Corporate international trade: teaching international trade in business schools

Abstract

This article explores the apparent paradox between the importance of the practice of international trade and the relative weakness of the subject as part of the curriculum in business schools. A possible resolution for the inconsistency is reorientation of the focus of trade theory. By concentrating on the process toward an equilibrium, rather than on the equilibrium itself and on the ensuing profit opportunities for corporations, a more business-oriented trade theory can be developed. Such a development will allow us to introduce the pure theory of trade into the business school's curriculum in a relevant and useful way, and thus provide an additional theoretical grounding for the teaching of international business.