Question
Consider two neighboring island countries, Botoga and Fiatstan. Each has 72,000 labor hours available per week that it can use to produce jeans, wheat, or
Consider two neighboring island countries, Botoga and Fiatstan. Each has 72,000 labor hours available per week that it can use to produce jeans, wheat, or a combination of both. The following table shows the amount of labor hours required to produce 1 pair of jeans or 1 bushel of wheat.
Country | Jeans | Wheat |
---|---|---|
(Labor hours per pair) | (Labor hours per bushel) | |
Botoga | 80 | 16 |
Fiatstan | 24 | 12 |
Botoga has an absolute advantage in the production of jeans, andBotoga has an absolute advantage in the production of wheat.
Initially, suppose Botoga uses 54,000 hours of labor per week to produce jeans and 18,000 hours per week to produce wheat, while Fiatstan uses 18,000 hours of labor per week to produce jeans and 54,000 hours per week to produce wheat. Assume there are no other countries willing to trade goods, so in the absence of trade between these two countries, each country consumes the amount of jeans and wheat it produces.
Botogas opportunity cost of producing 1 pair of jeans is1/5 bushel of wheat, and Fiatstans opportunity cost of producing 1 pair of jeans is1/2 bushel of wheat. Therefore,Botoga has a comparative advantage in the production of jeans, andFiatstan has a comparative advantage in the production of wheat.
When neither country specializes, the total production of jeans is
pairs per week, and the total production of wheat is
bushels per week.
Suppose that Botoga completely specializes in the production of the good in which it has a comparative advantage, producing only that good. It will produce
. Suppose also that Fiatstan does not specialize and uses 54,000 hours of labor to produce jeans and 18,000 hours of labor to produce wheat. It will produce
pairs of jeans and
bushels of wheat.
Suppose Botoga and Fiatstan agree to trade with each other, exchanging 1,100 pairs of jeans for 3,300 bushels of wheat. In particular, Botoga will export the goods it produces, and Fiatstan will export the goods that Botoga does not produce.
With trade, Botoga will jeans and wheat. Fiatstan will jeans and wheat.
When Botoga specializes and Fiatstan still produces the combination of goods using 54,000 hours of labor to produce jeans and 18,000 hours of labor to produce wheat, the total production of jeans becomes
pairs per week, and the total production of wheat becomes
bushels per week.
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