ECON 102 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Absolute Advantage, Opportunity Cost, Comparative Advantage

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Trade is about specializing (producing only one good) in one"s comparative advantage in order to reach the most ef cient, bene cial market outcome: this is different from an absolute advantage in production. To have the absolute advantage just means that country a can produce more goods using fewer inputs than country b: to have the comparative advantage means that country a can produce at a lower opportunity cost country b. When this occurs, country a will specialize and trade: for ex. In 8 hours, a farmer can produce 8oz of meat or 32 oz of potatoes. In 8 hours, a rancher can produce 24 oz of meat or 48 oz of potatoes: the rancher clearly has the absolute advantage in both products: he can produce more of each product more quickly. However, this doesn"t mean that the farmer should give up production and leave everything to the rancher.

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Discuss and explain the difference between the two.

The principle upon which Adam Smith first claimed that free trade benefits all countries. It holds that a country benefits from trade when it produces a particular good at a lower cost (in terms of labor input) than it costs to produce the good in any other country. By specializing the in the production and export of this good and importing goods whose production costs are higher than in other countries, the country can consume more of both goods. In trade theories, this principle was later replaced by the principle of comparative advantages.

Comparative Advantage is first fully stated by David Ricardo in the early nineteenth century, this concept holds that a country has a comparative advantage in a good if it can produce that good more cheaply than it can produce other goods. By specializing in the production of goods in which it holds a comparative advantage and importing the other goods, the country can consume more of all goods. In contrast to Adam Smith, therefore, this principle states that a country need not have an absolute advantage in any good to benefit from trade. The principle provides a powerful justification for liberal international trade by asserting that all countries benefit from such trade.

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PART B â Questions 10 â 27 Use the following assumptions to answer all questions: â¢ There are three countries â Argentina, Britain and Canada. â¢ Each country produces and consumes two kinds of goods â crude oil and beef. â¢ All countries make their goods from a single type of input â labor â and each country has 700 hours of labor available to produce crude oil and beef. â¢ Each country demands 5 (five) barrels of crude oil. This assumption simply means that a country must have exactly 5 barrels of crude oil â it may produce them domestically, it may import them from abroad, or it makes some domestically and imports the rest. â¢ Countries produce goods using the technology described in the table below Technology Hours of labor needed to produce one unit of good Using the above assumptions, answer the following questions: â¢ Calculate the quantities of crude oil and beef produced in each country in autarky (when they do not trade and each country produces its own crude oil and beef) â¢ Order the countries according to their absolute advantage in production of crude oil â¢ Order the countries according to their absolute advantage in production of beef â¢ Consider the case where countries are free to specialize and trade. In the table below calculate each countryâs opportunity cost of producing one unit of each good. â¢ Calculate the quantities of crude oil and beef produced in each country, consistent with the countryâs comparative advantage. Based on the above calculations, answer questions 10 through 27: Consider autarky, when countries do not trade and each country produces its own crude oil and beef. 10. In autarky, Argentina produces _____ barrels of oil. a. 0 b. 5 c. 10 d. 15 11. In autarky, Britain produces _____ barrels of oil. a. 0 b. 5 c. 10 d. 15 12. In autarky, Canada produces _____ barrels of oil. a. 0 b. 5 c. 10 d. 15 13. In autarky, Argentina produces _____ pounds of beef. a. 0 b. 70 c. 150 d. 400 14. In autarky, Britain produces _____ pounds of beef. a. 0 b. 70 c. 150 d. 400 15. In autarky, Canada produces _____ pounds of beef. a. 0 b. 70 c. 150 d. 400 16. Country of _____ has absolute advantage in production of crude oil. a. Argentina b. Britain c. Canada d. No country 17. Country of _____ has absolute advantage in production of beef. a. Argentina b. Britain c. Canada d. No country Consider effects of specialization, when countries are allowed to trade. 18. When countries specialize, Argentina produces _____ barrels of oil. a. 0 b. 5 c. 10 d. 15 19. When countries specialize, Britain produces _____ barrels of oil. a. 0 b. 5 c. 10 d. 15 20. When countries specialize, Canada produces _____ barrels of oil. a. 0 b. 5 c. 10 d. 15 21. When countries specialize, Argentina produces _____ pounds of beef. a. 0 b. 700 c. 150 d. 400 22. When countries specialize, Britain produces _____ pounds of beef. a. 0 b. 700 c. 150 d. 400 23. When countries specialize, Canada produces ____ pounds of beef. a. 0 b. 700 c. 150 d. 400 24. Country of __C___ has comparative advantage in production of crude oil. a. Argentina b. Britain c. Canada d. No country 25. Country of ___A__ has comparative advantage in production of beef. a. Argentina b. Britain c. Canada d. No country 26. Countries gain from trade because specialization increases ____. a. Trade deficit b. Unemployment c. Efficiency d. Inflation 27. Countries should trade with trading partners that _____. a. Are equally technologically advanced b. Use superior technology in every industry c. Use less advanced technology in every industry d. Use different technologies, because trade benefits all

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3. Gains from trade

Consider two neighboring island countries called Euphoria and Contente. They each have 4 million labor hours available per week that they can use to produce rye, jeans, or a combination of both. The following table shows the amount of rye or jeans that can be produced using 1 hour of labor.

Country	Rye	Jeans
Country	(Bushels per hour of labor)	(Pairs per hour of labor)
Euphoria	8	32
Contente	12	24

Initially, suppose Contente uses 1 million hours of labor per week to produce rye and 3 million hours per week to produce jeans, while Euphoria uses 3 million hours of labor per week to produce rye and 1 million hours per week to produce jeans. Consequently, Euphoria produces 24 million bushels of rye and 32 million pairs of jeans, and Contente produces 12 million bushels of rye and 72 million pairs of jeans. Assume there are no other countries willing to trade goods, so, in the absence of trade between these two countries, each country consumes the amount of rye and jeans it produces.

Euphoria's opportunity cost of producing 1 bushel of rye isï¼ ï¼ of jeans, and Contente's opportunity cost of producing 1 bushel of rye isï¼ ï¼ of jeans. Therefore, ï¼ ï¼has a comparative advantage in the production of rye, andï¼ ï¼ has a comparative advantage in the production of jeans.

Suppose that each country completely specializes in the production of the good in which it has a comparative advantage, producing only that good. In this case, the country that produces rye will produce ï¼ ï¼million bushels per week, and the country that produces jeans will produce ï¼ ï¼ million pairs per week.

In the following table, enter each country's prod uction decision on the third row of the table (marked "Production").

Suppose the country that produces rye trades 26 million bushels of rye to the other country in exchange for 78 million pairs of jeans.

In the following table, select the amount of each good that each country exports and imports in the boxes across the row marked "Trade Action," and enter each country's final consumption of each good on the line marked "Consumption."

When the two countries did not specialize, the total production of rye was 36 million bushels per week, and the total production of jeans was 104 million pairs per week. Because of specialization, the total production of rye has increased byï¼ ï¼million bushels per week, and the total production of jeans has increased by ï¼ ï¼million pairs per week.

Because the two countries produce more rye and more jeans under specialization, each country is able to gain from trade.

Calculate the gains from tradeâthat is, the amount by which each country has increased its consumption of each good relative to the first row of the table. In the following table, enter this difference in the boxes across the last row (marked "Increase in Consumption").

	Euphoria		Contente
	Rye	Jeans	Rye	Jeans
	(Millions of bushels)	(Millions of pairs)	(Millions of bushels)	(Millions of pairs)
Without Trade
Production	24	32	12	72
Consumption	24	32	12	72
With Trade
Production
Trade action
Consumption
Gains from Trade
Increase in Consumption

ECON 102 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Absolute Advantage, Opportunity Cost, Comparative Advantage

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