国际经济学16Word下载.docx

1、Introduction1. What is international economics about?Seven themes recur throughout the study of international economics:The gains from trade（National welfare and income distribution）The pattern of tradeProtectionismThe balance of paymentsExchange rate determinationInternational capital market 2. Int

2、ernational economics: trade and money Part I （chapters 2 through 7） :international trade theory Part II （chapters 8 through 11） : international trade policyPart III （chapters 12 through 17） : international monetary theoryPart IV （chapters 18 through 22） : international monetary policyChapter 2Labor

3、Productivity and Comparative Advantage:The Ricardian Model*Countries engage in international trade for two basic reasons:Comparative advantage : countries are different in technology （chapter 2） or resource （chapter 4）.Economics of scale （chapter 6）.*All motives are at work in the real world but onl

4、y one motive is present in each trade model.1. The concept of comparative advantage1. Opportunity cost: The opportunity cost of roses in terms of computers is the number of computers that could have been produced with the resources used to produce a given number of roses. Table 2-1 Hypothetical Chan

5、ges in ProductionMillion Roses Thousand ComputersUnited States 10100South America1030Total702. Comparative advantage: A country has a comparative advantage in producing a good if the opportunity cost of producing that good in terms of other goods is lower in that country than it is in other countrie

6、s. Denoted by opportunity cost.A relative concept : relative labor productivity or relative abundance.3. The pattern of trade: Trade between two countries can benefit both countries if each country exports the goods in which it has a comparative advantage. 2. A one-factor economy1.production possibi

7、lities : aLCQC + aLW QLWLFigure 2-1 Homes Production Possibility Frontier2. Relative price and supply Labor will move to the sector which pays higher wage.If PC/PWaLC/aLW （PC/aLCPW/aLW, wage in the cheese sector is higher ）, the economy will specialize in the production of cheese.In a closed economy

8、, PC/PW =aLC/aLW.If each country has absolute advantage in one good respectively, will there exist comparative advantage?3. Trade in a one-factor worldModel : 212Assume: aLC/aLW 1/aLW or PC/PWaLC/aLWTo examine how trade affects each countrys possibilities of consumption.Figure 2-4 Trade Expands Cons

9、umption Possibilities（How will the terms of trade change in the long-term? Are there income distribution effects within countries? ）3. A numerical example:Two crucial points : When two countries specialize in producing the goods in which they have a comparative advantage, both countries gain from tr

10、ade. Comparative advantage must not be confused with absolute advantage; it is comparative, not absolute, advantage that determines who will and should produce a good.Table 2-2 Unit Labor RequirementsCheese WineHome aLC=1 hour per poundaLW=2 hours per gallonForeigna*LC=6 hours per pounda*LW=3 hours

11、per gallonabsolute advantage; relative price; specialization; the gains from trade.4. Relative wagesIt is precisely because the relative wage is between the relative productivities that each country ends up with a cost advantage in one good.Relative wages depend on relative productivity and relative

12、 demand on goods.Special box: Do wages reflect productivity?Table 2-3 Changes in Wages and Unit Labor CostsCompensation Compensation Annual Rate of Increase per Hour, 1975 Per Hour,2000 in Unit Labor Costs, （US=100） （US=100） 1979-2000United States1001.1South Korea 5410.7Taiwan 6303.6Hong Kong 1228NA

13、Singapore 1337Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics（foreign labor statistics home page, www.bls.gov/fls/home.htm）Debates about relative wages and relative labor productivity.Long-run convergence in productivity produces long-run convergence in wages.4. Misconceptions about comparative advantage The pro

14、position that trade is beneficial is unqualified. That is, there is no requirement that a country be “competitive” or that the trade be “fair”.1. Productivity and competitivenessmyth1: Free trade is beneficial only if your country is strong enough to stand up to foreign competition.The gains from tr

15、ade depend on comparative advantage rather than absolute advantage.The competitive advantage of an industry depend on relative labor productivity and relative wage.Absolute advantage: neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for comparative advantage （or for the gains from trade）.2. The pauper

16、 labor argument myth2: Foreign competition is unfair and hurts other countries when it is based on low wages.Whether the lower cost of foreign export goods is due to high productivity or low wages does not matter. All that matter to home is that it is more efficient to “produce” those goods indirect

17、ly than to produce directly.3. Exploitationmyth3: Trade exploits a country and makes it worse off if its workers receive much lower wage than workers in other nations.Whether they and their country are worse off?What is the alternative ?（If it refuses to trade, real wages would be even lower）.5. Com

18、parative advantage with many goodsModel:nFor any good we can calculate aLi /aLi *, label the goods so that the lower the number, the lower this ratio. aL1/aL1*aL2/aL2*aL2 */aL2aLN */aLN）1. Relative wages and specialization Any good for which aLi */aLi w/w* will be produced in home. Relative producti

19、vity is higher than its relative wage, waLi w*aLi*, goods will always be produced where it is cheapest to make them.All the goods to the left of the cut end up being produced in home.Table 2-4 Home and Foreign Unit Labor Requirements Relative HomeHome Unit Labor Foreign Unit Labor Productivety Requi

20、rement（aLi） Requirement（a*Li） Advantage（a*Li/aLi） Apples110Bananas5408Caviar3124Dates6Enchiladas90.75if w/w*=3, A、B、C will be produced in Home and D、E in foreign.Is such a pattern of specialization beneficial to both countries?（Hint: Comparing the labor cost of producing a （import） good directly and

21、 indirectly）.2. Determining the relative wage in the multigood model w/w*: RD of labor equals RS of labor.The relative derived demand for home labor （L/L*） will fall when the ratio of home to foreign wages （w/w*） rises, because:（1）The goods produced in home became relative more expensive.（2）Fewer fo

22、ods will be produced in home and more in foreign.Figure 2-5 Determination of relative of wages. derived form relative demand for home and foreign goods. determined by relative size of home and foreign labor force （Labor cant move between countries）.6. Adding transport costs and nontraded goodsThere

23、are three main reasons why specialization in the real international economy is not so extreme:（1） the existence of more than one factor of production （2） protectionism（3） the existence of transport cost.E.g. suppose transport cost is a uniform fraction of production cost, say 100 percents. For goods

24、 C and D in table 2-4:D: Home 6hours 1/3 foreign Thus, C and D became nontraded goods.In practice there is a wide range of transportation costs.In some cases transportation is virtually impossible: services such as haircut and auto repair ; goods with high weight-to-value ratio, like cement.Nontrade

25、d goods: because of absence of strong national cost advantage or because of high transportation cost.Nations spend a large share of their income on nontraded goods.7. Empirical evidence on the Ricardian model Misleading predictions :（1）An extreme degree of specialization;（2）Neglect the effects on income