Final Paper Assignment, Fall 2022
Due date: December 18, 2021. As stated on the syllabus, I will take 1 point off for each day the assignment is late. Total available points: 35.
Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to analyze one of the trade policy instruments we will cover in class (e.g., export subsidies, antidumping policies, local content requirements, supply chain developments, etc.) used in a particular country and industry. The goal is to apply your knowledge to a real-life case and get experience writing about trade and related policies.
Task: Think of the paper you will write as an opinion piece. First pick a country and an industry. You will need to describe the significance of trade in that industry (for the country you pick), details of the policy, why it was adopted by the particular country, and what the outcomes were. Since it’s an opinion piece, you will need to argue whether the policy has been overall beneficial or harmful for the country. In developing your paper, you should make sure to include the following:
- Trade synopsis
- Who are the largest trading partners of the country?
- What are the major exports and imports of that country?
- How important is that industry in overall trade?
- Describe the purpose and the overall importance of the policy and/or the industry the policy applies to.
- Using graphs and/or tables you put together based on the export/import data, summarize what happened to trade before and after the policy.
- Discuss the positive outcomes and the negative outcomes of the policy. In discussing the outcomes, use data to support your arguments. If data are not available, cite other studies/papers that have documented the various outcomes.
- Have a punchline: argue whether overall it helped the country (or the particular industry) or hurt it.
Criteria: The minimum word requirement for the individual paper is 3000 words, double spaced, and you must review it in Turnitin before submission to avoid similarities. Your assignment will be graded based on the following criteria:
- Did you clearly describe and motivate the importance of the trade policy you picked?
- Did you illustrate the relevant trade pattern (depending on your topic, within the particular industry or the total for the country) before and after the adoption of the policy using graphs and/or tables?
- Did you clearly explain the (expected or actual) positive and the negative outcomes of the policy? Did you use outside information to support your description?
- Is your opinion clearly stated?
- Did you cite all your sources, and labeled your graphs/tables?
- Finally, did you spell-check and check for grammatical errors, typos, etc.?
Country: Singapore
Industry: Biotechnology specifically Pharmaceuticals: $10.3 billion (2.2%)
Policy: U.S & Singapore’s Free Trade Agreement
Citation of Articles:
Aggarwal, Vinod K. “Mega-FTAs and the Trade-Security Nexus: The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).” Asia-Pacific issues, no. 123 (2016): 1–1.
U.S. – Singapore Free Trade Agreement: Effects After Three Years (RL34315), n.d.
MERCURIO, Bryan, and Daria KIM. “Foreign Direct Investment in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Why Singapore and Not Hong Kong.” Asian journal of comparative law 10, no. 2 (2015): 235–257.
Singapore: Financial System Stability Assessment (no date) IMF. Available at: https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2019/07/15/Singapore-Financial-System-Stability-Assessment-47108 (Accessed: December 17, 2022).
Zhang, B. (no date) US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement and Trade in Pharmaceuticals, Minnesota Undergraduate Research & Academic Journal. Available at: https://pubs.lib.umn.edu/index.php/muraj/article/view/3633 (Accessed: December 17, 2022).
Websites for reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Singapore – see Biotechnology
https://www.guidemesingapore.com/business-guides/managing-business/banking-funding-and-finances/banking-industry-and-major-banks-in-singapore – refer to this as background on Singapore’s banking industry. Its financial hub makes pharmaceuticals advancement easy.
