【正文】
Chapter 3Labor Productivity and Comparative Advantage: The Ricardian Model11Chapter 3Labor Productivity and ComparativeAdvantage: The Ricardian ModelnChapter OrganizationThe Concept of Comparative AdvantageA OneFactor EconomyProduction PossibilitiesRelative Prices and SupplyTrade in a OneFactor WorldBox: Comparative Advantage in Practice: The Case of Babe RuthDetermining the Relative Price after TradeThe Gains from TradeA Numerical ExampleBox: The Losses from NonTradeRelative WagesMisconceptions about Comparative AdvantageProductivity and CompetitivenessThe Pauper Labor ArgumentExploitationBox: Do Wages Reflect Productivity?Comparative Advantage with Many GoodsSetting Up the ModelRelative Wages and SpecializationDetermining the Relative Wage with a Multigood ModelAdding Transport Costs and NonTraded GoodsEmpirical Evidence on the Ricardian ModelSummarynChapter OverviewThe Ricardian model provides an introduction to international trade theory. This most basic model of trade involves two countries, two goods, and one factor of production, labor. Differences in relative labor productivity across countries give rise to international trade. This Ricardian model, simple as it is, generates important insights concerning parative advantage and the gains from trade. These insights are necessary foundations for the more plex models presented in later chapters.The text exposition begins with the examination of the production possibility frontier and the relative prices of goods for one country. The production possibility frontier is linear because of the assumption of constant returns to scale for labor, the sole factor of production. The opportunity cost of one good in terms of the other equals the price ratio since prices equal costs, costs equal unit labor requirements times wages, and wages are equal in each industry.After defining these concepts for a single country, a second country is introduced whic