Comparative and absolute advantage

Loc and Ashima are farmers. Each one owns an 18-acre plot of land. The following table shows the amount of watermelon and zucchini each farmer can produce per year on a given acre. Each farmer chooses whether to devote all acres to producing watermelon or zucchini or to produce watermelon on some of the land and zucchini on the rest.

	Watermelon	Zucchini
(Pounds per acre)	(Pounds per acre)
Loc	28	7
Ashima	18	6

On the following graph, use the blue line (circle symbol) to plot Loc's production possibilities frontier (PPF), and use the purple line (diamond symbol) to plot Ashima's PPF.

Loc's PPFAshima's PPF09018027036045054063072081090018016214412610890725436180ZUCCHINI (Pounds)WATERMELON (Pounds)

has an absolute advantage in the production of watermelon, and has an absolute advantage in the production of zucchini.

Loc's opportunity cost of producing 1 pound of zucchini is

pounds of watermelon, whereas Ashima's opportunity cost of producing 1 pound of zucchini is

pounds of watermelon. Because Loc has a opportunity cost of producing zucchini than Ashima, has a comparative advantage in the production of zucchini, and has a comparative advantage in the production of watermelon.