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International Trade - Theory and Policy, 2010a

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Sometimes cross-country wage comparisons are made <strong>and</strong> it is suggested that firms in a high-wage<br />

country cannot compete with firms in low-wage countries. However, wage comparisons of this kind are<br />

not sufficient in this model to determine who will produce what or whether trade can be advantageous.<br />

Instead, what matters is relative wage comparisons. In this model, a country will tend to specialize in the<br />

good in which it has the greatest real wage advantage. Thus if<br />

1aLC1a∗LC>1aLW1a∗LW,<br />

then the United States has relatively higher real wages with respect to cheese purchases than it does in<br />

wine purchases. When trade opens, the United States will specialize in its comparative advantage good,<br />

which, by rearranging the above inequality, can easily be shown to be cheese.<br />

Effects of Free <strong>Trade</strong> on Real Wages<br />

Suppose two countries, the United States <strong>and</strong> France, move from autarky to free trade. If the United<br />

States has the comparative advantage in cheese production, then aLCaLW

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