Question
1. New Zealand has a labor force of 3,000,000 workers and 600,000 hectares of arable land, while Namibia has labor force of 1,200,000 people and
1. New Zealand has a labor force of 3,000,000 workers and 600,000 hectares of arable land, while Namibia has labor force of 1,200,000 people and 800,000 hectares of arable land.
a. Is New Zealand labor-abundant compared to Namibia? Is New Zealand land-abundant compared to Namibia?
b. If cattle are land-intensive and shirts are labor-intensive, what is the Heckscher-Ohlin prediction for the pattern of trade (which country exports which product) between New Zealand and Namibia?
2. For this problem, need information on the total land area of countries, the % of land area that is arable, and the proven oil reserves of a country. The World Bank compiles data on land and the Energy Information Administration provides oil reserve data:
Arable land: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.ARBL.ZS
Total land area: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.TOTL.K2
Proven oil reserves: https://www.eia.gov/international/data/world/petroleum-and-other-liquids/more-petroleum-and-other-liquids-data?pd=5&p=000g000000000000000008&u=0&f=A&v=mapbubble&a=-&i=none&vo=value&&t=C&g=00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001&l=249-ruvvvvvfvtvnvv1vrvvvvfvvvvvvfvvvou20evvvvvvvvvvnvvvs0008&s=315532800000&e=1609459200000
Focus on two countries: Nigeria and Spain.
a. Compute the ratio of proven oil reserves (measure of natural resources) to arable land (in square kilometers) in Nigeria and Spain. Which country is land-abundant? Which country is resource-abundant? Please use data from the year 2018.
b. Suppose there are two products: citrus and oil. Citrus is land-intensive and oil is resource-intensive. According to the Heckscher-Ohlin theory of trade, which country would export citrus? Which country would export oil?
c. Examine the exports of each country using the following data compiled by MIT:
Nigeria: https://oec.world/en/profile/country/nga
Spain: https://oec.world/en/profile/country/esp
Do the exports of each country generally match the predictions of the Heckscher-Ohlin theory of trade? Why or why not?
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