Topic: Write a report of up to 1500 words (excluding references), consisting of three tasks:

1.   Select a country and provide a brief overview of its recent international trade with two of its trade partners, including data and graphs.

2.   Provide a theoretical grounding for the observed trade patterns using the theories developed in the course (Gravity, Ricardian, H-O, Standard Trade Model or New Trade Theory).

3.   Evaluate how well your proposed model fit the data.

This topic providesample scope for using data. Descriptive statistics, graphs and tables, will be sufficient. You are not required to do econometric analysis. You are required to use a good mix of sources including the internet, textbooks, newspapers, and academic journals, articles from newspapers and business magazines. You must provide a list of full-ranged references used or referred to in the essay.

Criteria & Marking

The total mark for this assignment is 30, which consists of the following criteria:

•    Clarity of trade overview (4 marks)

•    Use of trade theories and clarity of explanation (4 marks)

•    Evaluation of the trade model’s fit to the data (8 marks)

•    Evidence of research and use of relevant data (4 marks)

•    Writing quality (including essay flow, accuracy, spelling, punctuation, grammar) (5 marks)

•    Presentation (including identification and compliance of word limit) (1 mark)

•    Referencing (4 marks)

In addition, there are some general points to consider:

•    You cannot use the same trade model for both trading partners.

•    You must have dedicated Introduction and Conclusion to the report.

•    Your essay must have a cover page detailing your name, student ID, and word count.

•    Remember to give a total word count (excluding references) on the cover page.

•    Any reference style is allowed, but it must be consistent (i.e. same style throughout the essay).

•    Please check your citation’s accuracy, even if it is pre-filled from Google Scholar or UQ Library.

•    You cannot cite Wikipedia or Investopedia.

•    If graphs/figures are used, remember to quote the source.

•    Use academic writing style and not creative writing style.

•    Do not plagiarize! It will be dealt with very seriously in UQ and is simply not worth trying.