International Trade

Jessie Poon is Professor of Geography at the University of Buffalo-SUNY, USA. Her research interests are in the trade and investment activities of multinational firms. She has published over eighty articles and is editor of Environment and Planning A. David L. Rigby is Professor of Geography at UCLA, USA with research interests in international trade, evolutionary economic geography, technological change and regional economic growth.

List of figures

List of tables

List of boxes

1 Introduction

The growth of trade

History of trade

Globalization and contemporary trade patterns

Objective of the book

Outline of the book

2 Trade theory

Comparative advantage

The Heckscher–Ohlin model

The Stolper–Samuelson theorem

Leontieff’s Paradox

Terms of trade

New trade theory: economies of scale and imperfect competition in trade models

New, new trade theory: global outsourcing

3 Transnational corporations, trade and the global economy

Origins of TNCs and why firms internationalize

The growth of transnational corporations

Global production networks and commodity value chains

Capturing value in global production networks

TNCs and trade

4 Trade governance

Institutional theories

GATT and WTO

Geography of trade: integration and regional trade agreements

Is geography destiny? Regionalism and regional economic integration

5 Trade and development

Dynamic comparative advantage

Unequal exchange

Import-substitution and export promotion

Asian flying geese

6 Impact of trade

Special economic zones

Impact on labor

Trade and labor standards

Trade, jobs and wages

Ethical trade

Environment and sustainability

Environmental policy and trade agreements

7 Conclusion

Trends and directions

Glossary

Bibliography

Index