GTAP-U

Course Catalog

GTAP University (GTAP-U): 2016 GTAP Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA) Mini-Course

2016 GTAP Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA) Mini-Course
"Applied Policy Analysis: Mini-course on Preferential Trade Agreements"



General Information
Dates: October 24 - November 20, 2016

Location: This course is delivered fully online. There is no onsite component to this course.

Offered by: Center for Global Trade Analysis, Purdue University



Course Content
Objective
GTAP PTA is a three-week, fully-online mini-course that is designed to provide professionals and students with hands-on, applied training in the analysis of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) using the GTAP computable general equilibrium model. The objectives of the GTAP PTA course are to provide students with an underpinning in the economic theory of tariffs and customs unions and regulatory policy analysis, and to help them develop their applied skills in database development, design of PTA experiments and analysis of model results. The curriculum emphasizes an intuitive and graphical treatment of economic theory, provides structured experiences in manipulating and running the standard GTAP model within the RunGTAP software environment, and culminates in team-based research projects. At the end of the course, participants will have developed skills in the analysis of tariff and non-tariff liberalizations in a PTA. Pre-requisites are completion of GTAP 101 or the GTAP Short Course, or a working competency in the RunGTAP modeling software.

During the online course, participants will:
  • review economic theories of tariffs, customs unions and regulatory policy;
  • observe how these theories are operationalized in a CGE model;
  • learn about approaches to measuring the trade-distorting effects of non-tariff measures;
  • define model experiments that represent liberalization of tariffs and non-tariff measures in a PTA; and
  • select and interpret general equilibrium model results that are derived from a theoretical framework.

Structure
The course is delivered fully online. All course materials are provided to participants and included in the cost of tuition. Learning takes place through active discussions among the participants and instructor, which are carried out as asynchronous, threaded conversations on the classroom bulletin board, and through virtual team work on collaborative projects.



Course Graduates
19 individuals from 12 different countries completed the 2016 GTAP PTA Course.