This course provides an introduction to International Political Economy. It will explore how politics and economics intersect at the international level, examining topics like international trade, foreign direct investment, and international monetary systems. Students will analyze three major theoretical debates: the relationship between economic interdependence and war, the effects of foreign aid, and global power transition. The course involves readings from the required textbook, weekly news analyses, quizzes, a group research project and presentations, and exams. It aims to develop understanding of how political and economic actors shape outcomes within different institutional contexts across national borders.

1. POL 235: International Relations among Rich and Poor Nations, Spring 2017
Gyu Sang Shim Office Hours: (or by appointment) Class Time & Location:
2231 Beering T, Th, 12:00-3:00 PM M, W, F, 11:30-12:20
gshim@purdue.edu Beering B268
websites: mycourses.purdue.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course is an introduction to International Political Economy (IPE). IPE considers the flows of
production, distribution, and consumption across national borders, recognizing that not just national
governments play a role, but foreign governments and international institutions must also be taken into
account. In this class, you will study how politics influence economics and vice versa, where at least one
of the variables is international. The course is divided in several sections. After an introduction to the
main analytical approaches we will explore political economy explanations to policy outcomes in three
issue areas in the text book: (1) trade, (2) foreign direct investment, (3) international finance and
monetary system. Then, this course addresses the three major theoretical debates in the field: (1) the
relationship between economic interdependence and war, (2) the effect of foreign aid, and (3) global
power transition. We will make extensive use of the insights from economics and political science to
understand how international economic interactions affect the incentives faced by political actors
(voters, interest groups, parties, and governments), and how the behavior of those political actors under
different political institutions shape political and economic outcomes.
COURSE TEXTS:
Thomas Oatley, International Political Economy, 5th
Edition. (Longman Press, 2016). ISBN:
9780205060634. Copies available for purchase at Folletts and University Bookstore. Also available in
paper for purchase and rental online. Required. Make sure you get this specific edition.
Marc Melitz Maurice Obstfeld Paul Krugman, International Economics: Theory and Policy, Global Edition.
(Pearson Education Limited Press, 2016). ISBN: 9781292019550. Copies available for purchase at Folletts
and University Bookstore. Also available in paper for purchase and rental online. Recommended. Make
sure you get this specific edition.
REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING:
20% Midterm exam (March 10, at the regular classroom)
25% Final Exam (TBA)
15% Reading Quizzes (three; dates on syllabus) (5% point each)
15% Weekly News Scrap Assignments (15 weeks) (1% point each)
15% Group Research Project
10% Attendance
Weekly News Scrap Assignments: Every week by Sunday at 11:59 PM (EST), you will submit one brief
review for current international news event that illustrates an aspect of the theories and concepts we
use in the course to the discussion forum at Blackboard.
Late Penalties for Work with Deadlines: 10% per day.
Group research Project: Students must form groups of 7 to 8 members. Each group is supposed to
choose a research topic on current international political economic event. There will be 4 seminar
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2. presentations on 4 questions: (1) what happens and what’s the main conflict of interests? , (2) who are
main actors?, (3) systemic causes of the event?, and (4) generalizable findings? Presentations will be
evaluated by group. However, there will be peer-review surveys on free-rider. Free-riders will receive 50%
of total grades that their group earns.
Grading Scale: I will assign grades according to the scale below and without rounding.
Letter A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D D-
% 93 90 87 83 80 77 73 70 67 63 60
Incompletes are rarely given, and then only if at least 75% of the work has been completed at a passing
level, and extreme circumstances prevent completion of the remaining work.
Attendance is required. I will record attendance. Advanced notice of your absence is always welcome as
a professional courtesy. Generally, except for cases of excused university activities, there is no need to
provide documentation (medical notes, etc.) because it is the cumulative record of attendance that
concerns us. Failure to attend and participate will negatively affect your final grade.
Details of Purdue’s Grief Absence Policy are at:
http://www.purdue.edu/odos/services/griefabsencepolicyforstudents.php
Petition for a grief absence in the Office of the Dean of Students.
Student Withdrawal from class must be done in accordance with the policies and timeline at:
http://www.purdue.edu/usp/current/adddrop.shtml
Phones, computers, and other electronic devices must be silenced and put away during class.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
• The University Policy on Academic Dishonest reads:
“Purdue prohibits "dishonesty in connection with any University activity. Cheating, plagiarism, or
knowingly furnishing false information to the University are examples of dishonesty." [Part 5, Section
III-B-2-a, University Regulations] Furthermore, the University Senate has stipulated that "the
commitment of acts of cheating, lying, and deceit in any of their diverse forms (such as the use of
substitutes for taking examinations, the use of illegal cribs, plagiarism, and copying during
examinations) is dishonest and must not be tolerated. Moreover, knowingly to aid and abet, directly
or indirectly, other parties in committing dishonest acts is in itself dishonest." [University Senate
Document 72-18, December 15, 1972]
• The Purdue student guide to Academic Integrity can be found at:
http://www.purdue.edu/odos/aboutodos/academicintegrity.php
• I will comply with the procedures and recommendations of the Office of the Dean of Students.
Specifically:
o I will carefully proctor all exams and quizzes.
o I will be attentive to whether or not your written submissions are your own work and
whether, if you use somebody else’s work either directly or indirectly, you properly attribute
credit to that person.
o I report all conduct violations to the Office of the Dean of Students.
o The existence of evidence consistent with acts of academic dishonestly will result in putative
grading, as described at the link above, and per the discretion of the professor.
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3. STUDENT SERVICES:
• If you have a disability that requires special academic accommodation, please make an appointment
to speak with me within the first three (3) weeks of the semester in order to discuss any
adjustments, as prescribed by the Disability Resource Center. It is important that we talk about this
at the beginning of the semester. It is the student's responsibility to notify the Disability Resource
Center (http://www.purdue.edu/drc) of an impairment/condition that may require
accommodations and/or classroom modifications.
• Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) will assist you if life stressors are interfering with you
academic or personal success. See https://www.purdue.edu/caps/.
• The Purdue Writing Lab provides free assistance to students at any stage of the writing process. See
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/writinglab/.
COURSE OUTLINE AND CLASS ASSIGNMENTS:
Date Topic Reading Assignment
1 M, Jan 9 Course introduction
2 W, Jan 11 What’s IPE? Oatley, Ch.1
3 F, Jan 13 Why Do States Trade? Oatley, Ch.3
4 M, Jan 16 No Class (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
5 W, Jan 18 Role of Society in Trade Policy Oatley, Ch.4
6 F, Jan 20 Role of States in Trade Policy Oatley, Ch.5
7 M, Jan 23 World Trade Organization (WTO) Oatley, Ch.2
8 W, Jan 25 International Trade Institutions (ITI) Goldsteinm Rivers, and Tomz (GRT, 2007)
9 F, Jan 27 Politics of Import Substitution Oatley, Ch.6
10 M, Jan 30 Politics of Structural Adjustment Oatley, Ch.7
11 W, Feb 1 Quiz 1 All Readings and slides on Trade
12 F, Feb 3 Group Research Project Meeting
13 M, Feb 6 Group Presentation – 1
14 W, Feb 8 Multinational Corporations (MNCs) Oatley, Ch.8 and Pandya(2016)
15 F, Feb 10 Domestic Institutions and FDI Jensen (2003) and Li&Resnick (2003)
16 M, Feb 13 Partisanship and FDI Pinto&Pinto(2008)
17 W, Feb 15 Politics of MNCs Oatley, Ch.9
18 F, Feb 17 Social Preference over FDI Owen (2013)
19 M, Feb 20 International Institutions and FDI Buthe&Milner(2008) and Allee&Peinhardt(2014)
20 W, Feb 22 Inter-state Relations and FDI
Biglaiser and De Rouen (2007),
Bussmann (2010) and Lee(2014)
21 F, Feb 24 Quiz 2 All Readings slides on FDI
22 M, Feb 27 Group Research Project Meeting
23 W, Mar 1 Group Presentation – 2
24 F, Mar 3 Gold Standard System
25 M, Mar 6 Bretton Woods System Oatley Ch.10
26 W, Mar 8 Midterm Review
27 F, Mar 10 Mid-term Exam All readings and slides on Trade and FDI
28 M, Mar 13 No Class (Spring Break)
29 W, Mar 15 No Class (Spring Break)
30 F, Mar 17 No Class (Spring Break)
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4. Date Topic Reading Assignment
31 M, Mar 20 Current International Monetary System Oatley Ch.10 – 11
32 W, Mar 22 Politics of Monetary Policies: Society Oatley Ch.12
33 F, Mar 24 Politics of Monetary Policies: State Oatley Ch.13
34 M, Mar 27 Financial Crises in Latin America Oatley Ch.14
35 W, Mar 29 1998 Asia Financial Crisis Oatley Ch.15
36 F, Mar 31 Group Research Project Meeting
37 M, Apr 3 Group Presentation – 3
38 W, Apr 5 2008 Global Financial Crisis Oatley Ch.11
39 F, Apr 7 No Class (Instructor at Conference)
40 M, Apr 10 International Monetary Fund (IMF) Oatley Ch.14 and Stone(2004)
41 W, Apr 12 The European Monetary Union McNamara (2008)
42 F, Apr 14 Quiz 3 All readings and slides on Monetary System
43 M, Apr 17 Economic Interdependence and War TBA
44 W, Apr 19 Foreign Aid, Development, and Governance TBA
45 F, Apr 21 Hegemony and Global Power Transition TBA
46 M, Apr 24 Group Research Project Meeting
47 W, Apr 26 Group Presentation – 4
48 F, Apr 28 Final Review
49 May 1 - 5 Finals Week
Date and time of final to be announced as
officially assigned by Purdue.
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