Course objectives:

This is a specialized optional course for undergraduate students majoring in international economics and trade and in investment economics. It provides students with a theoretical and practical foundation for making international investment decisions. 

After they finish studying the course, students shall be able to know how to make theoretical and practical analysis for foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign portfolio investment (FPI), including basic quantitative techniques of FPI portfolio selection such as measuring return and risk, making portfolio selections and conducting FDI project appraisal with MS-Excel. The overall objective is to provide students with a working knowledge of fundamental issues in international investments in preparation for their international business endeavors in a globalizing economy. 

Course requirements:

The essential pre-requirements for taking this course are that students should have studied statistics, microeconomics, international finance, international trade, essentials of investment, and theories on multinational corporations.

For the study of this course, because of a lack of a proper text book, students are also required to read some selected academic journal articles which will be given in electronic form. For the purpose of application of the related theories and models/methods, students will be required to do some group assignments, including presentation/debating in class, case study, etc.

Throughout this course, case study by either the instructor or students will be presented to fully elaborate theories on international investment.

Course contents:

Lecture 1 Introduction to international investment

Lecture 2 Major Theories of FDI 

Lecture 3 Export, Licensing or FDI?  

Lecture 4 Green field ventures or cross border M&As?

Lecture 5 Are SMEs different from MNEs?

Lecture 6 International Investment in services

Lecture 7 FDI from developing countries

Lecture 8 FDI Project Appraisal Methods 

Lecture 9 International Investment Environment Analysis

Lecture 10 Impacts of International Investment and the policy implication 

Lecture 11 International Asset Pricing  

Lecture 12 Global investments in equity

Lecture 13 Global investments in bond

Lecture 14 Global investments in other assets

Lecture 15 Modern Portfolio Theory

Lecture 16 International Portfolio Diversification  

Credits： 3