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Course Content
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Objective
The GTAP PTA Course 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 version 7. The objectives of the GTAP PTA course are to provide participants with an opportunity to develop their applied skills in the design of PTA experiments, the implementation of changes in tariff and non-tariff barriers, and the analysis of model results. The curriculum emphasizes an intuitive 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.
During the online course, participants will:
- consider the potential impacts of PTAs, including on GDP, trade, factors of production and sectoral production - connecting applied model results to trade theories
- operationalize the modelling of different aspects of PTAs within the GTAP CGE model, including tariff and non-tariff barriers
- learn about different approaches to modelling non-tariff measures and their implications for importing and exporting countries
- learn how to interpret general equilibrium model results, including the impact of alternative closures
Structure
The course is delivered fully online and supported by the textbook, Introduction to Computable General Equilibrium Models, 3e, the eBook version of which, as well as all necessary course software and materials, will be provided to participants. Additional learning resources include audio-visual lectures, guided simulations/exercises, and assessments. Topics covered during the course are detailed below, culminating in a group research project. Since participants will be located all around the world, there are no set meeting times for the course. Instead, participants will work through the weekly plan of study detailed in the learning management system to progress through the course. A discussion board is available in the learning management system where participants can post questions and receive feedback from the instructor, as well as their fellow classmates.
Content Overview
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Week 1 - "Getting Started"
- participants familiarize themselves with the course website, download and install course software and materials, and review materials on RunGTAP including uploading a version, viewing the database, and constructing a numeraire experiment
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Week 2 - "Analysis"
- understand the welfare effects of trade taxes
- learn to construct an FTA/PTA experiment in which tariffs are reduced
- learn to identify trade creation and trade diversion
- learn to analyze the results of an FTA/PTA experiment by examining some of the key variables and tracing through the impacts using AnalyseGE
- learn to implement and analyze the results of a closure swap
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Week 3 - "Non-tariff Measures in GTAP"
- learn about econometric approaches to estimating the AVEs of NTMs
- learn about the alternative mechanisms used for depicting NTMs in the standard GTAP Model
- learn how to incorporate the AVE of an NTM into the GTAP Data Base using AlterTax
- learn how to use subtotals to decompose and compare results
- compare alternative modelling mechanisms and their implications for assessing the effects of reductions in NTMs
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Weeks 4-5 - "Group Research Project"
- As part of the research project participants will be provided a GTAP Data Base aggregation and will develop their own questions, shocks, closure and applications. Participants are encouraged to ask questions, try out various tools and think critically about their scenarios.
- Participants are encouraged to bring their own ideas, as well as look at various papers to get a feel for what a good CGE analysis entails.
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Week 6 - "Wrap-Up and Evaluation"
Time Commitment
Participants should expect to spend approximately 10-12 hours/week on this course.
What GTAP PTA "Graduates" Are Saying...
"An excellent course with a very dedicated instructor and staff."
"The course is very effective. Instructions and guidance are excellent as always."
"I liked reading on new ideas how to interpret and estimate NTMs and simulate their elimination. I am also very pleased with deep, detailed and comprehensive comments of course instructors."
"The research project is a very good idea - great to work in teams with the fellow participants"
"Thanks for a great course!"
"I want to express my gratitude to your entire team for the professional organization of the learning process and for providing an opportunity for an in-depth study of GTAP models"
"Bravo pour la qualité remarquable de cet enseignement."
"The homeworks were great but the group project was the most valuable. Having the opportunity to implement everything we've learned and see how others' did the same in their presentations was very useful."
"Thanks for this great opportunity to learn and discuss deeply the concepts related to the analysis of PTAs and the liberalization of NTMs by using GTAP CGE model. I really appreciate the detailed explanations and guidance of instructors."
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