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International Policy Focus Field: Business and Government
Globalization and internationalization present similar pressures for change in the business-government relationship in very different capitalist economies. Businesses can shift investment and production around the world with unprecedented ease, and this poses serious challenges to policymakers. The growth in number and importance of international organizations such as the World Trade Organization may also diminish the powers of policymakers.
In short, globalization and internationalization may reduce options for policymakers. Are these pressures forcing countries into the same pattern of greater reliance on markets, lower taxes, easier regulations, and less comprehensive welfare states? Or are countries with traditions of more active, larger-scale government finding ways to adapt to globalization and internationalization without abandoning distinctive business-government relations or paying a high price in lower economic growth and increased unemployment?
This focus field prepares La Follette students to tackle such highly consequential yet hotly contested questions in policy-relevant ways on the basis of the best available international evidence. Students of international business and government prepare themselves for a wide range of analytic and managerial careers in international organizations, domestic government agencies, NGOs, think tanks, and multinational businesses.
Field coordinator: Jonathan
Zeitlin
La Follette School faculty in this field
Electives from Other Departments
Students may take courses from other departments depending on their interests. Students should consult their advisors if they are unsure whether a course is appropriate for their focus field. These elective courses include:
SOC 918 Comparative Sociology of Contemporary Capitalism
POLI SCI 864 International Political Economy
BUS 445 Multinational Business Finance
BUS 615 Business in Emerging Markets
BUS 700 International Perspectives
BUS 703 Global Issues in Management
BUS 745 Multinational Business Finance
BUS 755 International Operations: Problems and Administration
BUS 770/870 Seminar in International Business
ECON 464 International Trade and Finance
ECON 467 International Comparisons: Industrial Firms and Industrial Organizations
ECON 474 Economic Problems of Developing Areas
ECON 522 Law and Economics
ECON 665 International Trade Policy
ENVIR ST 575 Assessment of Environmental Impact
ENVIR ST 671 Energy Economics
LAW 828 International Business Transactions
LAW 871 International Trade Law
SLIS 855 International Cyberlaw and Policy
Core Courses
PA 818 Quantitative Tools for Public Policy Analysis
PA 850 International Governance
PA 854 Macroeconomic Policy Analysis
PA 860 Workshop in Public Affairs, International Issues
PA 880 Microeconomic Policy Analysis
PA 799 Professional Development Workshop
Recommended Public Affairs Electives
PA 827 Internship
PA 841 International Business and Government
PA 855 Governing Work and Welfare in the European Union
PA 856 Trade, Competition and Governance in a Global Economy
PA 857 Political Economy of Corruption and Good Governance
PA 866 Global Environmental Governance
PA 867 Government Finance in Developing Countries
Public Affairs Electives for this Focus Field
PA 809 Energy Analysis and Policy Seminar
PA 819 Quantitative Methods for Public Policy
PA 871 Public Program Evaluation
PA 881 Cost-Benefit Analysis
PA 882 Social Welfare Policy and Management
PA 890 Federal Budget and Tax Policy and Administration
Regional Focus Fields
Students can add a focus on a region and take courses from outside departments that offer courses on that region. Certificates are offered in the following departments:
African Studies, East Asian Studies, European Studies, French Studies, German Studies, Global Cultures, Global Health, Middle East Studies, Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, South Asian Studies and Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies.