Chapter 2Labor Productivity（劳动生产率） and Comparative ....pptVIP

Chapter 2 Labor Productivity（劳动生产率） and Comparative Advantage（比较优势）: The Ricardian Model （李嘉图模型）;Why we study Ricardian model first. Ricardian model is basic, classical and most important one in theory of international trade. We can say that the modern international trade theory comes from the Ricardian Model.;David Ricardo ;David himself had little formal education and went to work for his father at the age of 14. However, when, at the age of 21, he married a Quaker (against his parents wishes) he was disinherited and so set up on his own as a stockbroker. ;He was phenomenally successful at this and was able to retire at 42 and concentrate on his writings and politics. Ricardo got elected into the British parliament in 1819 ; ;一、Introduction;Countries engage in international trade for two basic reasons: They are different from each other in terms of climate, land, capital, labor, and technology. For example, China and U.S. They try to achieve scale economies in production, such as Boeing and airbus. ;The next four chapters develop tools to help us to understand how differences between countries give rise to trade between them and why this trade is mutually beneficial. The essential concept in this analysis is that of comparative advantage.;The Ricardian model is based on technological differences across countries. These technological differences are reflected in differences in the productivity of labor.; 1、The story about the Valentine’s day(情人节) in the textbook The case of winter roses offers an excellent example of the reasons why international trade can be beneficial . ;Hypothetical changes in production;2、Absolute Advantage A country has an absolute advantage in a production of a good if it has a lower unit labor requirement(aLW 单位产品劳动投入) than the foreign country in this good.;Table 1: Technology in the U.S. and the Japan Unit Labor DemandsCountry Wheat