Productity & Comparative Advantage

386 Words2 Pages
Using comparative advantage theory and the role of productivity, this report analyzes the impacts on economic growth of the developing countries of the world. This report elaborates the fundamental principal of International trade. In economics, the law of comparative advantage refers to the ability of a person or a country to produce a particular good or service at a lower marginal cost and opportunity cost than another person or country. It is the ability to produce a product most efficiently given all the other products that could be produced. It can be contrasted with absolute advantage which refers to the ability of a person or a country to produce a particular good at a lower absolute cost than another. Comparative advantage explains how trade can create value for both parties even when one can produce all goods with fewer resources than the other. The net benefits of such an outcome are called gains from trade. Productivity is closely associated with growth in real wages and living standards. A careful look at productivity trends indicates that there are sharp movements from year to year as well as long swings. Productivity of developing countries grew briskly from World War II until the late 1960s. Then, beginning around 1973, there were several years of poor performance, and even decline. Surveys of this period indicate that the poor productivity record stemmed from the sharp increases in oil prices, increasing stringency of regulations, and impacts o price and wage controls and pervasive controls in the energy industries, as well as a slowdown in research and development spending. Various developing countries like China, India, Hong Kong, Singapore have utilized the factor of their relevant comparative advantage and improved their living standards by increasing their productivity level during the last few decades. Free trade has also played an
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