Economic Integration process (UD)

In-depth study of the theory and practice of (regional) economic integration and various methods for measuring its effects in order to understand the causes and effects of economic integration processes in a global context.

Develop the ability to apply geo-economic analyses and geo-political strategies in decision-making processes to navigate a complex geopolitical environment.

1. Geoeconomics and world economic order
- Economic power rivalries and multipolar world order
- The security-economy-politics nexus, digital sovereignty
- Economic warfares, high-tech wars and economic sanctions
- Global (de)integration
- Restructuring and relocation of global value chains (geo-economic fragmentation, decoupling, friendshoring, derisking)

2. Foundations of geopolitics
- Understanding the strategic significance of territory
- Approaches towards geostrategy, theories of geopolitics, and analytical tools
- Historical case studies and patterns
- Contemporary geopolitical trends and flashpoints
- Geopolitics and economic policies (geopolitics of energy and climate change, technology, cyber-geopolitics and AI)
- geopolitics, geoeconomics and economic intelligence

3. Multilateralism vs. regionalism
− WTO principles, WTO and RTAs
− Optimal number of trade blocks
− Regionalism as a “Building Block” or “Stumbling Block” of a multilateral trading system

4. Trade effects of economic integration in theory and empirics
− Different forms of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs)
− theory of customs union
− Static analysis of trade effects
− Measuring the trade effects of regional trade agreements

5. Dynamic effects of economic integration
− Interaction of competition, market size and economies of scale effects
− Firm heterogeneity and the process of industry restructuring
− How important are the dynamic effects in practice?


6. Economic geography; regional economic integrations and location of production
− 'Spatial blindness' in economic models
− Location of economic activity: centripetal and centrifugal forces
− Urban Mathematics and the Zipf Rule
− New economic geography, economic integration and location of production
− Convergence
− Empirics: an example of regional disparity in the EU

7. Gravity model and empirical assessment of trade effects
− Gravity model specification
− Data preparation and variable definition
− Econometric problems in estimating the gravity model
− Methods of estimation
− Interpretation of results

8. The dark side of geopolitics and geoeconomics
- Strategic corruption, elite hijacking, illicit influence and institutional erosion
- Economic espionage, subversion, disinformation, and intellectual property theft
- Financial crime, money laundering, and market distortions
- Linkages between geopolitics, geoeconomics and organized crime,
- responses to transgression and ethical challenges