  • Significance and Development of Austrian Foreign Trade in Services
    • By components
    • by target markets
    • Significance for the current account/balance of payments
    • How do service exporters differ from goods exporters (size, productivity, etc.)?
    • Crisis development of service exports compared to goods exports: 2008/09 financial crisis; Covid 19 pandemic
  • Austria’s Foreign Trade in Services in the Context of European Foreign Trade in Services

W6 (2022) Social aspects of international trade: democracy, employment and distribution, protectionism.

Speaker: Priv.-Doz. Dr. Monika Köppl-Turyna (Eco Austria)
Date: September 29, 2022
Recording Link to the Webinar: https://my.demio.com/recording/IbhrmBSX
Materials: Monika Köppl-Turyna’s Presentation
Contents:

  • Relationship between international trade liberalization and democracy
    • Empirical evidence
    • Theoretical considerations/explanations
  • Political economy of populism (e.g. Rodrik, Manow, Petersen): Where does more populism exist (connection import competition, or – also already overcome – unemployment); connection trade penetration – populism (author et.al.).
  • The role of oligarchs on free trade (e.g. Russia, Eastern Europe, U.S.)
  • How do trade liberalizations affect employment and income distribution – compared to technological progress, digitalization, migration?
  • Analysis of employment effects of free trade
    • Analysis of the short and long term; differences between different industries and countries (such as industrialized nations and developing countries).
    • What do the various foreign trade theories have to say about these questions? What does the empirical evidence show? (Recent study results that the latest generation of EU FTAs leads not only to GDP increases, but to additional jobs and wage increases).
  • Analysis of the distributional effects of free trade
    • Inequalities due to liberalization: North-South; income, wealth, between and within countries (income polarization), wage share, labor market effects (skill-demand in Austria), estimates of adjustment costs, role of models used (partial versus general equilibrium analysis, diffenence-in-difference analysis), changes in worker protection due to trade liberalization.
  • Existing instruments to mitigate undesirable distributional effects: Instruments at EU level, e.g. regional funding;
    • Comparison with U.S. instruments to curb and equalize social inequalities; instruments at welfare state level.
  • Free trade vs. protectionism:
    • Tendencies and rational reasons for protectionism
    • economic reasoning
    • When are protectionist interventions justified from the perspective of economic doctrine?

B5 (2022) Monetary aspects of foreign trade (policy).

Speaker: Priv.-Doz. Dr. Julia Wörz (OeNB) Date: November 10, 2022 Recording Link to the Webinar: https://my.demio.com/recording/61kkMMCz Materials: Julia Wörz’s Presentation Contents:

  • Monetary aspects of foreign trade
    • Overview of balance of payments, current account, and exchange rates including an overview of basic macroeconomic concepts.
    • International capital flows
    • Subdivision of capital flows into financial investment and direct investment (FDI)
    • Effects of exchange rate developments and policies on competitiveness
    • Theory of optimal currency areas
    • Effects of the COVID 19 Pandemic on Exchange Rates
    • Role of the IMF
    • Development of the Euro Exchange Rate and the International Role of the Euro
  • EMU Money and Fiscal Policy
    • Fiscal Union: Obstacles and Developments in the Wake of the Covid 19 Pandemic.
    • Banks and Capital Markets Union

Foreign Trade Curriculum 2019/20

B1 (2019) Open Markets Matter

Speaker: Dr. Manfred Schekulin (BMDW)
Date: May 13, 2019
Materials: Script, Factsheets
Contents:

  • Brief outline of the history of dogma: from A. Smith and D. Ricardo to the New New Trade Theory;
  • How are trade policy and social policy related? Welfare state and open markets – a contradiction?
  • What role does trade policy play in Austrian/European foreign policy?
  • Which in development cooperation? Trade liberalization as an instrument of poverty reduction?
  • What lies behind the frequently expressed cultural and democratic concerns about market liberalization or the institutions that pursue it?
  • China’s approach with a “managed” market economy;
  • Dani Rodrik’s Globalization Trilemma.

B2 (2019) Current challenges of the European integration process.

Speaker: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Michael Landesmann
Date: September 11, 2019
Materials: Presentation
Contents:

  • European Union in the global economy: here we will examine the position of the European economy in the global economy using statistical indicators: Globalization vs. regionalization; trade policy developments; international production linkages; effects on labor markets; competition indicators.
  • The unresolved economic crisis: macroeconomic policy in the EU (monetary and fiscal policy) – comparison with the U.S.; assessment of the reform processes in the EU to overcome the economic crisis: obstacles to fiscal policy coordination and a ‘fiscal union’; status of the ‘banking and capital markets union’; external imbalances in the euro area and the ‘North-South problem’.Longer-term developments regarding integration or disintegration of the European currency area.
  • Migration and refugee crisis: effects of migration from an economic perspective.Differences between migration and refugee movements. Coordination of migration policies in the EU.
  • The longer-term challenge – Europe and its neighbourhood: demographic complementarity, economic, political and social stabilization.
  • EU-Russia relations as well as enlargement policy: economic development of Russia and in the EU-Russian ‘borderland’ (Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Caucasus);
  • Developments in candidate countries (Southeastern Europe, Turkey). Future of enlargement and neighborhood policy. Europe of concentric circles.

W1 (2019) Economy, environment and sustainability

Speaker: Ass.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Stefan Borsky (University of Graz)
Date: September 11, 2019
Materials:

  • Opportunities and risks for the environment associated with int. trade;
  • Economic effects of climate change and environmental disasters;
  • Impact of a CO2 tax (club solution: market entry against conditions) on trade flows and volumes…;
  • Impact of free trade on environmental standards; keyword: California Effect (trade exports higher environmental standards) vs. Pollution haven (free trade enables outsourcing of production to countries with lower standards and leads to higher environmental damage);
  • Comparative advantages in production;
  • Competitive advantages through environmental pollution;
  • CO2 content in international trade; effects of the Kyoto Protocol;
  • Scope and effects of environmental protection clauses in regional free trade agreements;
  • Measurement of CO2 emissions in value chains).

W2 (2019) Distributional effects in free trade.

Speaker: Sandra Leitner, Ph.D. (wiiw)
Date: October 21, 2019
Materials: Script
Contents:

  • Distributional effects of free trade compared to technological progress, digitalization, migration;
  • Inequalities due to liberalization: North-South, income, wealth, between and within countries (income polarization), wage share, labor market effects (skill-demand in Austria), estimates of adjustment costs, role of models used (partial vs. general equilibrium analysis, diffenence-in-difference analysis), changes in worker protection due to trade liberalization;
  • Recent study results that the latest generation of EU FTAs not only lead to GDP gains, but additional jobs and wage increases;
  • Existing instruments to mitigate undesirable distributional effects:
  • Instruments at EU level, e.g. regional funding;
  • Comparison with U.S. instruments to curb and equalize social inequalities;
  • Instruments at the welfare state level.
  • Tendencies and rational reasons for protectionism; economic reasoning, when are protectionist interventions justified from the perspective of economic doctrine?
  • Political economy of populism (e.g. Rodrik, Manow, Petersen): Where does more populism exist (connection import competition, or ? also already overcome ? unemployment); connection trade penetration – populism (author et.al.);
  • Different positions Southern Europe vs. Northern/Western Europe vs. Eastern Europe with regard to migration, Stability Pact.

W3 (2019) The Multilateral System of World Trade

Speakers: Julia Grübler, MSc (wiiw); Ass.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Ralph Janik (University of Vienna)
Date: December 4, 2019
Materials: Part 1; Part 2
Contents:

  • Basics of the GATS and the WTO; overview of negotiating rounds completed to date;
  • Reasons for the stalemate in the Doha round of negotiations:
  • complex negotiation agenda;
  • Consensus orientation in multilateral negotiations;
  • Blockades between developed and developing countries;
  • Shifts in the global balance of power due to the emergence of China as a new economic power;
  • Increase in regional and bilateral trade agreements;
  • changed trade and investment flows (previously from industrialized to developing/emerging countries and now in the opposite direction) How will this trend continue? What is the expected development of world trade flows over the next 50 years?
  • Tasks, benefits of the WTO:
  • Advantages of a multilateral trading system;
  • The WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism;
  • Overview WTO-compliant exceptions to the most favored nation principle (Articles 21,23,24 GATT).

B3 (2020) Free trade agreements

Speakers: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Fritz Breuss (WIFO), Julia Grübler, MSc (wiiw)
Date: February 26, 2020
Materials: Presentation Grübler, Presentation Breuss
Contents:

  • History of free trade agreements (FTAs) in the global economy and impact of such agreements.
  • Reasons why FTAs are concluded: On the one hand, because two or more countries decide to cooperate more closely in trade (free trade areas ? such as EFTA; customs unions ? such as the EEC) or want to deepen their cooperation even further, such as the EU with the creation of the single market and monetary union. On the other hand, the failure of multilateral agreements within the framework of the WTO (such as the pending conclusion of the Doha Round) is leading to more and more bilateral free trade agreements.
  • Free trade agreements against the background of the EU’s trade for all strategy; and Austria’s foreign trade strategy.
  • “Global Europe” strategy of the EU to conclude a new generation of trade agreements as comprehensive as possible (since 2006); examples: EU-South Korea FTA (2011), CETA (EU-Canada), the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which is currently on pause, EU-Mercosur agreement, and negotiations on bilateral free trade agreements with Vietnam, New Zealand, and Australia.
  • Approaches and models for harmonizing standards (labor, environment, consumption) in free trade agreements.
  • Role of lobbying (companies, NGOs, trade unions, etc.), transparency in stakeholder consultations. Communication and citizen participation in free trade agreements.

B4 (2020) Applied Modeling in Foreign Trade Research (Webinar).

Speaker: Univ.-Doz. Dr. Robert Stehrer (wiiw)
Date: October 21, 2020
Link to the Webinar Recording
Materials: Presentation
Contents:

  • Overview of applied models of economic research
  • Overview of data basics:
    • Trade data: Sources, differences, classifications, trade in services;
    • Possibilities of new approaches and conclusions through the analysis of microdata/company data/linkages of different data sources;
    • Data on tariffs, non-tariff trade measures, and FTAs;
    • Problem of “futurology” when little data is available.
  • World-Input-Output Database (WIOD): explain the evolution of global value chains and the importance of distinguishing gross exports from net exports and value-added generating exports; explain the World-Input-Output Database (WIOD) with examples:
    • e.g. iPhone with hundreds of suppliers in Latin America and Asia;
    • other data requirements
  • Selected models in applied modeling:
    • partial equilibrium models;
    • Input-Output Modeling;
    • General equilibrium models (CGE models for modeling trade measures);
    • Gravity Estimates (Structural Gravity Models).
  • Selected questions:
    • Welfare effects of foreign trade: Which mechanisms come into play at different levels of aggregation and how? What are the effects of tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers; significance and interpretation of the model estimates;
    • Heterogeneity of winners and losers: labor market/qualifications, income classes, industrial sectors;
    • Implications for the use of funding (e.g. internationalization offensive): Statements on achieving the highest multiplier effects, limitation and empirical estimation of deadweight effects;
    • Conclusions with regard to: Innovation and research promotion, analysis of export premiums and negative distribution effects/spillovers.
  • The presentation will discuss the applicability, significance, strengths and weaknesses, expansion options, variations, etc. The focus is on aspects that are of particular relevance in the practice of economic policy, for example in the interpretation of studies and results.

Note: The seminar is aimed in particular at “laypersons in the field of foreign trade methods”. It is intended to arouse interest in the topic and places particular emphasis on communicating the content in an understandable way.

B5 (2020) Restrictions on trade (webinar)

Speakers: Julia Grübler, MSc (wiiw), Mag. Dipl. Ing. Oliver Reiter (wiiw)
Date: December 1, 2020
Link to the Webinar Recording
Materials: Presentation

Contents:

  • Presentation of the various options for suspending the most favored nation clause within the framework of the WTO.
  • Discussion of the results of current empirical studies on trade effects and the political economy of non-tariff trade barriers, where possible with direct reference to Austria and its most important trading partners:
    • Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures;
    • Technical Barriers to Trade;
    • Antidumping;
    • Countervailing Duties;
    • (Special) Safeguards;
    • Literature: FIW-Policy Brief No. 36 (September 2017).
  • Regional topics:
    • Embargoes and sanctions (Iran, Russia/Ukraine);Embargoes and sanctions (Iran, Russia/Ukraine);
    • EU-EU relationship (Eurasian Economic Union);
    • new protectionism under US trade policy; effects on Austria; literature: FIW-Policy Brief No. 37; November 2017;
    • EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement;
    • China’s direct investments; One Belt One Road Initiative, Made in China 2025 Strategy, EU-China Investment Agreement.

W4 (2020) Key technologies of digitalization and their effects on foreign trade, taking into account foreign trade in services (webinar)

Speaker: Bernhard Dachs (AIT)
Date: September 23, 2023
Link to the Webinar Recording
Materials: Presentation

Contents:

  • Overview of the key technologies. Industry 4.0; blockchains; 3D printing; artificial intelligence; platforms; big data analysis, etc.
  • Estimates of the potential of key technologies in terms of effects on productivity, GDP and jobs (literature review of existing studies).
  • Global value chains and digitalization.
  • Excursus: Digital tax or regulation of global digital players.
  • Effects on foreign trade.
  • What does the increase in global trade in services mean for Austria? Opportunities and risks, policy implications.
  • Requirements for companies/workers/policy makers.
  • Austria’s position in various indicators of digitalization, e.g. The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI).

W5 (2020) The role of China and India as global players in the world economy (Webinar)

Speakers: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Michael Landesmann (JKU Linz, wiiw), Priv.-Doz. Dr. Stephan Barisitz (OeNB), Dr. Christian Belabed (OeNB)
Date: November 18, 2018
Link to the Webinar Recording
Materials: Belabed’s Presentation, Barisitz’s Presentation, Landesmann’s Presentation

Contents:

Block I: Christian Belabed 

  • Current (foreign) economic developments in China including sectoral analysis and “middle-income-trap”;
  • Significance, development and prospects of China’s foreign trade relations with the EU and Austria (based on bilateral current and capital account data);
  • Economic policy response to COVID-19 and macroeconomic assessment;
  • China’s medium and long-term growth prospects;
  • China’s position in the global financial system and China’s position on environmental protection issues/climate policy.


Block II: Stephan Barisitz

  • Power relations and players in geopolitics – the role of China and India; the role of the “new giants” in relation to each other;
  • Chinas Belt & Road Initiative (BRI), inkl. Institutionen (SRF, CDB, CExim, AIIB…) auf den Punkt gebracht;
  • Impact of COVID-19 and BRI’s response (project delays, cancellations, new projects, debt rescheduling negotiations, Health Silk Road campaign, etc.);
  • Some major BRI projects in India and neighboring countries;
  • Outlook.


Block III: Michael Landesmann

  • Economic development of India: phases of economic development, structural differences China-India; demography; federal structures and regional economic development; industry and service sector;
  • Response to COVID-19 and India’s medium and long-term growth prospects;
  • India’s foreign trade: export strengths and weaknesses; position in free trade agreements: India’s longer-term development prospects in regional and global foreign trade relations;
  • Significance, development and prospects of India’s foreign trade relations (including service outsourcing) with the EU and Austria; hurdles for Austrian export companies;
  • India’s position on environmental issues/climate policy; commitments/plans under the Paris Agreement.

W6 (2020) Austrian Direct Investment and Economic Policy: Theoretical and Empirical Aspects of Investment Protection from a Legal and Economic Perspective (Webinar)

Speakers: ao. Univ. Prof. Dr. Christian Bellak (WU), Mag. Lukas Stifter (BMDW)
Date: December 16, 2020
Link to the recording of the webinar
Materials: Stifter’s presentation, Bellak’s presentation

Contents:

  • Theoretical and empirical aspects of investment protection from a legal perspective
    • Origin and explanation of international investment protection agreements;
    • Delineation, functions and types of FDI;
    • How is FDI currently regulated internationally? WTO (TRIMS; GATS); investment protection agreements (bilateral, regional, multilateral);
    • The investment policy of the European Union;
    • Reform discussion.
  • Theoretical and empirical aspects of investment protection from an economic perspective
    • Determinants of FDI;
    • Justification for investment protection agreements;
    • Economic explanation of the consequences of investment protection agreements: Determinants of arbitration cases;
    • Reform discussion;
    • Development over time of global FDI and Austrian active and passive FDI.

Seminar series 2018 “Current economic issues in the context of the international economy and European integration”

Seminar 1 (2018) Current modeling in foreign trade research

Speaker: Univ.-Doz. Dr. Robert Stehrer (wiiw)
Date: April 19, 2018
Materials: Script

Contents:

  • Overview of applied models
  • Overview of data bases
    • Trade data: Sources, differences, classifications, trade in services
    • Data on tariffs, non-tariff trade measures and FTAs
    • World-Input-Output Database (WIOD)
      • Explanation of the evolution of global value chains and the importance of distinguishing gross exports from net exports and value-added generating exports
      • Explanation of the World Input-Output Database (WIOD) with examples (e.g. iPhone with hundreds of suppliers in Latin America and Asia)
    • Further data requirements
  • Selected models in applied modeling using the example of US tariffs on car imports (‘Trumponomics’)
    • Partial equilibrium models
    • Input-output modeling
    • General equilibrium models (CGE models for modeling trade measures)
    • Gravity estimates (structural gravity models)

Seminar 2 (2018) Overview, current developments and prospects for agricultural foreign trade

Speakers: Cornelius Hirsch, BSc, MSc (FIW, WIFO); Priv.-Doz. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Franz Sinabell
Date: June 7, 2018
Materials: Hirsch’s script, Sinabell’s script

Contents:

  • Different systems of agricultural trade regimes (agricultural support; agricultural policy) worldwide:
    • UNITED STATES
    • EU
    • Other countries/regions
  • Changes in agricultural policy over time;
  • Development of international agricultural foreign trade:
    • Volume
    • Share of total trade
    • Most important commodities
    • Trading partner
    • Special features in the EU
    • Special features in Austria
  • Field of tension and interrelationship between agricultural trade/agricultural policy and foreign trade/foreign trade policy;
  • Importance/treatment/problems of agriculture in the EU;
  • Developments regarding foreign trade in agriculture in the WTO:
    • Presentation of the differing interests of the major geopolitical interest groups as a possible cause of sluggish negotiations;
  • Special instruments of agricultural trade policy:
    • Tariffs
    • Quotas
    • Non-tariff measures (NTM)
  • Treatment of the agricultural sector in trade agreements;
  • Impact of Brexit on the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy;
  • Future aspects for agricultural foreign trade.

Seminar 3 (2018) The Role of China in the Global Economy

Speakers: Julia Grübler, MSc (wiiw), Priv.-Doz. Dr. Stephan Barisitz, Dr. Christian Belabed (OeNB)
Date: October 11, 2018
Materials: Script

Contents:

  • Power Relationships and Players in Geopolitics: The Role of China
  • China’s growth prospects
    • One Belt / One Road Initiative
    • Middle income trap
  • China’s Position in the Global Financial System
    • Chinese Development Bank
  • China’s new position on environmental protection issues / climate policy
  • Significance, development and prospects of China’s foreign trade relations with the EU and Austria

Seminar 4 (2018) Foreign direct investment: Theory, background, developments and challenges

Speakers: a.o. Univ. Prof. Dr. Christian Bellak (WU Wien), Mag. Lukas Stifter (BMDW)
Date: January 28, 2019
Materials: Bellak’s presentation, Stifter’s presentation

Contents:

  • Delineation, functions and types of FDI;
  • Economic theory of FDI, how has it evolved;
  • What are the determinants behind FDI flows:
    • worldwide
    • With regard to Austria
    • Volume
    • Development of global and Austrian active and passive FDI over time
    • Firm and industry structure;
  • How is FDI currently regulated internationally:
    • WTO (TRIMS; GATS)
    • Investment protection agreements
    • Assessment from an economic perspective;
  • The investment policy of the European Union;
  • Aspects of the technology content of investments in Austrian investments abroad and foreign investments in Austria;
    • Role of welfare-enhancing investments;
  • Do restrictions on the takeover of companies by foreign investors make sense or do they harbor great potential for protectionism?
  • Literatur: Pohl, J. (2018), “Societal benefits and costs of International Investment Agreements: A critical review of aspects and available empirical evidence”, OECD Working Papers on International Investment, 2018/01, OECD Publishing, Paris. dx.doi.org/10.1787/e5f85c3d-en.

Seminar series 2017 “Current economic issues in the context of the international economy and European integration”

Seminar 1 (2017) Migration, Refugee Integration and Foreign Trade

Seminar 1 (2017) Migration, refugee integration and foreign trade

  • Analysing migration flows; overview of medium and long-term future scenarios;
  • Aspects of integration;
  • Effects on the labour market, GDP, fiscal policy/education in Austria:
    • Overview of existing empirical evidence
    • The most important economic policy conclusions to be drawn from this
  • Kurzfristige und langfristige Auswirkungen auf die Außenwirtschaft:
    • Border controls
    • Economic relations in the migrants’ regions of origin
    • Effects of the brain drain
  • Analysing the potential of the EU Investment Plan for third countries (EIP) in combating the causes of migration.
  • Discussion of increased involvement and consideration of the private sector in migration issues.

Seminar 2 (2017) The practice of trade restrictions

Speaker: Julia Grübler, MSc (wiiw)
Date: May 17, 2017
Materials: Script

Contents:

  • Presentation of the various options for suspending the most favored nation clause within the WTO;
  • Discussion of the results of current empirical studies on trade effects and the political economy of non-tariff trade barriers, where possible with direct reference to Austria and its most important trading partners:
    • Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
    • Technical Barriers to Trade
    • Antidumping
    • Countervailing Duties
    • (Special) Safeguards
    • Market economy status of China
  • Regional topics:
    • Embargoes and sanctions (Iran, Russia/Ukraine)
    • Relationship between EU and EEU (Eurasian Economic Union)

Seminar 3 (2017) Weak Trade Growth – The New Normal

Speakers: Julia Wörz (OeNB), Mag. Dr. Klaus Vondra (OeNB)
Date: October 4, 2017
Materials: Wörz’s presentation, Vondra’s presentation

Contents:

  • Global growth prospects for world trade and investment: Root cause analysis;
  • Is the observable weakness “the new normal”?
  • Historical link between global economic growth and global import demand.
  • The importance of composition effects (geographical shifts towards emerging markets; changes in aggregated demand), structural trends (slowdown in the expansion of global value chains and the rise in non-tariff barriers) and cyclical factors.

Seminar 4 (2017) Brexit

Speaker: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Fritz Breuss (WU Wien, WIFO)
Date: December 4, 2017
Materials: Presentation

Contents:

  • Soft vs. hard Brexit – forecasts of different Brexit scenarios; economic and institutional effects during and after the negotiations;
  • Which legal materials are still to be applied by Great Britain?
  • Effects on Austrian foreign trade and Austria as a business location;
  • Changes in the balance of power within the European Union and effects on the negotiating position of the European Union in global politics (EU Security Council, NATO, multilateral organizations (UN, IMF, etc.);
  • Regional interests during Brexit, special position of Eastern Europe?
  • European financial landscape after Brexit, implications for the euro.

Seminar series 2016 “Current economic issues in the context of the international economy and European integration”

Seminar 1 (2016) Economic policy insights from new empirical foreign trade models

Speaker: Dr. Robert Stehrer (wiiw)
Date: April 27, 2016
Materials: Presentation

Contents:

  • Overview of new developments in trade theory and differences between new / dynamic and classical models;
  • Possibilities for new approaches and conclusions through the analysis of microdata / company data / links between different data sources, for example on the following issues:
    • Welfare effects of foreign trade: Which mechanisms come into play at different levels of aggregation and how?
    • What are the effects of customs duties and NTBs?
    • What are positive vs. negative effects in individual areas (e.g. labor markets, income classes, industrial sectors) dependent on and how can the positive net effects be maximized?
    • What does this mean for traditional trade policy arguments (infant industry argument)?
    • Implications for the use of subsidies (e.g. IO):
    • Statements on achieving the highest multiplier effects;
    • Limitation of windfall profits;
    • Conclusions with regard to cushioning measures (retraining, social programs) for negatively affected employees;
    • Analysis of export premiums and negative distribution effects/spillovers.

Seminar 2 (2016) Aspects of foreign trade – Economics of monetary union – International capital flows and public finances

Speaker: Mag. Franz Nauschnigg (OeNB)
Date: June 22, 2016
Materials: Script

Contents:

  • Monetary theory of foreign trade:
    • Overview of balance of payments and exchange rate determinants
    • Relationship between exchange rates and the current account
    • Effects of exchange rates on competitiveness
    • Theory of optimal currency areas
    • “Currency wars”
  • Role of the IMF.
  • Development of the euro exchange rate in a multilateral currency system (against USD, YEN, RMB…); interdependencies in the global economy.
  • Euro and International Monetary System.
  • History, functioning and consequences of economic and monetary union;
    • Zero interest rate policy and effects on the economy;
    • Scenarios of further development.
  • Currency crises, especially EMS and current currency crises;
    • Interaction Currency, banking and sovereign debt crises.
  • Analysis of international capital flows and public finances, inter alia:
    • Subdivision of capital flows into financial investments and direct investments (FDI);
    • Effects of the global financial and economic crisis in 2008/09 and the subsequent “Great Recession” in 2009 on capital flows;
    • Effects of the strong financing requirements of governments as a result of the high level of debt since 2009 on global capital movements;
    • Reorientation of FDI after the Great Recession of 2009;
    • Role and influence of the Fed on international financial flows;
    • Analysis of the potential impact of TTIP on FDI flows between the EU and the US.

Seminar 3 (2016) Development aspects of foreign trade – focus: open markets

Speaker: Mag. Dr. Klaus Friesenbichler (WIFO)
Date: June 22, 2016
Materials: Presentation

Contents:

  • Connections between foreign trade and development policy:
    • Is a country automatically richer the more liberal it is?
    • Conditions under which liberal economic policy/trade liberalization leads to growth/prosperity;
    • Distributional effects of market liberalization in developing and emerging countries;
    • Optimal sequencing of trade liberalization for the development process (examples: Korea, Japan, China).
  • Institutions as a prerequisite for functioning free trade;
    • Creation of adequate framework conditions and trade-offs in the use of funds;
    • Positive and negative effects of free trade and multinational companies on local production.
  • Overview of EU strategies:
    • Everything but Arms;
    • Goals in the European Year for Development;
    • Sustainable Development Goals.
  • Competition between development models: Europe vs. China’s involvement in Africa.

Seminar 4 (2016) Current challenges of European integration

Speaker: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Michael Landesmann (JKU Linz, wiiw)
Date: January 19, 2016
Materials: Presentation

Contents:

  • European Union in the global economy:
    • Analysis of the position of the European economy in the global economy using statistical indicators
    • Globalization vs. regionalization
    • Trade policy developments
    • International production network
    • Effects on labor markets
    • Competitive indicators.
  • The unresolved economic crisis:
    • Macroeconomic policy in the EU (monetary and fiscal policy) – comparison with the USA
    • Assessment of the reform processes in the EU to overcome the economic crisis
    • Obstacles to fiscal policy coordination and a “fiscal union”
    • Status of the ‘Banking and Capital Markets Union’
    • External imbalances in the eurozone and the “North-South problem”
    • Longer-term developments regarding the integration or disintegration of the European currency zone.
  • Migration and refugee crisis:
    • Effects of migration from an economic perspective
    • Differences between migration and refugee movements
    • Coordination of migration policy in the EU
    • The longer-term challenge – Europe and its neighbourhood: demographic complementarity, economic, political and social stabilization.
  • EU-Russia relations and enlargement policy:
    • Economic development in Russia and in the EU-Russian “borderland” (Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Caucasus)
    • DCFTAs (Deep and Comprehensive Trade Agreements)
    • Developments in candidate countries (Southeast Europe, Turkey)
    • The future of enlargement and neighborhood policy
    • Europe of concentric circles.

Seminar series 2015 “Current economic issues in the context of the international economy and European integration”

Seminar 1 (2015) New insights into AW theory – from Ricardo to Melitz

Speaker: Univ.-Prof. DDr. Ingrid Kubin (WU Wien)
Date: March 27, 2015
Materials: Presentation

Contents:

  • Overview of the development of foreign trade theory and selected empirical evidence
  • The causes of foreign trade:
    • Comparative cost advantages
    • Factor endowments
    • Economies of scale and imperfect competition
    • Gravity model
    • Firm heterogeneity
  • Effects of foreign trade (and factor migration):
    • Effects on factor prices
    • Welfare
    • Competition and productivity

Seminar 2 (2015) European Integration

Speaker: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Michael Landesmann
Date: June 26, 2015
Materials: Part 1, Part 2

Contents:

  • Economic argumentation of the effects of EU market integration: product, capital and labor markets;
  • Economic analysis of monetary union;
  • EU Enlargement: Effects on Growth and System Development in Central and Eastern European Countries;
  • Reasons for the current EU/EMU crisis and evaluation of reform steps.

Seminar 3 (2015) Free trade agreements

Speakers: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Fritz Breuss (WU Wien, WIFO), Julia Grübler, MSc (wiiw)
Date: October 9, 2015
Materials: Part 1 (Grübler), Part 2 (Breuss)

Contents:

Free trade agreements (FTAs) are concluded for a variety of reasons. On the one hand, because two or more countries decide to work more closely together in trade (free trade areas – such as EFTA; customs unions – such as the EEC) or want to deepen their cooperation even further, such as the EU with the creation of the single market and monetary union. On the other hand, the failure of multilateral agreements within the framework of the WTO (such as the pending conclusion of the Doha Round) is leading to more and more bilateral free trade agreements. As part of “Global Europe”, the EU has been pursuing a strategy since 2006 to conclude a new generation of trade agreements that are as comprehensive as possible. Examples of this are the FTA between the EU and South Korea (2011), CETA (EU-Canada) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) currently under negotiation. The seminar describes the history of FTAs in the global economy and reports on the effects of such agreements.

Seminar 4 (2015) Open Markets Matter

Speaker: Dr. Manfred Schekulin (BMWFW)
Date: June 26, 2015
Materials: Presentation

Contents:

In this seminar, interactions between foreign trade and other policy areas will be discussed: i) How are trade policy and social policy related? ii) What role does trade policy play in foreign policy? iii) What role does it play in development cooperation? iii) What is behind the frequently expressed cultural and democratic concerns about market liberalization and the institutions that pursue it?