trade theories
DESCRIPTION
Trade TheoriesTRANSCRIPT
TRADE THEORIES
Trade Theory-Global Business Management 2
PRESENTED BY
Aditya Suresh – 186
Akash Gupta – 188
Alankar Das - 190
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CONTENTS
1.Mercantilism theory
2.Absolute Advantage theory
3.Comparative Advantage theory
4.Factor Endowment theory
5.Product Life Cycle theory
6.Leontief Paradox
7.Heckscher Ohlin theory
8. Porter`s Diamond theory
9.New Trade Theory
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WHY DO COUNTRIES TRADE ?
1. Availability of products (natural resources, new products, etc.)
2. International price differential as a consequence of:
Productivity differential Differences in technology Differences in factor endowments
Economies of scale 3. Product differentiation and market structure
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WHAT IS TRADE THEORY
Exchange of raw materials and manufactured goods (and services) across national borders
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MERCANTILISM THEORY
The theory that a country’s power depended mainly on its wealth to build strong navies and purchase vital trade goods
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MERCANTILISM THEORY
In 17th century group of men (merchants, bankers, government officials & philosophers) wrote essays on international trade that advocated an economic philosophy known as Mercantilism
In their view, a country becomes rich if it exports more than it imports
Surplus in trade balance will result in an inflow of precious metals; gold and silver
More precious metals means a richer and more powerful nation
Countries have to do their best to increase exports and restrict imports.
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CONTD..
Since all countries cannot have surplus at the same time & because stock of metals is fixed in short run, a country gains from trade only at expense of others
Wealth of nations was measured by stock of metals they possess
In contrast, today we measure wealth of a nation by its stock of human, man-made & natural resources available for producing goods & services
Mercantilists advocated strict government control of economic activity because gain from trade comes at expense of other nations (i.e. zero-sum-game)
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CONTD..
GOLD AND SILVER ARE CURRENCY FOR TRADE
THEORY SAYS YOU SHOULD HAVE A SURPLUS
MAXIMIZE EXPORT THROUGH SUBSIDIES
MINIMIZE IMPORTS THROUGH TARIFFS AND QUOTAS
ASSUMPTIONS
THERE IS A FINITE AMOUNT OF WEALTH IN
THE WORLD
A NATION CAN ONLY GROW RICH AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHER
NATIONS
A NATION SHOULD TRY TO ACHIEVE & MAINTAIN
A FAVOURABLE TRADE BALANCE ( EXPORTING
MORE THAN ITS IMPORT)Trade Theory-Global Business Management 10
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LIMITATIONS
In modern economy a
nation holding gold will lose the competitive
price advantage
Mercantilism is expensive to implement because it requires complex
navigation laws that are difficult
to enforce
Overlooked other sources of country’s wealth like capital &
skilled work force
Economic regulation tends to result in
illegal activity or smuggling
ABSOLUTE ADVANTAGE THEORY
Adam Smith: Wealth of Nations (1776) argued:Capability of one country to produce
more of a product with the same amount of input than another country
A country should produce only goods where it is most efficient, and trade for those goods where it is not efficient
Trade between countries is, therefore, beneficial
Assumes there is an absolute balance among nations
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CONTD..
Destroys the mercantilist idea since there are
gains to be had by both
countries party to an exchange
Questions the objective
of national governments
to acquire wealth through
restrictive trade policies
Efficient production
of goods leads to
potential well being of
people
Both exporting &
the importing
country gain by engaging
in trade
LIMITATIONS
Fails to explain how free trade can be advantageous to two countries when one country can produce all goods
Country not having absolute advantage can’t gain from free trade
Differences in climatic conditions & natural resources won’t lead to absolute advantage
What if the country is bad at making everything?
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COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE THEORY
David Ricardo: (1817) argued:A country should produce only goods where
it is most efficient & import those goods in which it’s less efficient
Even if a country is efficient in producing all the goods, still trade between two countries will prove beneficial
Assumes that a country does not have to be best at anything to gain from trade
Country gains in those activities which it can produce at world prices even though it may not have absolute advantage
LIMITATIONS • Ricardo's Theory was based on only two
countries & only two commodities, but international trade is among many countries with many commodities• Assumption of full employment helps theory to
explain trade on the basis of comparative advantage. Cost of production, even in terms of labour, may change as countries, at different levels of employment move towards full employment• Another serious defect is that transportation
costs are not considered in determining comparative cost differences• Ricardian theory is not applicable to developing
countries as these countries are nowhere near to full employment
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FACTOR ENDOWMENT THEORY
Trade theory holding that countries produce & export those goods that require resources (factors) that are abundant (and thus cheapest) & import those goods that require resources that are in short supply
Example: Australia – lot of land and a small
population (relative to its size) So what should it export and
import?
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CONTD..
1.Assumes that production function are identical for all countries
2.Assumes that there is no unemployment
4-19
TWO FACTORS OF PRODUCTION
•Labour
•Capital
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LIMITATIONS
Assumes that the production functional are identical for all the countries
Assumes that there is no
unemployment
Had poor predictive
power
Considered capital as
homogeneous
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•Trade theory holding that a country will begin by exporting its product & later undertake foreign direct investment as product moves through its lifecycle•As products mature, both location of sales optimal production changes•Affects direction & flow of imports & exports•Globalization & integration of economy makes this theory less valid
PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE THEORY ( R .VERON ( 1966))
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•Increased emphasis on technology’s impact on product cost
•Explained international investment
•Limitations•Most appropriate for technology-based products•Some products not easily characterized by stages of maturity•Most relevant to products produced through mass production
PRODUCT CYCLE AND TRADE IMPLICATION
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HECKSCHER OHLIN THEORY
Given by Filip Heckscher Explained link between factor
endowments & comparative advantage of nations
Country has comparative advantage in those factors which make use of abundant factor
Free trade equalizes factor prices Trade gains are greatest between
countries with greatest difference in economic structure
Eli Filip Heckscher (1879-1952)
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LIMITATIONS
1.Based on over simplified assumptions & is unrealistic
2.Gives undue importance to supply & less importance to demand
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LEONTIEF PARADOX
Given by Wassily Leontief in 1973 Found out that U.S. exports were
apparently labour intensive & imports capital intensive
Findings were contradictory to predictions of Heckscher-Ohlin theorem
Stimulated enormous amount of empirical & theoretical research on subject
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LIMITATIONS
1.Leontief considered only capital & labour
inputs, leaving out natural resource inputs
2.But in reality capital & natural resources are
used together in production
PORTER’S DIAMOND MODEL
Developed by Michael Porter in his book ‘The Competitive Advantage of Nations’
Explains why particular industries become competitive in particular locations
Competitiveness of one company is related to the performance of other companies
Demand, factor conditions, government policies help companies create competitive advantage
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LIMITATIONS
1.In his book, Porter was optimistic about future of
Korea & less optimistic about future of Singapore
2.It was basically a home based concept & ignored
the nature of multinational activities
NEW TRADE THEORY
Collection of economic models in International trade which focuses on role of increasing returns to scale
This theory relaxed the assumption of constant returns to scale
Emphasized firm level differences in same industry of the same country
Also emphasized the growing trend of intermediate goods
Assumed that all firms are symmetrical, meaning they have the same production co-efficient
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LIMITATIONS
1.Can only treat a situation when there are many firms with different production
processes
2.Assumes that all firms are symmetrical, which
may not be true in every case
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