The RCA Balassa Index: A Comparative Advantage In Commodities, Industries And Prices

In the International Trade simulation, you are the Trade Representative of a small country called Rodamia. You are introduced to international trade--the theory of comparative advantage and the impact of tariffs, quotas, and dumping on international trade (Applying International Trade Concepts, 2003). In the first segment, it is your job to evaluate what products to produce within the country and what products to import based on the Production Possibility Frontier (PPF). Due

Due to the differences between the countries in its profitable fundamentals; the International Trade occurs. The contracts between the countries consider as the primary driver of the global exchange. These contracts concluded on the basis of the countries beneficial elements and advantages. Each international trade between the countries depends on numerous focal points of this exchange process. The economics and producers effectiveness measured by absolute advantage for these economics/producers. For example; if the producer needs lesser amount of contributions/inputs to provide specific product, then this producer has an absolute advantage in producing

Comparative advantage in economics is when a country can produce a good at a lower opportunity cost relative to other producers. It is because of this theory that output will increase because a producers within a country specializes Countries will gain the ability to maximize their efficiency and their labor force which facilitates mass-production of products, resulting in higher profits and international trade. This is because the economies of scale reduces overall cost, by producing more units. If the two countries moved towards protectionism and attempted to become self-sufficient then the production of goods would then

However, it was apparent to economists that nations with similar resource endowments exchanged similar products with each other. Economists felt that trade explained solely by comparative advantage was an incomplete analysis of international trade. Furthermore, since the classical trade theory was unable to explain intraindustry trade, economists decided to expand on the classical trade theory by creating a new theory of trade (Carbaugh, 2011). The new theory states that economies of scale provide incentive for a country to specialize in a particular product (Carbaugh, 2011). Furthermore, based on economies of scale, nations with similar factor endowments will trade with each other as sometimes it is beneficial (Carbaugh, 2011). Arguments stemming from this new trade theory puts the economic case for free trade in doubt.

Which is cost difference determines the patterns of international trade. Absolute advantage is trade benefits when each country is at least cost producer of one of the goods being traded. In the 1800s, David Ricardo developed the theory of comparative advantage to measure gains from trades. This theory is based on comparative advantage and it states each nation should specialize in production of those goods for which its relatively more efficient with a lower opportunity cost.

The country can maximize their wealth by putting the resources in the most competitive industries. Government created comparative advantage rather than free trade because now easier moves the production processes and the machines into countries that can produce more goods (Yeager & Tuereck, 1984). However, many countries now move to new trade theory suggests the ability firms to limit the number of competitors associated with economic scale (reduction of costs with a large scale of output) (Krugman, 1992). The comparative advantage occurs when two-way trade in identical products, it will useful where economic scale is important, but it will create problem with this model. As a result, government must intervene in international trade for protection to domestic firms (Krugman, 1990)

Some of the countries with surplus commodities may dumb them on international markets at a low price. Under such conditions, some of the efficient industries can might find difficulties in competing for long period. Furthermore, countries whose economies are mostly rural will face unfavourable terms of trade. For example, ration of export prices to import prices. Which means that their export income is more smaller than their import payments the make for high value added imports, as it leads to subsequently large foreign debt levels.

Trade freedom is a highly important factor in determining economic freedom and wealth. No one single country has the resources required to sustain the current standards of living in developed or developing nations. Trade requires specialization according to a country’s comparative advantage. Specialization allows the most efficient and effective use of a country’s scarce resources, whether that be natural resources or labor resources. The Index shows the economic benefits of specialization and trade.

Since World War II, International trade has gained a rapidly increasing speed due to sustained and high-speed economic development in the world. In other words, countries’ degrees of openness and total volumes of import and export have enormously increased. In this paper, I will focus on the effects of accession to the WTO on textile trade between China and U.S, test comparative advantage theory (the main idea is that, under some conditions, when two countries start free trade, a country will produce and export the good which is in comparative advantage due to lower opportunity cost). Because of textile industries’ labor-intensive property, as the country with the largest amount of labor force, China is likely to have a comparative advantage in textile production. Therefore, it can be reasonable to conjecture that an increase in China’s export of textiles would occur after trade barrier eliminations on account of its WTO membership. In order to test my predictions, I will use regression analysis to test several variables such as Balassa Index (measure comparative advantages), Openness Index and total volume of textiles trade, then explore whether the WTO membership influences textile trade between these two countries.

Companies tend to be most competitive when they can benefit from comparative advantage in their country of origin. According to the Heckscher-Ohlin model which incorporates realistic production characteristics into Ricardo’s (1817) theory of comparative advantage, “capital abundant countries will export capital intensive goods.” (Suranovic, 2006)

A country is said to be more productive than another country, if it can produce more output (goods) for a given quantity of input, such as labour or energy inputs. An example is that there are only two countries, Australia and Japan. They both produce computers and wine, and only one factor of production, labour. Japan produces 6 computers for every 1 bottle of wine, where as Australia produces only 4 computers for every 3 bottles of wine. This suggests that Australia should export some of its wine to Japan, and Japan should export some of its computers to Australia. Australia has an absolute advantage over Japan, when producing wine, and Japan has an absolute advantage over Australia, when producing computers (Gandolfo, 1998).

The concept of absolute advantage is one of the most fundamental areas of concern in the study of economics. In its basic meaning, absolute advantage refers to the ability of one individual or party to produce more of a particular good or service than other competitors given the same amount of resources. In this regard, absolute advantage becomes a very important aspect in the concept of international trade as it clearly defines the different areas where countries should specialize in order to maximize their productivity and enhance international trade. The principle of absolute advantage was first elucidated by Adam Smith in his study of international trade using labor and capital as the only factor inputs(Free, 2010).

The information in the table highlights the impact of Asian foreign markets and the growing. China and Japan have been indifferently on the top position and has seen to takeover Unites States in the years stated (dfat.gov.au., 2016). There is no percentage, so the drawback lies in accurate comparison between countries amongst the distribution of export markets.

This study was conducted to (a) determine which market is the most dynamic for Thai exports, (b) measure the intensity of trade between Thailand and its regional trading partners and (c) test whether the modified Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index, which was developed based on the gravity trade model, is applicable for measuring Thailand’s competitiveness resulting from its border trade policy. The RCA index is typically applied based on three conceptual points. First, the trade balance index (TBI) can be used to indicate whether GMS countries are net exporters or importers. Second, the trade balance is typically decomposed by product and country (i.e., bilateral trade balance). Relevance refers to the degree of concentration of trade imbalances

Comparative advantage is a principle developed by David Ricardo in the early 19th century to explain the benefits of mutual trade (Carbaugh, 2008). Many underlying assumptions of comparative advantage depend on states of economic equilibrium and an absence of economy of scale. In reality, economies are dynamic and subject to innovation and interference; which has led to revised assumptions of return and competition (Krugman, 1987). These factors have created questions of free trade and governmental participation in an economy by the development of strategic trade policies. These new concepts do not replace the theory of comparative advantage; however, they further explain how trade can benefit a country's economy (Krugman, 1987).