Theories of international trade. Theory of comparative advantage Author of the theory of comparative advantage in international trade

Based on the benefits it brings to participating countries. Theory international trade gives an idea of ​​what is at the basis of this gain from foreign trade, or what determines the direction of foreign trade flows. International trade serves as a tool through which countries, by developing their specialization, can increase the productivity of available resources and thus increase the volume of goods and services they produce, and improve the well-being of the population.

Many well-known economists dealt with international trade issues. The main theories of international trade - Mercantilist theory, A. Smith's Theory of absolute advantages, D. Ricardo's and D. S. Mill's Theory of comparative advantages, Heckscher-Ohlin's theory, Leontief's Paradox, Theory life cycle goods, M. Porter's Theory, Rybchinsky's Theorem, as well as Samuelson's and Stolper's Theory.

Mercantilist theory.

Mercantilism is a system of views of economists of the XV-XVII centuries, focused on the active intervention of the state in economic activity. Representatives of the direction: Thomas Maine, Antoine de Montchretien, William Stafford. The term was proposed by Adam Smith, who criticized the writings of the mercantilists. The mercantilist theory of international trade arose during the period of primitive accumulation of capital and the great geographical discoveries, based on the idea that the presence of gold reserves is the basis of the prosperity of the nation. Foreign trade, the mercantilists believed, should be focused on obtaining gold, since in the case of a simple commodity exchange, ordinary goods, being used, cease to exist, and gold accumulates in the country and can be reused for international exchange.

Trading was considered as a zero-sum game, when the gain of one participant automatically means the loss of the other, and vice versa. To obtain the maximum benefit, it was proposed to increase state intervention and control over the state of foreign trade. The trade policy of the mercantilists, called protectionism, was to create barriers to international trade that protect domestic producers from foreign competition, stimulate exports and restrict imports by introducing customs duties on foreign goods and receiving gold and silver in return for their goods.

The main provisions of the Mercantilist theory of international trade:

The need to maintain an active trade balance states (excess of exports over imports);

Recognition of the benefits of attracting gold and other precious metals to the country in order to increase its well-being;

Money is a stimulus to trade, since an increase in the mass of money is considered to increase the volume of merchandise;

Welcome protectionism aimed at importing raw materials and semi-finished products and exporting finished products;

Restriction on the export of luxury goods, as it leads to the leakage of gold from the state.

Adam Smith's theory of absolute advantage.

In his work An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, in a polemic with the mercantilists, Smith formulated the idea that countries are interested in the free development of international trade, since they can benefit from it regardless of whether they are exporters or importers. Each country should specialize in the production of the product where it has an absolute advantage - a benefit based on the different magnitude of production costs in individual countries participating in foreign trade. The refusal to produce goods in which countries do not have absolute advantages, and the concentration of resources on the production of other goods lead to an increase in total production volumes, an increase in the exchange of products of their labor between countries.

Adam Smith's theory of absolute advantage suggests that a country's real wealth consists of the goods and services available to its citizens. If any country can produce this or that product more and cheaper than other countries, then it has an absolute advantage. Some countries may produce goods more efficiently than others. The country's resources flow into profitable industries, as the country cannot compete in unprofitable industries. This leads to an increase in the productivity of the country, as well as the qualification of the workforce; long periods of production of homogeneous products provide incentives for the production of more effective methods work.

Natural advantages for a single country: climate; territory; resources. Acquired advantages for a single country: production technology, that is, the ability to manufacture a variety of products.

The theory of comparative advantage D. Ricardo and D.S. Mill.

In his Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, Ricardo showed that the principle of absolute advantage is only a special case. general rule, and substantiated the theory of comparative (relative) advantage. When analyzing the directions for the development of foreign trade, two circumstances should be taken into account: firstly, economic resources - natural, labor, etc. - are distributed unevenly among countries, and secondly, efficient production various goods requires various technologies or combinations of resources.

The advantages that countries have are not given once and for all, D. Ricardo believed, therefore, even countries that have absolutely more high levels production costs can benefit from trade exchange. It is in the interests of each country to specialize in production in which it has the greatest advantage and the least weakness, and for which not absolute, but relative benefit is the greatest - such is the law of comparative advantage of D. Ricardo.

According to Ricardo, total output will be greatest when each good is produced by the country that has the lowest opportunity (opportunity) costs. Thus, relative advantage is a benefit based on lower opportunity (opportunity) costs in the exporting country. Hence, as a result of specialization and trade, both countries participating in the exchange will benefit. An example in this case is the exchange of English cloth for Portuguese wine, which benefits both countries, even if the absolute costs of production of both cloth and wine are lower in Portugal than in England.

Subsequently, D.S. Mill, in his Foundations of Political Economy, explained the price at which exchange takes place. According to Mill, the price of exchange is set by the laws of supply and demand at such a level that the aggregate of each country's exports pays for the aggregate of its imports - such is the law of international value.

The Heckscher-Ohlin Theory.

This theory of scientists from Sweden, which appeared in the 30s of the twentieth century, refers to the neoclassical concepts of international trade, since these economists did not adhere to the labor theory of value, considering capital and land to be productive along with labor. Therefore, the reason for their trade is the different availability of factors of production in the countries participating in international trade.

The main provisions of their theory boiled down to the following: firstly, countries tend to export those goods for the manufacture of which the factors of production available in the country are used in excess, and, conversely, to import goods, the production of which requires relatively rare factors; secondly, in international trade there is a tendency to equalize "factorial prices"; thirdly, the export of goods can be replaced by the movement of factors of production across national borders.

The neoclassical concept of Heckscher - Ohlin turned out to be convenient for explaining the reasons for the development of trade between developed and developing countries, when machinery and equipment were imported into developing countries in exchange for raw materials coming to developed countries. However, not all phenomena of international trade fit into the Heckscher-Ohlin theory, since today the center of gravity of international trade is gradually shifting to the mutual trade of "similar" goods between "similar" countries.

Leontief's paradox.

These are the studies of an American economist who questioned the provisions of the Heckscher-Ohlin theory and showed that in the post-war period the US economy specialized in those types of production that required relatively more labor rather than capital. The essence of Leontief's paradox was that the share of capital-intensive goods in exports could grow, while the share of labor-intensive goods could decrease. In fact, when analyzing the US trade balance, the share of labor-intensive goods did not decrease.

The resolution of the Leontief paradox was that the labor intensity of goods imported by the United States is quite high, but the price of labor in the cost of goods is much lower than in US exports. The capital intensity of labor in the United States is significant, together with high labor productivity, this leads to a significant impact on the price of labor in export deliveries. The share of labor-intensive supplies in US exports is growing, confirming Leontief's paradox. This is due to the growth in the share of services, labor costs and the structure of the US economy. This leads to an increase in the labor intensity of the entire American economy, not excluding exports.

Product Life Cycle Theory.

It was put forward and substantiated by R. Vernoy, C. Kindelberger and L. Wels. In their opinion, the product from the moment it enters the market until it leaves it goes through a cycle consisting of five stages:

Product development. The company finds and implements new idea goods. During this time, sales are zero and costs rise.

Bringing goods to market. There is no profit due to the high costs of marketing activities, sales volume is growing slowly;

Quickly conquer the market, increase profits;

Maturity. Sales growth is slowing down, as the bulk of consumers have already been attracted. The level of profit remains unchanged or decreases due to an increase in the cost of marketing activities to protect the product from competition;

decline. Decline in sales and shrinking profits.

Theory of M. Porter.

This theory introduces the concept of a country's competitiveness. It is national competitiveness, according to Porter, that determines the success or failure in specific industries and the place that the country occupies in the world economy. National competitiveness is determined by the ability of the industry. At the heart of explaining a country's competitive advantage is the home country's role in stimulating renewal and improvement (that is, in stimulating the production of innovations).

Government measures to maintain competitiveness:

Government impact on factor conditions;

Government influence on demand conditions;

Government impact on related and supporting industries;

The impact of government on the strategy, structure and rivalry of firms.

A serious incentive to success in the global market is sufficient competition in the domestic market. Artificial dominance of enterprises through state support, from Porter's point of view, is a negative decision that leads to waste and inefficient use of resources. The theoretical premises of M. Porter served as the basis for developing recommendations at the state level to increase the competitiveness of foreign trade goods in Australia, New Zealand and the USA in the 90s of the twentieth century.

Rybchinsky's theorem. The theorem consists in the assertion that if the value of one of the two factors of production increases, then in order to maintain constant prices for goods and factors, it is necessary to increase the production of those products that intensively use this increased factor, and reduce the production of the rest of the products that intensively use the fixed factor. In order for the prices of goods to remain constant, the prices of factors of production must remain unchanged.

The prices of factors of production can only remain constant if the ratio of the factors used in the two industries remains constant. In the case of an increase in one factor, this can only happen if there is an increase in production in the industry in which this factor is intensively used, and a decrease in production in another industry, which will lead to the release of a fixed factor that will become available for use along with a growing factor in an expanding industry. .

Theory of Samuelson and Stolper.

In the middle of the XX century. (1948), American economists P. Samuelson and W. Stolper improved the Heckscher-Ohlin theory, imagining that in the case of the homogeneity of production factors, the identity of technology, perfect competition and full mobility of goods, international exchange equalizes the price of factors of production between countries. The authors base their concept on the Ricardian model with the additions of Heckscher and Ohlin and consider trade not just as a mutually beneficial exchange, but also as a means to reduce the gap in the level of development between countries.

The evolution of theories of international trade is characterized by the following stages.

The theory of absolute advantage (A. Smith). A. Smith argued that the exchange is favorable for each country and that each country finds an absolute advantage in it. The situation of absolute advantage is formulated as follows: each country has a good that it can produce more per unit cost than other countries.

It follows from the theory that if any country can supply us with some commodity at a lower price, then it is much more profitable to buy it abroad. Instead, we should offer a product in the production of which our country has an absolute advantage. This assumes that each country, by value, will export as many goods as it imports, if international trade is free from restrictions.

The theory of comparative advantage (D. Ricardo). The theory is based on the idea that there are differences between countries in terms of production. In accordance with the law of comparative advantage, a country specializes in the production and export of those goods that are relatively cheaper to it, and imports of those that are relatively cheaper in other countries than at home.

The location of production between countries should follow the law of comparative costs - each country specializes in the production of those goods for which its relative costs are lower, although in absolute terms they may be higher than in other countries. A country's possession of advantages that enable relatively lower production costs is a prerequisite for gaining a strong market position.

D. Ricardo shows the extent to which an exchange between two countries is possible and desirable, highlighting the criteria for international specialization. The price zone within which international exchange is beneficial for each subject is defined, according to Ricardo, as follows: the ratio of prices in the world market is in the range between the ratio of production costs in a given country and the ratio of costs in the rest of the world before the establishment of trade relations.

The theory of international value (J. St. Mill) shows that there is a price that optimizes the exchange of goods between countries. The price of exchange is set by the law of supply and demand at such a level that the aggregate of each country's exports pays for the aggregate of its imports.

The theory of distribution of factors of production (E. Heckscher, B. Olin) suggests that national production differences are determined by the different endowments of production factors - labor, land and capital, as well as different internal needs for certain goods.

E. Heckscher and B. Olin formulated the following theorem: countries export products of intensive use of excess factors and import products of intensive use of factors that are scarce for them. Thus, the explanations for the comparative advantages that a country has in relation to certain products are at the level of endowment with factors of production.

The theory considers international trade not just as a mutually beneficial exchange, but also as a means by which the gap in the level of development between countries can be reduced.

Leontief's paradox. Using the Heckscher-Ohlin theorem, V. Leontiev showed that the American economy in the postwar period specialized in those types of production that required relatively more labor than capital. In other words, US exports were more labor-intensive and less capital-intensive than imports. This conclusion contradicted all pre-existing ideas about the US economy. By all accounts, it has always been characterized by an excess of capital, and according to the Heckscher-Ohlin theorem, one would expect the US to export rather than import highly capital-intensive goods.

The explanation for the paradox is that the quality of labor-intensive but high-tech export products is so high that the price compensates for the costs and provides a large profit.

Thus, the theory of comparative advantage was further developed and began to include the concept scientific technical progress and uneven distribution between countries.

The theory of foreign trade multiplier (J. M. Keynes). The effect that foreign trade has on the dynamics of national income, employment, consumption and investment activity is characterized by a quite definite quantitative dependence for each country. This effect can be calculated and expressed as a multiplier (multiplier).

The foreign trade multiplier is a factor greater than one that measures the multiplier effect of a hard positive feedback (exports) on the output (national income):

where k is the share of exports in the country's national income.

Initially, export orders directly increase output and, consequently, wages in the industries fulfilling this order. Secondary consumer spending is then set in motion.

According to the foreign trade multiplier theory, the effect that foreign trade has on national income is calculated as follows:

where E - export;

D is the increase in the national income of the country.

Modern Western theories of the international division of labor are divided into two main groups:

different versions of the concept of “interdependence”;

Concepts of interdependence have gained currency since the mid-1970s. They are the official doctrines of a number of industrialized countries and international economic organizations.

K. Nuwenhuze (Holland) when substantiating interdependence, refers to environmental factors, among which he highlights the instability of the environment, limitedness and exhaustibility natural resources Earth.

Since, in his opinion, there is a dependence of developed countries on developing countries in raw materials, and developing countries depend on advanced ones in engineering and technology, there is their mutual dependence on each other and “mutual pressure”. Based on this, one should build international division labor.

R. Cooper (USA) identifies four types of interdependence:

structural (when countries are so interconnected and open to each other that changes in the economy of one country will inevitably affect another);

interdependence of economic policy goals;

interdependence external factors economic development;

political interdependence.

The theory quite positively and clearly highlights the trends of increasing interdependence of countries in the system of the world economy.

Concepts of interdependence are general in nature and are the starting point for theories of "modernization" of the international division of labor.

The main idea of ​​modernizing the international division of labor is that developing countries need to abandon the policy of protectionism and widely attract foreign capital to the economy. At the same time, it is necessary to establish a new sectoral focus of developing countries. They are encouraged to specialize in the production of labor-intensive, material-intensive and standardized products for export primarily to developed countries.

Developed countries should focus their interests on those sectors of the economy where there is a large share of highly skilled labor and intensive scientific and technological progress.

the least developed among the developing countries need to focus on the production of labor-intensive products and the supply of raw materials to the world market (the most underdeveloped countries do not fall into this scheme at all);

the "newly industrialized countries" of Southeast Asia should produce goods that require comparatively skilled labor and modern technology;

developed countries need to specialize in the production of capital-intensive and high-tech products.

This theory is consistently implemented in practice.

World market: concept and characteristics

The world market is a sphere of exchange based on the international division of labor between countries that are interconnected by foreign trade and other forms of international economic relations.

Under the foreign market understand the totality of foreign markets in relation to the market of a given country. That is foreign market always less than the world market by the value of a given national market.

The external market has both geographical (country) and sectoral structure.

All external (in relation to this) country markets interact with each other and with the world market as a whole. The consequence of this is that each national market has a certain import component, which is determined by the share market demand satisfied through imports, and the national industry has an export quota, determined by the share of export deliveries in manufactured products.

Despite the intensification of integration processes, national markets remain separated from each other by national borders and regulatory systems of national economies.

Common elements of national economic regulation systems are:

the presence of state territorial borders with their special regime for the passage of imported and exported goods and services;

regulation of the movement of goods across the border through customs duties, quantitative restrictions on imports and exports;

the use of a system of non-tariff obstacles in the form of special national standards for the quality of goods, their environmental friendliness, and safety.

The sectoral structure of the foreign market is determined by the belonging of the goods to a particular sector, industry or sub-sector of social production.

The world commodity market is a set of national markets of states, relations between which are mediated by international trade in goods, including trade in licenses and services, and international movement of capital.

The material basis for the formation of any world commodity market is the international division of labor, while the national commodity market is based on the social division of labor within the country. The consequence of this is the relative independence of any world commodity market, which is manifested in the peculiarities of the dynamics and structure of development, in the presence of a high level of concentration of “unified” customer requirements for the product, the conditions of its operation and service.

The main parameter of the world commodity market is its capacity.

The capacity of the world commodity market should be understood as that part of the total market demand of all countries, which is satisfied by external sources, that is, imports. The size of world imports of a given product (usually per year) can be approximated as the capacity of the world commodity market.

The capacity of the national commodity market is the volume of goods sold on it during a certain period (usually a year). It is calculated on the basis of industrial and foreign trade statistics in physical units or by value:

C = P + R - E + I + D - M - Eo + Io,

where C is the capacity of the national commodity market (total consumption of a given commodity in a given country's market);

P is the national production of a given commodity in a given country;

R - remainder inventory in the warehouses of manufacturers in a given country;

E - direct export;

I - direct import;

D - decrease (M - increase) in stocks of goods from sellers and consumers in a given country;

Eo - indirect export (goods used in another product and exported abroad as part of it - for example, electric motors in machine tools);

Io - indirect imports (products that are part of more complex mechanisms imported into the country).

The import capacity of the national market for a particular product for the year is measured by the size of direct and indirect imports, to which is added (or subtracted) the difference in the available imported goods from consumers or importers compared to the previous year.

Sources of information about the market capacity are statistical, industry and company directories, industry and general economic journals.

1. Determine what types of activities Aristotle attributed

A - to economics: B - to chrematistics:

1. large trade - B

2. speculation - B

3. farming - A

4. petty trade - A

5. usury - B

6. craft - A

2. Arrange in the correct chronological order:

1. the emergence of the labor theory of value - 3

2. emergence of the quantity theory of money - 2

3. emergence of limiting analysis - 4

4. emergence of neoclassical theory - 5

5. the emergence of the theory and practice of counter-cyclical regulation of the economy - 6

6. selection of two sides of the goods - 1

3. Determine what is characteristic of the methodology of economic thought in medieval Western Europe:

1. assessment of economic phenomena from the standpoint of Christian morality - +

2. scholastic method - +

3. normative method - +

4. institutional method

5. statistical methods

4. Arrange economic currents and schools in the order of their occurrence:

1. neoclassical school - 4

2. physiocracy - 1

3. Marxism - 2

4. neoclassical synthesis - 6

5. Keynesianism - 5

6. marginalism - 3

5. Determine what is typical for: A - early mercantilism; B - late mercantilism

1. active trade balance policy - B

3. active cash balance policy - A

4. spending laws - A

5. the predominance of economic (indirect) methods of influencing the economy - B

6. patronage of the development of domestic industry - B

6. Determine which of the following refers to mercantilism:

1. study of the question of economic crises

2. macroeconomic approach - +

3. using the method of logical abstraction

4. Preferential study of the sphere of production

5. study of the sphere of circulation - +

6. microeconomic approach

7. empirical research method - +

7. Arrange in the correct chronological order:

1. substantiation of anti-crisis regulation of the economy - 5

2. development of the main provisions of economic liberalism - 2

3. formulating the laws of rational consumption of a limited amount of goods - 4

4. emergence of the idea of ​​specific development different countries - 3

5. development of the main provisions of the policy of protectionism - 1

8. Set what is typical for: A - mercantilism, B - classical school

1. the sphere of circulation is mainly studied - A

2. . wealth is created in all areas of production - B

3. active state intervention in the economy - A

4. wealth - reserves of precious metals - A

5. free trading - B

6. causal research method - B

7. protectionism - A

8. the main area of ​​the economy that contributes to the increase in the country's wealth - foreign trade - A

9. Determine which of the following applies to the classical school as a whole:

1. study imperfect competition

2. universality of economic laws - +

3. the main condition for market equilibrium is the equality of savings and investment

4. equality of contracting parties - +

5. high wage mobility - +

6. The economy of each country develops according to its own laws

7. the concept of socio-economic formations

8. full awareness of all market participants - +

9. search for optimal economic behavior

10. Put in the correct chronological order:

1. transformation of the economy into an independent branch of research - 2

2. the emergence of macroeconomics as a branch of economic science - 5

3. the emergence of microeconomics as a branch of economic science - 4

4. an attempt to combine micro- and macroeconomics in one theory - 6

5. formation of economic theory as a science - 3

6. first attempts at comprehension economic activity - 1

11. Arrange economic currents and schools in the order of their occurrence:

1. neoliberalism - 5

2. historical school - 3

3. mercantilism - 1

4. classical school - 2

5. Neo-Keynesian - 6

6. monetarism - 7

7. institutionalism - 4

12. Determine what is generally characteristic of marginalism:

1. search for optimal economic behavior - +

2. study of averages

3. use of marginal analysis - +

4. rationale for the need state regulation economy

5. microeconomic approach - +

6. active use of mathematical methods - +

7. study of statics - +

13 .Determine what is characteristic of the starting positions: A - classical school, B - neoclassical school

1. the main driving force of economic development is the accumulation of capital - A

2. the main problem - the efficiency of the economy - B

3. study of limit values ​​- B

4. economic liberalism - B

5. the establishment of strict control over the issuance of the money supply - A

6. costly principle of determining the cost - B

7. active use of exact science methods - B

8. The concept of automatic self-adjustment of the market mechanism - A

9. priority value of private property and free competition - B

14. Determine what is generally characteristic of the institutional flow of economic thought:

1. interdisciplinary approach to the study of economics - +

2. criticism of economic liberalism - +

3. the state does not and should not influence economic development

4. all institutions (stable structures in society) influence economic development - +

5. economic development is influenced only by economic institutions

6. criticism of the theory of rational man

7. evolutionary approach to the study of economics - +

8. the need for state regulation of the economy

15. Determine what is characteristic of the starting positions: A - neoclassical, B - Keynesianism

1. most attention is paid to demand factors - B

2. study of microeconomic indicators - A

3. the need for state regulation of the economy - B

4. automatic self-regulation of the market - A

5. redistribution of income in favor of groups with fundamentally low incomes - B

6. study of macroeconomic indicators - B

7. Studied statics - A

8. justifying and encouraging income inequality - A

9. the existence of involuntary unemployment is recognized - B

10. special attitude to the land as a factor of production - A

11. absolute price flexibility - A

16. Determine what is typical for anti-crisis programs: A - Keynesianism, B - monetarism

1. active regulation of the economy by the state - A

2. financing of private enterprises from the state budget - A

3. fight against the budget deficit, reduce government spending - B

4. the state should only create the necessary conditions for the free development of the market mechanism - B

5. tight long-term monetary policy - B

6. the main problem that needs to be dealt with in the economy is inflation - B

7. the main problem that needs to be dealt with in the economy is unemployment - A

8. broad government spending, budget deficit is not terrible - A

9. tax increase - A

10. flexible short-term monetary policy - A

17. Determine which of the indicated measures of the state economic policy were recommended by J.M. Keynes (A), L. Erhard (B):

1. small business protection - B

2. strong antitrust policy - B

3. broad government spending to improve the economic environment - A

4. redistribution of national income in favor of groups with fundamentally low incomes - B

5. stable currency policy - B

6. "cheap money" policy - A

18. Match:

1. J. M. Keynes - 3. the tasks of the state should include the regulation of commodity markets

2. M. Friedman - 2. the main task of the state is to establish the balance of the money market; equilibrium of commodity markets will be established automatically

3. F. Hayek - 1. the state cannot and should not influence either the money or commodity markets

19. Determine the correctness of the statement (yes / no):

1. Legists divided society into "lower" and "higher" - no

2. From the point of view of P. Proudhon and S. Sismondi, it is necessary to develop small-scale production - yes

3. Representatives of economic thought in ancient states paid special attention to the organization of the private economy - yes

4. . According to D. Ricardo and K. Marx, the rate of profit tends to decrease - yes

5. According to representatives of the German historical school, national characteristics do not affect the character economic system- No

6 .. W. Petty and P. Boisguillebert are considered the founders of the classical school - yes

7.. Representatives of Greek economic thought believed that the main purpose of production should be to make a profit - no

8. Accelerator shows the impact of investments on income growth - yes

9. M. Friedman believed that the state should strive to reduce inflation rates to a controllable value - yes

20. Establish a correspondence between economic directions, economists and their theories:

1. the concept of "measurement without theory" - 7	1. F. Hayek
2. the theory of the leisure class - 3	2. E. Hansen
3. theory of modern monetarism - 4	3. T. Veblen
4. theory of social market- 8 economy	4. M. Friedman
5. theory of spontaneous order - 1	5. V. Oyken
6. investment cycle theory - 2	6. J.M. Keynes
	7. W. Mitchell
	8. L. Erhard

21. Establish a correspondence between the main currents of Western economic thought and their ideas:

1. institutionalism - 2	1. the need for state regulation of the economy
2. neoclassical - 4.6	2. economic development is influenced not only by economic, but also by political, social, legal, cultural, psychological factors
3. Keynesianism - 3.1.5	3. the inability of the market to self-regulate
	4. automatic self-regulation of the market
	5. The most important factor influencing economic development is the demand factor
	6. economic liberalism

22. Establish a correspondence between economic areas (schools) and the concepts (theories) developed by them:

1. institutionalism - 9	1. organic composition of capital
2. classical school - 5	2. investment multiplier
3. mercantilism - 4.8	3. marginal productivity theory
4. marginalism - 3.6	4. protectionism
5. Keynesianism - 2	5. " economic man»
6. Marxism - 1.7	6. theory of marginal utility
	7. labor theory cost
	8. active trade balance policy
	9. prestigious (ostentatious) consumption

23. Determine the correctness of the statement (yes / no):

1. Thomas Aquinas for the first time in the history of economic thought began to understand profit as a reward for labor and risk - yes

2. A. Marshall is considered the founder of the neoclassical school - yes

3. From the point of view of J.S. Mill, the laws of distribution, like the laws of production, are objective and cannot be changed - no

4. According to P. Boisguillebert, wealth is created in all areas of production - no

5. From the point of view of legalists, one of the most important tasks of the state in the economy is "balancing the economy" - yes

6. According to Say's law of markets, general overproduction crises are impossible - yes

7. J. M. Keynes believed that in conditions of mass unemployment, one can not be afraid of inflation - yes

8. For the first time in the history of economic thought, the question of the value of a commodity was raised by Plato - yes

24. Establish a correspondence between economic schools, economists and their theories:

1. theory of three factors of production - 9	1. T. Malthus
2. theory of national economy - 7	2. J. Robinson
3. population theory - 1	3. J. Schumpeter
4. . theory of imperfect competition - 2	4. J.B. Clark
5. theory of effective competition - 3	5. E. Chamberlin
6. the theory of the "invisible hand" - 6
7. theory of marginal productivity - 4
8. equilibrium price model - 8	8. A. Marshall
9. theory of monopolistic competition - 5

25. Establish a correspondence between economic currents and the concepts developed by them:

1. mercantilism - 2 1. effective demand

2. classical school - 6,5,4 2. active cash balance

3. marginalism - 8.3 3. industrial education of the nation

4. Keynesianism - 1.7 4. Say's law of markets

5. free trading

6. economic liberalism

7. basic psychological law

8. laws of Gossen

26. Match:

1. theory of surplus value - 8	1. N.D.Kondratiev
2. the theory of supply-side economics - 5	Friends! You have a unique opportunity to help students like you! If our site helped you find the right job, then you certainly understand how the work you added can make the work of others easier. If the Test, in your opinion, is of poor quality, or you have already seen this work, please let us know.

As you know, the foundations of the theory of international trade were formulated in the late XVIII - early XIX centuries. eminent English economists Adam Smith and David Ricardo.

A. Smith in his book "A Study on the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" (1776) formulated the theory of absolute advantage and, arguing with mercantilists, showed that countries are interested in the free development of international trade, since they can benefit from it regardless of whether whether they are exporters or importers.

Theories of international trade

Modern theories of international trade have their own history of the question - why do countries trade with each other? - was set by economists simultaneously with the emergence at the beginning of the 17th century of the first schools of economic thought, which began to pay attention to the development of foreign trade. Classical and neoclassical theories have one significant drawback: in order to confirm them with practice, you need to withstand many restrictions and assumptions, which, unfortunately, are difficult to implement in real life, this led to active search new theories explaining the various problems of foreign trade in modern conditions.

Mercantilist theory of international trade

The first attempts to define the meaning of foreign trade, to formulate its goals was made at the stage of transition of feudalism to capitalism - XV-XVIII centuries. - in the economic doctrine of the mercantilists (T. Man, C. Davenant, J. B. Colbert).

Adhering to a static view of the world, they proceeded from the following:

the country's wealth was associated with the gold and silver it possessed; the world had a limited amount of wealth;

the wealth of one country could only increase at the expense of the impoverishment of another.

to export more goods than to import, which allows to increase the influx of gold, production and employment;

regulate foreign trade to increase exports and reduce imports through tariffs, quotas and other instruments;

strictly limit the export of raw materials and allow duty-free import of raw materials that are not mined in the country, which will allow to accumulate gold and keep export prices for finished products low;

prohibit all trade of the colonies with other countries, except for the mother country, as well as the production of finished goods.

Mercantilists believed that the true wealth of the country is gold (money) and, based on this, created the theory of foreign trade. In their opinion, foreign trade should be focused on the maximum safety and increase in the amount of gold in the country. In this regard, it was recommended to stimulate exports and limit imports so as not to spend gold on buying goods outside the country. At the same time, prohibitions were introduced on the trade of the colonies with all countries except the mother countries, on the development of production in the colonies - they should only become suppliers of raw materials to the mother country.

Mercantilists, offered enrichment of some countries at the expense of others. The main drawback of this theory should be considered the notion of mercantilists, dating back to the Middle Ages, that the savings benefit of some participants in a barter transaction turns into economic damage to others (importing countries). The main advantage of mercantilism can be attributed to the political support he developed for exports, which, combined with active protectionism and support for Russian domestic monopolists, was probably the most prominent mercantilist - who in every possible way encouraged the Russian industry to export goods, including through high import duties, a bunch of privileges domestic monopolies.

The school of mercantilism existed for more than a century and a half and contributed to the theory of international trade: for the first time, the importance of foreign trade for the economic growth of countries was emphasized, and the balance of payments was described. At the same time, the views of the mercantilists were limited, which consisted in the fact that they saw the enrichment of one nation only at the expense of the impoverishment of another, and achieved this with the help of protectionist policies.

Classical theory of international trade

The foundations of the theory of international trade were formulated at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries by A. Smith and D. Ricardo within the framework of the classical school. For the first time, the free trade policy was defined by A. Smith when he substantiated the theory of international trade, proving the need to liberalize the conditions for the import of foreign goods by weakening customs restrictions. A. Smith proved the necessity and importance of foreign trade, emphasizing that "the exchange is favorable for each country; each country finds an absolute advantage in it." A. Smith's analysis was the starting point of the classical theory, which serves as the basis for all types of free trade policies.

D. Ricardo supplemented and developed the ideas of A. Smith. He showed why nations trade, to what extent exchange between two countries is most beneficial, highlighting the criteria for international specialization. It is in the interests of each country, D. Ricardo believes, to specialize in production in which it has the greatest advantage or the least weakness, and for which the relative benefit is the greatest.

Theory of Absolute Advantage

The writer Adam Smith begins the first chapter of his famous book "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of the People" in 1776. That "the greatest progress in the development of the productive power of labor and a significant share of art, ingenuity."

With what it is directed and applied, were the result of the division of labor and comes to the conclusion: that if any foreign country can supply us with any commodity at a cheaper purchase than we ourselves are able to manufacture it, it is much better to buy it from her on some part of the product of our own industrial labor, applied in that area in which we have some advantage.

The theory of absolute advantage states that it is advisable for a country to import those goods for which its production costs are higher than those of foreign countries, and export goods for which its production costs are lower than abroad, i.e. there are absolute benefits. In contrast to the mercantilists, A. Smith advocated freedom of competition within the country and on the world market, sharing the principle put forward by the French economic school of the physiocrats. government intervention in the economy.

The essence of the theory of absolute advantage - if a country can produce a particular product more and cheaper than other countries, then it has an absolute advantage.

international trade comparative advantage

According to the theory of absolute advantage, each country should specialize in the production of the product in which it has an exclusive (absolute) advantage.

The disadvantage of A. Smith's theory was that the factors of production have absolute mobility within the country and move to regions where they receive the greatest absolute advantage. But after some time, the advantage of some regions over others may disappear, and therefore, foreign trade will also cease.

However, his merit was that through the presence of natural and acquired advantages, he explained intercountry trade flows.

Theory of comparative advantage

D. Ricardo in his work "The Beginnings of Political Economy and Taxation" (1817) formulated more general principle mutually beneficial trade and international specialization, including, as a special case, the model of A. Smith. He showed that international trade is beneficial to every country, even if none of them has an absolute advantage in the production of specific goods. D. Ricardo formulated the theory of comparative advantages by introducing the concept of an alternative price. The opportunity price is the ratio of the labor time required to produce a unit of one good to the labor time required to produce a unit of another good. The law of comparative advantage can be formulated as follows: countries specialize in the production of those goods for which their labor costs are comparatively lower, although they can absolutely be somewhat higher than abroad. From this followed the conclusion: free world trade leads to specialization in the production of each country, the development of the production of relatively advantageous goods, an increase in output throughout the world, and also to an increase in consumption in each country.

The theory of comparative advantage had certain shortcomings that further contributed to its withering away. Among them:

the theory proceeds from the presence of only two countries and two goods;

implies the dominance of free trade;

comes from fixed costs production;

assumes no transport costs;

does not take into account the effect of scientific and technological revolution, technical changes;

proceeds from the presence of complete interchangeability of resources in their alternative use.

• for the first time described the balance of aggregate supply and demand;
• · proved that the country receives a gain from foreign trade, not causing damage to other countries, but seeking opportunities for the development of trade within the country and refusing to introduce trade barriers;
• summed up scientific basis for the development of further theories.

Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson theory

At the end of XIX - beginning of XX centuries. as a result of structural shifts in world trade, the role of natural differences as a factor in MRI has decreased.

E. Heckscher and B. Olin (20-30 years of XX century) created a theory explaining the causes of international trade in manufactured products.

Countries are endowed to varying degrees with labor, capital, land, as well as different needs for certain goods. In the country where labor resources too much and not enough capital, labor will be comparatively cheap and capital expensive, and vice versa. Thus, the Heckscher-Ohlin theory can be formulated as follows: each country exports those goods for the production of which it has relatively excess factors of production, and imports those goods for the production of which it experiences a relative shortage of factors of production. According to the Heckscher-Ohlin model:

trade is based on the comparative advantages of countries;

the reason for comparative advantage is the difference in the endowment of countries with factors of production.

In the middle of the XX century. American economists L. Samuelson and W. Stolper improved the Heckscher-Ohlin theory by imagining that in the case of homogeneity of factors of production, identity of technology, perfect competition and complete mobility of goods, international trade equalizes the price of factors of production between countries. The concept is based on the model of D. Ricardo with the additions of Heckscher and Ohlin and considers world trade not just as a mutually beneficial exchange, but also as a means to reduce the development gap between countries.

Leontiev's theory of international trade

An American economist of Russian origin, V. Leontiev, studying the structure of US exports and imports in 1956, found that, contrary to the Heckscher-Ohlin theory, relatively more labor-intensive goods prevailed in US exports, and capital-intensive goods dominated in imports.

This result became known as Leontief's paradox.

Further studies showed that the contradiction discovered by V. Leontiev can be eliminated if more than two factors of production are taken into account when analyzing the structure of trade.

By including in the analysis more than two factors of production, including scientific and technical progress, differences in the types of labor (skilled and unskilled) and their differentiated pay in different countries, V. Leontiev explained the above paradox and thus contributed to the theory of comparative advantages.

Neotechnological theory of foreign trade

The weak side of classical theories is that for their practical confirmation it is necessary to comply with numerous restrictions and assumptions. Therefore, economists of the XX century. search for new theories that explain various aspects of international trade, based on classical theories, developing or refuting them.

At the present stage, the neoclassical school coexists with the neotechnological school, which has been developed since the middle of the 20th century. based on NTR. The theories of international trade that arose on the basis of scientific and technological revolution completely rejected basic concepts classical theories and offered other approaches to explaining world trade. Features of the Neotech School of International Trade:

inclusion in the research process of additional new factors and variables, including various human and capital resources of countries, scientific and technical progress, conditions of an imperfect market for goods and production factors and international mobility of the latter, etc.;

the macroeconomic approach to the analysis of world trade was supplemented by a microeconomic one, the main advantages were associated with the monopoly position of the firm (country) - innovator;

the object of international trade in this case was technology, both embodied in science-intensive goods and in the form of licenses;

neotechnological school connects the main advantages with the monopoly position of the firm (country) - the innovator. Hence and new strategy for individual firms: to produce not what is relatively cheaper, but what everyone or many people need, but which no one else can produce yet;

the state can and should support the production of high-tech export goods and not interfere with the curtailment of the production of other obsolete ones.

Neotech includes:

the theory of the technological gap by M. Pozner (1961);

S. Camp's theory of scale effect (1964);

theory of imperfect competition P. Krugman (1979);

R. Vernon's theory of product life cycle (1966);

the theory of the competitive advantage of the nation by M. Porter (1986), etc.

Technology Gap Theory

As a result of scientific and technical progress, innovations in one of the industries initially occur in one or more leading countries. These countries for a certain time occupy a monopoly position in the world in the production of a novel product. Thus, the advantage gained by the innovator country is the result of the technological gap that has arisen in the levels of development of individual countries.

This can change the country's foreign trade specialization, encouraging it to partially abandon the production of traditional products, in which it has relative advantages, and to switch to the production of original products that have no analogues in the world.

Theory of economies of scale

With certain technologies and organization of production, long-term average costs are reduced with an increase in the volume of output, i.e. economies of scale arise. According to the theory, many countries (especially developed ones) are provided with the main factors of production in similar proportions, and in these conditions it will be profitable for them to trade among themselves with specialization in those industries that are characterized by the presence of the effect mass production. For the effect of mass production to be realized, a capacious market is needed. International trade plays a decisive role in this by expanding markets. It allows you to form a single integrated market, more capacious than the market of a single country. As a result, consumers are offered more products and at lower prices.

Product life cycle theory

The theory was developed in the second half of the 60s.R. Vernon, C. Kindelberg and L. Wales. According to the concept, New Product goes through a life cycle with stages: implementation, expansion, maturity and aging, on the basis of which modern trade relations between countries can be explained in the exchange finished goods.

According to the life cycle, countries specialize in the production of exports of the same product at different stages of maturity.

M. Porter's Theory of Competitive Advantage of the Nation

Main idea: to international market firms compete, not countries, so it is important to understand how a firm creates and maintains competitive advantage and to understand the country's role in this process. The competitiveness of a country in international trade is determined by the impact and relationship of four main components, called the "competitive rhombus". The competitiveness of a country in international exchange is determined by the interaction and interconnection of the main components (determinant of competitive advantage):

factor conditions - specific factors of production that are needed for successful competition in a given industry;

conditions of demand for goods and services, i.e. what is the demand in the domestic market for the products and services offered by the industry;

the strategy of firms in a given country, their structure and rivalry, i.e. what are the conditions in the country that determine how firms are created and managed, and what is the nature of competition in the domestic market;

the nature of related and supporting industries available in the country - the presence or absence in the country of related or supporting industries that are competitive in the world market.

Firm Theory

The theory is connected with the strengthening of the role of individual firms and corporations in international trade. Advantages are always received not by the nation, but by a separate firm - the exporter of this product. Only after the expansion of production and saturation of the domestic market, the firm can enter the foreign market. In order to sell your products, you need to find a buyer country whose demand structure in the domestic market would be as close as possible to the demand structure of the exporting country. This makes it possible to carry out trade transactions between countries that are at the same level of economic development, and between developed industrial countries. This provision was first substantiated by the American economist E. Linder. In the future, supporters of the theory of the firm justified the need for a merger of companies developed countries with firms of young industrial states. This was caused by the convergence of the levels of scientific and technological development, the strengthening of production and marketing contacts, joint decision scientific - technical tasks. This process has embraced knowledge-intensive industries. The most active role in it was played by small and medium-sized companies.

In recent decades, significant shifts have taken place in the directions and structure of world trade, which are not always amenable to exhaustive explanation within the framework of classical trade theories. This encourages both further development already existing theories, and to the development of alternative theoretical concepts. Among such qualitative shifts, one should first of all take revenge on the transformation of technological progress into the dominant factor in world trade, the ever-increasing specific gravity in trade of counter deliveries of similar industrial goods produced in countries with approximately the same supply, a sharp increase in the share of world trade attributable to intra-company trade.

Product life cycle theory

In the mid-1960s, the American economist R. Vernoy put forward the theory of the product life cycle, in which he tried to explain the development of world trade in finished products on the basis of their life stages, i.e. the period of time during which the product has viability in the market and ensures the achievement of the goals of the seller.

The position that a firm occupies in an industry is determined by the way in which the firm ensures its profitability (competitive advantage). The strength of the competitive position is ensured either by a lower level of costs than competitors, or by differentiation of the manufactured product (improving quality, creating products with new consumer properties, expanding after-sales service, etc.).

Success in the global market requires the right combination of the right competitive strategy firms with national competitive advantages. M. Porter identifies four determinants of a country's competitive advantage. First, the availability of factors of production, and in modern conditions the main role is played by the so-called developed specialized factors (scientific and technical knowledge, highly skilled labor, infrastructure, etc.), purposefully created by the country. Secondly, the parameters of domestic demand for the products of this industry, which, depending on its volume and structure, allows the use of economies of scale, stimulates innovation and improvement in product quality, pushes firms to enter the foreign market. Thirdly, the presence of competitive supplying industries in the country (which ensures fast access to the required resources) and related industries that produce complementary products (which makes it possible to interact in the field of technology, marketing, service, exchange information, etc.) - This is how, according to M. Porter, clusters of national competitive industries are formed. Finally, fourthly, the competitiveness of the industry depends on national characteristics strategies, structures and rivalries of firms, i.e. because what are the conditions in the country that determine the features of the creation and management of firms, and what is the nature of competition in the domestic market.

M. Porter emphasizes that countries have greatest chance to success in those industries or their segments where all four determinants of competitive advantage (the so-called national diamond) are most favorable. Moreover, the national rhombus is a system whose components are mutually reinforcing, and each determinant affects all the others. An important role in this process is played by the state, which, by conducting a targeted economic policy, affects the parameters of production factors and domestic demand, the conditions for the development of supplying industries and related industries, the structure of firms and the nature of competition in the domestic market.

Thus, according to Porter's theory, competition, including in the global market, is a dynamic, evolving process, which is based on innovation and constant technology updates. Therefore, to explain competitive advantage in the world market, it is necessary "to find out how firms and countries improve the quality of factors, increase the efficiency of their application and create new ones."