INTERDEPENDENCE AND
GAINS FROM TRADE
Credit
Gregory N Mankiw
Contents
01 02 03
What makes How trade What are
people and makes everyone absolute and
nations depend better-off? comparative
on each other? advantage?
Interdependence Hair gel from
Cleveland, OH
Cell phone from
Taiwan
Every day we rely on many
people from around the Dress shirt from
China
world, most of whom we’ve
never met, to provide us
with the goods and services
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we enjoy. Kenya
Example
❖ Two countries: India and China
❖ Two goods: Computers and Wheat
❖ One resource: Labor, measured in hours
Let’s look at how much of both goods each country produces and consumes
❖ If the country chooses to be self-sufficient
❖ If it trades with the other country
Production Possibilities in India (PPC)
Wheat (tons)
❖ India has 50,000 hours of
labor available for 5,000
production, per month. India has enough labor to produce 500
4,000 computers, or 5000 tons of wheat, or
❖ Producing one computer any combination along the PPF.
requires 100 hours of labor. 3,000
❖ Producing one ton of wheat
2,000
requires 10 hours of labor.
1,000
0
100 200 300 400 500 Computers
India Without Trade
Wheat (tons)
5,000
Suppose India uses half its labor to produce
4,000
each of the two goods. Then it will produce
and consume 250 computers and 2500 tons
3,000
of wheat.
2,000
1,000
0
100 200 300 400 500 Computers
Production Possibilities in China (PPC)
Wheat (tons)
❖ China has 30,000 hours of
labor available for
production, per month. 2,000
❖ Producing one computer
requires 125 hours of China has enough labor to produce
labor. 240 computers, or 1200 tons of wheat,
1,000
or any combination along the PPF.
❖ Producing one ton of
wheat requires 25 hours
of labor.
0
100 200 300 Computers
China Without Trade
Wheat (tons)
Consumption Without Trade:
2,000
❖ Indian consumers get 250
Suppose China uses half its labor to computers and 2500 tons wheat.
produce each good. Then it will
produce and consume 120 computers ❖ Chinese consumers get 120
1,000 and 600 tons of wheat. computers and 600 tons wheat.
Let’s compare consumption without
trade to consumption with trade.
0
100 200 300 Computers
India’s Production With Trade
Wheat (tons)
5,000
❖ Producing 3400 tons of wheat requires 34,000 labor
4,000 hours.
❖ The remaining 16,000 labor hours are used to
3,000
produce 160 computers.
2,000 ❖ The red dot represents the combination (160
computers, 3400 tons of wheat).
1,000
0
100 200 300 400 500 Computers
China’s Production With Trade
Wheat (tons)
2,000 ❖ Producing 240 computers requires all
of Chinese 30,000 labor hours. So,
China would produce 0 tons of wheat.
❖ The red dot represents the
1,000 combination (240 computers, 0 tons
wheat).
0
100 200 300 Computers
Consumption under Trade
Exports: Goods produced domestically and sold abroad. To export means to sell domestically produced
goods abroad.
Imports: Goods produced abroad and sold domestically. To import means to purchase goods produced
in other countries.
❖ Suppose India exports 700 tons of wheat to China, and imports 110 computers from China.
❖ So, China imports 700 tons wheat and exports 110 computers.
❖ How much of each good is consumed in India? Let’s Plot this combination on India PPC.
❖ How much of each good is consumed in China? Let’s Plot this combination on China’s PPC.
India Consumption With Trade
Wheat (tons)
Computers Wheat
5,000
Produced 160 3400
+ Imported 110 0
4,000 - Exported 0 700
Consumed 270 2700
3,000
❖ The red point represents production.
2,000
❖ The light blue point represents consumption.
❖ Notice that the consumption point is above the
1,000
PPC. Without trade, it would not be possible to
consume this combination of the two goods.
0
100 200 300 400 500 Computers
China’s Consumption With Trade
Wheat (tons)
Computers Wheat
Produced 240 0
2,000 + Imported 0 700
- Exported 110 0
Consumed 130 700
❖ The light blue point representing consumption
1,000
is above the PPC.
❖ Without trade, it would not be possible to
consume this combination of the goods.
0
100 200 300 Computers
Trade Makes Both Countries Better Off
India
Consumption without Consumption with Gains from Trade
Trade Trade
Computer 250 270 20
Wheat 2500 2700 200
China
Computer 120 130 10
Wheat 600 700 100
Where Do these Gains Come from?
Absolute Advantage: the ability to produce a good using fewer inputs than another producer. The term absolute
advantage is used to compare the productivity of one person, firm, or nation to that of another.
❖ India has an absolute advantage in wheat: producing a ton of wheat uses 10 labor hours in India vs. 25 in
China.
❖ If each country has an absolute advantage in one good and specializes in that good, then both countries can
gain from trade.
❖ Which country has an absolute advantage in Computers?
▪ Producing one computer requires:
✓ 125 labor hours in China
✓ but only 100 in India
❖ India has an absolute advantage in both goods.
❖ So why does China specialize in computers?
❖ Why do both countries gain from trade?
Two Measures of the Cost of a Good
❖ Two countries can gain from trade when each specializes in the good it produces at lowest cost. Absolute advantage
measures the cost of a good in terms of the inputs required to produce it.
❖ Another measure of cost is opportunity cost. In our example, the opportunity cost of a computer is the amount of wheat
that could be produced using the labor needed to produce one computer.
Comparative advantage: the ability to produce a good at a lower opportunity cost than another producer. The term
comparative advantage is used to describe the opportunity cost of two producers. The producer who has the smaller
opportunity cost of producing a good—that is, who has to give up less of other goods to produce it—is said to have a
comparative advantage in producing that good.
Which country has the comparative advantage in computers?
❖ To answer this, we must determine the opportunity cost of a computer in each country.
❖ The opportunity cost of a computer is 10 tons of wheat in India, because producing one computer requires 100 labor
hours, which instead could produce 10 tons of wheat.
❖ 5 tons of wheat in China, because producing one computer requires 125 labor hours, which instead could produce 5 tons
of wheat.
❖ So, China has a comparative advantage in computers. Lesson:
Absolute advantage is not necessary for comparative advantage.
Comparative Advantage and Trade
Gains from trade arise from comparative advantage (differences in opportunity costs).
❖ When each country specializes in the good(s) in which it has a comparative advantage, total production in all countries
is higher, the world’s “economic pie” is bigger, and all countries can gain from trade.
❖ The same applies to individual producers specializing in different goods and trading with each other.
Another Example:
❖ Bangladesh and Sri Lanka each have 10,000 hours of labor per month.
In Bangladesh:
❖ Producing one pound of tea requires 2 hours
❖ Producing one pound of silk requires 4 hours
In Sri Lanka:
❖ Producing one pound tea requires 1 hour
❖ Producing one pound of silk requires 5 hours
Which country has an absolute advantage in the production of tea? Which country has a comparative advantage in the
production of silk?
Answer
Sri Lanka has an absolute advantage in tea:
❖ Producing a pound of tea requires only one labor hour in Sri Lanka, but two in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has a comparative advantage in Silk:
❖ Bangladesh’s opportunity cost of silk is two pounds of tea, because the four labor-hours required
to produce one pound of silk could instead produce two pounds of tea.
❖ Sri Lanka’s opportunity cost of silk is five pounds of tea.
Summary:
❖ Interdependence and trade allow everyone to enjoy a greater quantity and variety of goods & services.
❖ Comparative advantage means being able to produce a good at a lower opportunity cost. Absolute advantage
means being able to produce a good with fewer inputs.
❖ When people—or countries—specialize in the goods in which they have a comparative advantage, the
economic “pie” grows, and trade can make everyone better off.
