International Agricultural

Trade Theory and Policies

Assist.Prof. Nuttapon Photchanaprasert
Faculty of Economics, Kasetsart University
Bangkok Thailand

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International Economics: Theory and
Policy
Eleventh Edition

Chapter 1
Labor Productivity
and Comparative
Advantage: The
Ricardian Model

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 Evolution of trade theory
Mercantilism (Sir Thomas Mun ,17 June 1571 – 21 July 1641)
• Mercantilism became the dominant school of economic thought in Europe throughout
the late Renaissance and the early-modern period (from the 15th to the 18th centuries)

• A nationalist economic policy that is designed to maximize the exports and minimize the
imports for an economy. In other words, it seeks to maximize the accumulation
of resources within the country and use those resources for one-sided trade

Merchants in Venice
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The Concept of Absolute Advantage
• “If a foreign country can supply us with a commodity cheaper than we ourselves can
make it, better buy it of them with some part of the product of our own industry,
employed in a way in which we have some advantage”

Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith (1776)

Production of one unit of labour

Nation A has absolute advantage in food industry

Nation B- has absolute advantage in cloth industry

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Gain from trade
• Assume 100 workers for each nations

• Self-sufficient economy (No trade/Autarky/Closed Economy)

Nation A Nation B World Outputs

Food 1000 500 1500
Cloth 300 400 700
• Open Economy

Nation A Nation B World Outputs

Food 2000 0 2000
Cloth 0 800 800

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The Concept of Comparative
Advantage (David Ricardo, 1817)
Production of One unit of Labour

10

• Do nations still trade ? YES!!

• Comparative advantage will be determined by comparing
opportunity costs across countries.
• The opportunity cost of producing something measures
the cost of not being able to produce something else with
the resources used.

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The Concept of Comparative
Advantage (2 of 6)
• A simple example with roses and computers explains the
intuition behind the concepts of opportunity cost and
comparative advantage in the Ricardian model.
• For example, suppose a limited number of workers could
produce either roses or computers.
– The opportunity cost of producing computers is the
amount of roses not produced.
– The opportunity cost of producing roses is the amount
of computers not produced.

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The Concept of Comparative
Advantage (3 of 6)
• Suppose that in the United States 10 million roses could be
produced with the same resources as 100,000 computers.
• Suppose that in Colombia 10 million roses could be
produced with the same resources as 30,000 computers.
• Colombia has a lower opportunity cost of producing roses:
has to stop producing fewer computers in order to free up
resources to make a rose.

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The Concept of Comparative
Advantage (4 of 6)
• A country has a comparative advantage in producing
a good if the opportunity cost of producing that good is
lower in the country than in other countries.
– The United States has a comparative advantage in
computer production.
– Colombia has a comparative advantage in rose
production.

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The Concept of Comparative
Advantage (5 of 6)
• Suppose initially that Colombia produces computers
and the United States produces roses, and that both
countries want to consume computers and roses.
• Can both countries be made better off?

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Table 3.1 Hypothetical Changes in
Production

blank Million Roses Thousand Computers

United States −10 +100
Columbia +10 −30
Total 0 +70

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The Concept of Comparative
Advantage (6 of 6)
• When countries specialize in production in which they have
a comparative advantage, more goods and services can
be produced and consumed.
– Have the United States stop growing roses and use
those resources to make 100,000 computers instead.
Have Colombia stop making 30,000 computers and
grow roses instead.
– If produce goods in which have a comparative
advantage (the United States produces computers and
Colombia roses), they could still consume the same 10
million roses, but could consume 100,000 − 30,000 =
70,000 more computers.
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A One-Factor Economy (1 of 4)
• We formalize these ideas by constructing a one-factor
Ricardian model using the following assumptions:

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A One-Factor Economy (2 of 4)
1. Labor is the only factor of production.
2. Labor productivity varies across countries due to
differences in technology, but labor productivity in each
country is constant.
3. The supply of labor in each country is constant.
4. Two goods: wine and cheese.
5. Competition allows workers to be paid a wage equal to
the value of what they produce, and allows them to work
in the industry that pays the highest wage.
6. Two countries: home and foreign.

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A One-Factor Economy (3 of 4)
• A unit labor requirement indicates the constant number
of hours of labor required to produce one unit of output.
– aLC is the unit labor requirement for cheese in the home
country. aLC hours of labor produce one pound of
cheese in the home country.
– aLW is the unit labor requirement for wine in the home
country. aLW hours of labor produce one gallon of wine
in the home country.
• A high unit labor requirement means low labor productivity.
– Labor productivity is how much output one hour of
labor creates.

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A One-Factor Economy (4 of 4)
• Labor supply L indicates the total amount of labor
resources − the number of hours worked (a constant
parameter).
• aLC indicates the amount of labor required for each pound
of cheese produced (a constant).
• Cheese production QC indicates how many total pounds of
cheese that the home country produces.
• aLW indicates the amount of labor required for each gallon
of wine produced (a constant).
• Wine production QW indicates how many total gallons of
wine that the home country produces.
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Production Possibilities (1 of 6)
• The production possibility frontier (PPF) of an economy
shows the maximum amount of a goods that can be
produced for a fixed amount of resources.
• The production possibility frontier of the home economy is:
aLCQC + aLWQW ≤ L

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Production Possibilities (2 of 6)
L
• Maximum home cheese production is QC  when Qw  0.
a LC

L
• Maximum home wine production is Qw  when Qc  0.
a Lw

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Production Possibilities (3 of 6)
• For example, suppose that the home economy’s labor
supply is 1,000 hours.
– aLC = 1 hours/lb, so 1 hour of labor produces one
pound of cheese in the home country.
– aLW = 2 hours/gallon, so 2 hours of labor produces one
gallon of wine in the home country.
• The PPF equation aLCQC + aLWQW ≤ L becomes QC + 2QW
≤ 1,000.
• Maximum cheese production is 1,000 pounds.
• Maximum wine production is 500 gallons.

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Figure 3.1 Home’s Production Possibility
Frontier

The line PF shows the maximum amount of cheese Home can

produce given any production of wine, and vice versa.
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Production Possibilities (4 of 6)
• The opportunity cost of cheese is how many gallons of
wine Home must stop producing in order to make one
more pound of cheese: aLC
aLW
– The opportunity cost is constant because the unit labor
requirements are both constant.
– The opportunity cost of cheese appears as the
absolute value of the slope of the PPF.
L  a LC 
Qw    QC
a Lw  a Lw 

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Production Possibilities (5 of 6)
• Producing an additional pound of cheese requires aLC
hours of labor.
• Each hour devoted to cheese production could have been
used instead to produce an amount of wine equal to

 1 
1 hour/(aLW hours/gallon of wine)    gallons of wine
 aLW 

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Production Possibilities (6 of 6)
• For example, if 1 hour of labor is moved to cheese
production, that additional hour could have produced

 1
1 hour/(2 hours/gallon of wine)    gallon of wine.
2

• Opportunity cost of producing one pound of cheese is

1
gallon of wine not produced.
2

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Relative Prices and Supply (1 of 7)
• PC is the price of cheese; PW is the price of wine.
• wC is the wage paid to workers who make cheese, and wW
is the wage paid to workers who make wine.
• Due to competition in the labor and goods markets:
– Hourly wages of cheese makers will equal the value of
the cheese produced in an hour: WC  PC
aLC
– Hourly wages of wine makers will equal the value of
the wine produced in an hour: Ww  Pw
aLw

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Relative Prices and Supply (2 of 7)
• Workers will choose to work in the industry that pays the
higher wage.
• If the price of cheese relative to the price of wine exceeds
the opportunity cost of producing cheese
PC aLC
 ,
PW aLW
– Then the wage paid when making cheese will exceed
the wage in wine
PC PW
WC    WW
aLC aLW
– So workers will make only cheese (the economy
specializes in cheese production).
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Relative Prices and Supply (3 of 7)
• If the price of cheese relative to the price of wine is less
than the opportunity cost of producing cheese
PC aLC
 ,
PW aLW
– Then the wage in cheese will be less than the wage in
wine
PC PW
WC    WW
aLC aLW
– So workers will make only wine (the economy
specializes in wine production).

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Relative Prices and Supply (4 of 7)
• If the price of cheese relative to the price of wine equals
the opportunity cost of producing cheese
PC aLC
 ,
PW aLW
– Then the wage in cheese will equal the wage in wine

PC PW
WC    WW
aLC aLW

– So workers will be willing to make both wine and

cheese.

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Relative Prices and Supply (5 of 7)
• For example, suppose cheese sells for PC = $4/pound and
wine sells for PW = $7/gallon.
– Wage paid producing cheese is
PC
 ($4/pound)(1 pound/hour)  $4/hour.
aLC
– Wage paid producing wine is
Pw 1 
 ($7/gallon)  gallon/hour  = $3.50/hour.
aLw 2 
– Workers would be willing to make only cheese (the
relative price of cheese 4 exceeds the opportunity cost
1 7
of cheese of ).
2
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Relative Prices and Supply (6 of 7)
• If the price of cheese drops to PC = $3/pound:
– Wage paid producing cheese drops to
PC
 ($3/pound)(1 pound/hour)  $3/hour.
aLC

– Wage paid producing wine is still $3.50/hour if price

of wine is still $7/gallon.
– Now workers would be willing to make only wine (the
3
relative price of cheese is now less than the
7 1
opportunity cost of cheese ).
2

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Relative Prices and Supply (7 of 7)
• If the home country wants to consume both wine and cheese (in
the absence of international trade), relative prices must adjust
so that wages are equal in the wine and cheese industries.
P P
– If C  W workers will not care whether they work in the
aLC aLW
cheese industry or the wine industry, so that production of
both goods can occur.
– Production (and consumption) of both goods occurs when
the relative price of a good equals the opportunity cost of
producing that good:
PC a
 LC Autarky equilibrium
PW aLW

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Autarky Equilibrium
Wine

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Trade in the Ricardian Model (1 of 4)
• Use “*” to indicate foreign country variables.
• When one country can produce a unit of a good with less
labor than another country, we say that the first country
has an absolute advantage in producing that good.
• If aLC < a*LC , Home labor is more efficient than Foreign in
producing cheese.
• Does that guarantee that Home should export cheese?

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Trade in the Ricardian Model (2 of 4)
• Comparative advantage, not absolute advantage,
determines the pattern of trade (more about this distinction
later).
• Suppose that the home country has a comparative
advantage in cheese production: its opportunity cost of
producing cheese is lower than in the foreign country.
aLC a *LC

aLW a *Lw
– When the home country increases cheese production,
it reduces wine production less than the foreign country
would.
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Trade in the Ricardian Model (3 of 4)
• Since the slope of the PPF indicates the opportunity cost
of cheese in terms of wine, Foreign’s PPF is steeper than
Home’s.
– To produce one pound of cheese, must stop producing
more gallons of wine in Foreign than in Home.

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Figure 3.2 Foreign’s Production
Possibility Frontier

Because Foreign’s relative unit labor requirement in cheese is

higher than Home’s (it needs to give up many more units of wine
to produce one more unit of cheese), its production possibility
frontier is steeper.
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Trade in the Ricardian Model (4 of 4)
• Before any trade occurs, the relative price of cheese to
wine reflects the opportunity cost of cheese in terms of
wine in each country.
• In the absence of any trade, the relative price of cheese to
wine will be higher in Foreign than in Home if Foreign has
the higher opportunity cost of cheese.
• It will be profitable to ship cheese from Home to Foreign
(and wine from Foreign to Home) – where does the relative
price of cheese to wine settle?

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Determining the Relative Price after
Trade (1 of 8)
• To see how all countries can benefit from trade, need to
find relative prices when trade exists.
• First calculate the world relative supply of cheese: the
quantity of cheese supplied by all countries relative to the
quantity of wine supplied by all countries

QC  Q *C
RS 
QW  Q *W

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Determining the Relative Price after
Trade (2 of 8)
• If the relative price of cheese falls below the opportunity
cost of cheese in both countries
PC aLC a *LC
  ,
PW aLW a *Lw
– No cheese would be produced.
– Domestic and foreign workers would be willing to
produce only wine (where wage is higher).

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Determining the Relative Price after
Trade (3 of 8)
• When the relative price of cheese equals the opportunity
cost in the home country
PC aLC a *LC
  ,
PW aLW a *Lw
– Domestic workers are indifferent about producing wine
or cheese (wage when producing wine same as wage
when producing cheese).
– Foreign workers produce only wine.

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Determining the Relative Price after
Trade (4 of 8)
• When the relative price of cheese settles strictly in between the
opportunity costs of cheese
aLC PC a *LC
  ,
aLW PW a *Lw
– Domestic workers produce only cheese (where their wages
are higher).
– Foreign workers still produce only wine (where their wages
are higher).
– World relative supply of cheese equals Home’s maximum
cheese production divided by Foreign’s maximum wine
production
L aLC
.
L * a *LW
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Determining the Relative Price after
Trade (5 of 8)
• When the relative price of cheese equals the opportunity
cost in the foreign country
aLC PC a *LC
  ,
aLW PW a *Lw
– Foreign workers are indifferent about producing wine or
cheese (wage when producing wine same as wage
when producing cheese).
– Domestic workers produce only cheese.

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Determining the Relative Price after
Trade (6 of 8)
• If the relative price of cheese rises above the opportunity
cost of cheese in both countries
aLC a *LC PC
  ,
aLW a *Lw PW
– No wine is produced.
– Domestic and foreign workers are willing to produce
only cheese (where wage is higher).

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Determining the Relative Price after
Trade (7 of 8)
• World relative supply is a step function:
– First step at relative price of cheese equal to Home’s
aLC 1
opportunity cost ,which equals in the example.
aLW 2
– Jumps when world relative supply of cheese equals
Home’s maximum cheese production divided by Foreign’s
L aLC
maximum wine production , which equals 1 in the
example. L * a *LW
– Second step at relative price of cheese equal to Foreign’s
opportunity cost a *LC , which equals 2 in the example.
a *LW

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Determining the Relative Price after
Trade (8 of 8)
• Relative demand of cheese is the quantity of cheese
demanded in all countries relative to the quantity of wine
demanded in all countries.
• As the price of cheese relative to the price of wine rises,
consumers in all countries will tend to purchase less
cheese and more wine so that the relative quantity
demanded of cheese falls.

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Figure 3.3 World Relative Supply and
Demand

The RD and RD’ curves show that the demand for cheese relative
to wine is a decreasing function of the price of cheese relative to
that of wine, while the RS curve shows that the supply of cheese
relative to wine is an increasing function of the same relative price.
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 Trade Equilibrium

Wine
Wine

Export

Import Import

Export Cheese
Cheese

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Gains from Trade (1 of 4)
• Gains from trade come from specializing in the type of
production which uses resources most efficiently, and
using the income generated from that production to buy
the goods and services that countries desire.
– “Using resources most efficiently” means producing a
good in which a country has a comparative advantage.

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Gains from Trade (2 of 4)
• Domestic workers earn a higher income from cheese
production because the relative price of cheese increases
with trade.
• Foreign workers earn a higher income from wine
production because the relative price of cheese decreases
with trade (making cheese cheaper) and the relative price
of wine increases with trade.

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Gains from Trade (3 of 4)
• Think of trade as an indirect method of production that
converts cheese into wine or vice versa.
• Without trade, a country has to allocate resources to
produce all of the goods that it wants to consume.
• With trade, a country can specialize its production and
exchange for the mix of goods that it wants to consume.

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Gains from Trade (4 of 4)
• Consumption possibilities expand beyond the production
possibility frontier when trade is allowed.
• With trade, consumption in each country is expanded
because world production is expanded when each country
specializes in producing the good in which it has a
comparative advantage.

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Figure 3.4 Trade Expands Consumption
Possibilities

International trade allows Home and Foreign to consume

anywhere within the colored lines, which lie outside the countries’
production frontiers.
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A Numerical Example (1 of 5)
Unit labor
requirements Cheese Wine
Home aLC = 1 hour/lb aLW = 2 hours/gallon

Foreign a*LC = 6 hours/lb a*LW = 3 hours/gallon

• What is the home country’s opportunity cost of producing cheese?

aLC 1
 , to produce one pound of cheese, stop producing
aLW 2
1
gallon of wine.
2

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A Numerical Example (2 of 5)
• The home country is more efficient in both industries, but
has a comparative advantage only in cheese production.
1 aLC a *LC
  2
2 aLW a *LW

• The foreign country is less efficient in both industries, but

has a comparative advantage in wine production.

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A Numerical Example (3 of 5)
• With trade, the equilibrium relative price of cheese to wine
settles between the two opportunity costs of cheese.
• Suppose that the intersection of RS and RD occurs at
PC
 1 so one pound of cheese trades for one gallon of
PW
wine.
• Trade causes the relative price of cheese to rise in the
home country and fall in foreign.

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A Numerical Example (4 of 5)
• With trade, the foreign country can buy one pound of
PC
cheese for  one gallon of wine,
PW
a *LC
– instead of stopping production of  2 gallons
a *LW
of wine to free up enough labor to produce one pound
of cheese in the absence of trade.
– Suppose L* = 3,000. The foreign country can trade its
1,000 gallons maximum production of wine for 1,000
pounds of cheese, instead of the 500 pounds of
cheese it could produce itself.

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A Numerical Example (5 of 5)
• With trade, the home country can buy one gallon of wine
PW
for  one pound of cheese,
PC
aLW
– instead of stopping production of  2 pounds
aLC
of cheese to free up enough labor to produce one
gallon of wine in the absence of trade.
• The home country can trade its 1,000 pounds maximum
production of cheese for 1,000 gallons of wine, instead
of the 500 gallons of wine it could produce itself.

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Relative Wages (1 of 5)
• Relative wages are the wages of the home country
relative to the wages in the foreign country.
• Productivity (technological) differences determine relative
wage differences across countries.
• The home wage relative to the foreign wage will settle in
between the ratio of how much better Home is at making
cheese and how much better it is at making wine
compared to Foreign.
• Relative wages cause Home to have a cost advantage in
only cheese and Foreign to have a cost advantage in only
wine.
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Relative Wages (2 of 5)
• Suppose that PC = $12/pound and PW = $12/gallon.
• Since domestic workers specialize in cheese production after
trade, their hourly wages will be
PC $12
  $12
aLC 1
• Since foreign workers specialize in wine production after trade,
their hourly wages will be
PW $12
  $4
a *LW 3
• The relative wage of domestic workers is therefore
$12
3
$4
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Relative Wages (3 of 5)
• The relative wage lies between the ratio of the productivities
in each industry.
6
– The home country is  6 times as productive in cheese
1
3
production, but only  1.5 times as productive in wine
2
production.
– The home country has a wage 3 times higher than the
foreign country.

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Relative Wages (4 of 5)
• These relationships imply that both countries have a cost
advantage in production.
– High wages can be offset by high productivity.
– Low productivity can be offset by low wages.
• In the home economy, producing one pound of cheese
costs $12 (one worker paid $12/hr) but would have cost
$24 (six paid $4/hr) in Foreign.
• In the foreign economy, producing one gallon of wine costs
$12 (three workers paid $4/hr) but would have cost $24
(two paid $12/hr) in Home.

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Relative Wages (5 of 5)
1
• Because foreign workers have a wage that is only
3
the wage of domestic workers, they are able to attain
a cost advantage in wine production, despite low
productivity.
• Because domestic workers have a productivity that is
6 times that of foreign workers in cheese production,
they are able to attain a cost advantage in cheese
production, despite high wages.

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Do Wages Reflect Productivity? (1 of 2)
• Do relative wages reflect relative productivities of the two
countries?
• Evidence shows that low wages are associated with low
productivity.
– Wage of most countries relative to the U.S. is similar to
their productivity relative to the U.S.

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Productivity and Wages

A country’s wage rate is roughly proportional to the country’s

productivity
Source: International Monetary Fund and The Conference Board.
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Do Wages Reflect Productivity? (2 of 2)
• Other evidence shows that wages rise as productivity
rises.
– As recently as 1975, wages in South Korea were only
5% of those of the United States.
– As South Korea’s labor productivity rose (to about half
of the U.S. level by 2007), so did its wages.

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Comparative Advantage with Many
Goods (1 of 7)
• Suppose now there are N goods produced, indexed by i =
1,2,…N.
• The home country’s unit labor requirement for good i is aLi,
and the corresponding foreign unit labor requirement is a*Li.
• Goods will be produced wherever cheapest to produce
them.

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Comparative Advantage with Many
Goods (2 of 7)
• Let w represent the wage rate in the home country and w*
represent the wage rate in the foreign country.
– If waL1 < w*a*L1 then only the home country will produce
good 1, since total wage payments are less there.
a *L1 w
– Or equivalently,  , if the relative productivity
aL1 w*
of a country in producing a good is higher than the
relative wage, then the good will be produced in that
country.

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Table 3.2 Home and Foreign Unit Labor
Requirements
Relative Home
Productivity
Home Unit Labor Foreign Unit Labor Advantage aLi*/aLi
Good Requirement aLi Requirement aLi*
Apples 1 10 10
Bananas 5 40 8
Caviar 3 12 4
Dates 6 12 2
Enchiladas 12 9 0.75

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Comparative Advantage with Many
Goods (3 of 7)
• Suppose there are 5 goods produced in the world: apples,
bananas, caviar, dates, and enchiladas.
w
• If  3, the home country will produce apples, bananas,
w*
and caviar, while the foreign country will produce dates
and enchiladas.
– The relative productivities of the home country in
producing apples, bananas, and caviar are higher than
the relative wage.

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Comparative Advantage with Many
Goods (4 of 7)
• If each country specializes in goods that use resources
productively and trades the products for those that it wants
to consume, then each benefits.
– If a country tries to produce all goods for itself,
resources are “wasted”.
• The home country has high productivity in apples,
bananas, and caviar that give it a cost advantage, despite
its high wage.
• The foreign country has low wages that give it a cost
advantage, despite its low productivity in date production.

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Comparative Advantage with Many
Goods (5 of 7)
• How is the relative wage determined?
• By the relative supply of and relative (derived) demand for
labor services.
• The relative (derived) demand for home labor
w
services falls when rises. As domestic labor services
w*
become more expensive relative to foreign labor services,
– goods produced in the home country become more
expensive, and demand for these goods and the labor
services to produce them falls.
– fewer goods will be produced in the home country,
further reducing the demand for domestic labor services.
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Comparative Advantage with Many
Goods (6 of 7)
w
• Suppose increases from 3 to 3.99:
w*
– The home country would produce apples, bananas, and
caviar, but the demand for these goods and the labor to
produce them would fall as the relative wage rises.
w
• Suppose increases from 3.99 to 4.01:
w*
– Caviar is now too expensive to produce in the home country,
so the caviar industry moves to the foreign country, causing
a discrete (abrupt) drop in the demand for domestic labor
services.
w
• Consider similar effects as rises from 0.75 to 10.
w*
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Figure 3.5 Determination of Relative
Wages

In a many-good Ricardian model, relative wages are determined

by the intersection of the derived relative demand curve for labor,
RD, with the relative supply, RS.
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Comparative Advantage with Many
Goods (7 of 7)
• Finally, suppose that relative supply of labor is independent
w
of and is fixed at an amount determined by the
w*
populations in the home and foreign countries.

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Empirical Evidence (1 of 3)
• Do countries export those goods in which their productivity
is relatively high?
• The ratio of U.S. to British exports in 1951 compared to the
ratio of U.S. to British labor productivity in 26
manufacturing industries suggests yes.
• At this time the U.S. had an absolute advantage in all 26
industries, yet the ratio of exports was low in the least
productive sectors of the U.S.

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Figure 3.6 Productivity and Exports

A comparative study showed that U.S. exports were high relative

to British exports in industries in which the United States had high
relative labor productivity. Each dot represents a different industry.
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Empirical Evidence (2 of 3)
• A very poor country like Bangladesh can have comparative
advantage in clothing despite being less productive in
clothing than other countries such as China because it is
even less productive compared to China in other sectors.
– Productivity (output per worker) in Bangladesh is only
28 percent of China’s on average.
– In apparel, productivity in Bangladesh was about 77
percent of China’s, creating strong comparative
advantage in apparel for Bangladesh.

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Table 3.3 Bangladesh versus China, 2011

Blank Bangladeshi Output per Bangladeshi exports

Worker as % of China as a % of China
All industries 28.5 1.0
Apparel 77 15.5

Source: McKinsey and Company, “Bangladesh’s ready-made

garments industry: The challenge of growth,” 2012; UN Monthly
Bulletin of Statistics.

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Empirical Evidence (3 of 3)
• The main implications of the Ricardian model are well
supported by empirical evidence:
– productivity differences play an important role in
international trade
– comparative advantage (not absolute advantage)
matters for trade

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Summary (1 of 2)
1. Differences in the productivity of labor across countries
generate comparative advantage.
2. A country has a comparative advantage in producing a
good when its opportunity cost of producing that good is
lower than in other countries.
3. Countries export goods in which they have a comparative
advantage - high productivity or low wages give countries
a cost advantage.

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Summary (2 of 2)
4. With trade, the relative price settles in between what the
relative prices were in each country before trade.
5. Trade benefits all countries due to the relative price of the
exported good rising: income for workers who produce
exports rises, and imported goods become less
expensive.
6. Empirical evidence supports trade based on comparative
advantage, although transportation costs and other
factors prevent complete specialization in production.

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