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• Introduction• A Model of a Two-Factor Economy• Effects of International Trade Between Two-Factor

Economies• Empirical Evidence on the Heckscher-Ohlin Model• Summary• Appendix: Factor Prices, Goods Prices, and Input

Choices

Chapter4 Resources and Trade:The Heckscher-Ohlin Model

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Introduction

• In the real world, while trade is partly explained by differences in labor productivity, it also reflects differences in countries’ resources.

• The Heckscher-Ohlin theory:– Emphasizes resource differences as the only source of

trade(P67)– Shows that comparative advantage is influenced by:

• Relative factor abundance (refers to countries)• Relative factor intensity (refers to goods)

– Is also referred to as the factor-proportions theory

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4

Eli F. Heckscher(1879-1952) 。1879

1897

1909- 1929 (1919 ， 1924)

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Bertil OhlinSwedenStockholm School of EconomicsStockholm, Sweden1899 - 1979

1)1899 –42) 19243)19294)19335) 19776) 1979 -8

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Assumptions of the Model• An economy can produce two goods, cloth and

food.• The production of these goods requires two inputs

that are in limited supply; labor (L) and land (T).• Production of food is land-intensive and production

of cloth is labor-intensive in both countries.• Perfect competition prevails in all markets.

4-1 A Model of a Two-Factor Economy

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Input combinations that produce one calorie of food

Unit land input aTF ,in acres per calorie

Unit labor input aLF ,in hours per calorie

Figure 4-1: Input Possibilities in Food Production

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– Factor Intensity• In a world of two goods (cloth and food) and two

factors (labor and land), food production is land-intensive, if at any given wage-rental ratio the land-labor ratio used in the production of food is greater than that used in the production of cloth:

TF/LF > TC/ LC

– Example: If food production uses 80 workers and 200 acres, while cloth production uses 20 workers and 20 acres, then food production is land-intensive and cloth production is labor-intensive.

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F

TL

L

T

C

TL

Q=2

Q=1

A

B

S

O

F C

T TL L

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CCFF

Wage-rental ratio, w/r

Land-laborratio, T/L

Figure 4-2: Factor Prices and Input Choices

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• Factor Prices and Goods Prices– Stolper-Samuelson Theorem (effect):

• If the relative price of a good increases, holding factor supplies constant, then the nominal and real return (in terms of both goods) to the factor used intensively in the production of that good increases, while the nominal and real return (in terms of both goods) to the other factor decreases.

– The reverse is also true.

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• 斯托尔帕－萨缪尔森定理：在要素供给约束的条件下，一种商品的相对价格上升，提高了生产该商品时所密集使用的要素的名义收益和真实收益（用两种商品衡量） ；但其他要素的收益则下降。

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SS

Relative price ofcloth, PC/PF

Wage-rentalratio, w/r

Figure 4-3: Factor Prices and Goods Prices(P70)

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FFCC

SS

Land-labor Ratio, T/L

Relativeprice ofcloth, PC/PF

Wage-rentalratio, w/r

(PC/PF)1 (TC/LC)2(TC/LC)1 (TF/LF)2(TF/LF)1

(w/r)2

(w/r)1

Increasing Increasing

Figure 4-4: From Goods Prices to Input Choices(P71)

(PC/PF)2

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• An increase in the price of cloth relative to that of food, PC/PF ,will: （ P71）– Raise the income of workers relative to that of

landowners, w/r. – Raise the ratio of land to labor, T/L, in both cloth and

food production and thus raise the marginal product of labor in terms of both goods.

– Raise the purchasing power of workers and lower the purchasing power of landowners, by raising real wages and lowering real rents in terms of both goods.

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• Resources and Output– How is the allocation of resources

determined?• Given the relative price of cloth and the

supplies of land and labor, it is possible to determine how much of each resource the economy devotes to the production of each good.

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LF

TF

LC

TC

Labor used in food production

Labor used in cloth production

OF

Increasing

Increasing

Increas ingIncr

eas i

ngLa

nd u

sed

in c

loth

pro

duct

ion

Land used in food production

1

F

C

OC

Figure 4-5: The Allocation of Resources(P73)

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• How do the outputs of the two goods change when the economy’s resources change?– Rybczynski Theorem (effect):– If a factor of production (T or L) increases, then

the supply of the good that uses this factor intensively increases and the supply of the other good decreases for any given commodity prices.

• The reverse is also true.

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• 雷布津斯基定理：商品价格不变条件下，某要素禀赋的增加将导致该要素密集度高的产品的产出增加，并减少其它产品的产出。

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C

L2F

L2C

T1F

T1C

F1

L1F

L1C

T2F

T2C

1

Figure 4-6: An Increase in the Supply of Land （ P74 ）

Labor used in food production

Labor used in cloth production

Increasing

Increasing

Increas ingIncr

eas i

ngLa

nd u

sed

in c

loth

pro

duct

ion

Land used in food production

F2

O1F

O2F

2

OC

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TT1 TT2

Output offood, QF

Output ofcloth, QC

Slope = -PC/PF

Slope = -PC/PF

2Q2

F

Q2C

1Q1

F

Q1C

Figure 4-7: Resources and Production Possibilities （ P75 ）

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• An increase in the supply of land (labor) leads to a biased expansion of production possibilities toward food (cloth) production.（ P74）

• The biased effect of increases (decreases) in resources on production possibilities is the key to understanding how differences in resources give rise to international trade.

• An economy will tend to be relatively effective at producing goods that are intensive in the factors with which the country is relatively well-endowed.（ P75）

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A、发达工业国家的相对资源禀赋情况 1980 年发达工业国家资源禀赋的占有率国家 有形资本 科技人员 熟练工人 半熟练工人 非熟练工人 可耕土地 所有资源美国 33 。 6 50 。 7 27 。 7 14 。 1 0 。 19 29 。 3 28 。 3日本 15 。 5 23 8 。 7 11 。 5 0 。 25 0 。 8 11 。 2西德 7。 7 10 6 。 9 5 。 5 0 。 08 1 。 1 7 。 2英国 4。 5 8 。 5 5 。 1 4 。 9 0 。 09 1 。 0 5 。 1法国 7。 5 6 6 3 。 9 0 。 06 2 。 6 5加拿大 3。 9 1 。 8 2 。 9 2 。 1 0 。 03 6 。 1 2 。 6其他国家 27 。 3 0 42 。 7 53 99 。 32 59 。 1 39 。 3总计 100 ％ 100 ％ 100 ％ 100 ％ 100 ％ 100 ％ 100 ％

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B、一些国家的资本 /劳动比率 1990 年一些国家的人均资本存量发达国家 1990 发展中国家 1990加拿大 47961 韩国 20644西德 47441 哥伦比亚 15648法国 42760 阿根廷 13972日本 87197 智利 11670美国 41514 泰国 5574意大利 37612 菲律宾 4239西班牙 28911 印度 2345英国 23816 肯尼亚 1056

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• Assumptions of the Heckscher-Ohlin model:– There are two countries (Home and Foreign) that

have:• Same tastes• Same technology• Different resources

– Home has a higher ratio of labor to land than Foreign does

– Each country has the same production structure of a two-factor economy.

4-2 Effects of International Trade Between Two-Factor Economies

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• Relative Prices and the Pattern of Trade– Factor Abundance （ P77）

• Home country is labor-abundant compared to Foreign country (and Foreign is land-abundant compared to Home) if and only if the ratio of the total amount of labor to the total amount of land available in Home is greater than that in Foreign:

L/T > L*/ T*

– Example: if America has 80 million workers and 200 million acres, while Britain has 20 million workers and 20 million acres, then Britain is labor-abundant and America is land-abundant.

• In this case, the scarce factor in Home is land and in Foreign is labor.

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– When Home and Foreign trade with each other, their relative prices converge. The relative price of cloth rises in Home and declines in Foreign.

• In Home, the rise in the relative price of cloth leads to a rise in the production of cloth and a decline in relative consumption, so Home becomes an exporter of cloth and an importer of food.

• Conversely, the decline in the relative price of cloth in Foreign leads it to become an importer of cloth and an exporter of food.

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RD

RS

RS*

12

3

Figure 4-8: Trade Leads to a Convergence of Relative Prices

Relative price of cloth, PC/PF

Relative qualityof cloth, QC + Q*

C

QF + Q*F

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粮食 粮食

(PC/PF)3

3 1 (PC/PF)1

棉布 棉布(绿线和黄线分别表示贸易前和贸易后的消费无差异曲线）

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• Heckscher-Ohlin Theorem:(P76)– A country will export that commodity which

uses intensively its abundant factor and import that commodity which uses intensively its scarce factor.

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案例：发达工业国家的出 /进口比率

产品 美国 日本 西德 法国 英国 加拿大技术密集型 1.52 5.67 2.4 1.38 1.39 0.77服务 1.47 0.73 0.8 1.32 1.19 0.5标准化产品 0.39 1.09 0.84 1.03 0.76 1.38劳动密集型 0.38 1.04 0.59 0.86 0.71 0.2初级产品 0.55 0.04 0.29 0.52 0.81 2.21

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• Trade and the Distribution of Income– Trade produces a convergence of relative prices.– Changes in relative prices have strong effects on the

relative earnings of labor and land in both countries:• In Home, where the relative price of cloth rises:

– Laborers are made better off and landowners are made worse off.• In Foreign, where the relative price of cloth falls, the opposite

happens: – Laborers are made worse off and landowners are made better off.

– Owners of a country’s abundant factors gain from trade, but owners of a country’s scarce factors lose.(P77)

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• Difference between the specific factors model and the Heckscher-Ohlin model in terms of income distribution effects:– The specificity of factors to particular industries

is often only a temporary problem. • Example: Garment makers cannot become computer

manufactures overnight, but given time the U.S. economy can shift its manufacturing employment from declining sectors to expanding ones.

– In contrast, effects of trade on the distribution of income among land, labor, and capital are more or less permanent.

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• Factor Price Equalization– In the absence of trade: labor would earn less

in Home than in Foreign, and land would earn more.

– Factor-Price Equalization Theorem:• International trade leads to complete equalization

in the relative and absolute returns to homogeneous factors across countries.

• It implies that international trade is a substitute for the international mobility of factors.

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– Has international trade equalized the returns to homogeneous factors in different countries in the real world?

• Even casual observation clearly indicates that it has not.

– Example: Wages are much higher for doctors, engineers, technicians, mechanics and laborers in the United States and Germany than in Korea and Mexico.

• Under these circumstances, it is more realistic to say that international trade has reduced, rather than completely eliminated, the international difference in the returns to homogeneous factors.

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Table 4-1: Comparative International Wage Rates (United States = 100)（ P79 ）

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– Three assumptions crucial to the prediction of factor price equalization are in reality untrue:（ P79）

• Both countries produce both goods• Both countries have the same technologies in

production• Both countries have the same prices of goods due

to trade

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发达工业国家制造业的每小时工资与美国的比率国家 1959 1976 1985 1993日本 11 24 51 108意大利 23 42 62 111法国 27 41 62 104英国 29 35 53 90西德 29 56 84 128一般平均 24 40 62 108美国 100 100 100 100

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Table 4-2: Composition of Developing-Country Exports (Percent of Total) （ P80 ， case ）

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• Testing the Heckscher-Ohlin Model– Tests on U.S. Data

• Leontief paradox– Leontief found that U.S. exports were less capital-intensive

than U.S. imports, even though the U.S. is the most capital-abundant country in the world.

4-3 Empirical Evidence on the Heckscher-Ohlin Model

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Wassily LeontiefUSA

Harvard UniversityCambridge, MA, USA

1906 - 1999 

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1947 年主要的净出口和净进口行业以及资本 /劳动比率（美元 /工人）净出口 资本 /劳动 净进口 资本 /劳动1、批发贸易 7638 农业和渔业 296892 、机动车辆 10447 纸和纸箱厂 111233 、谷物制品 20752 橡胶 178484 、纺织产品：纺织、编织和印染 10738 榨汁机 121085 、铁路运输 21022 食品：罐头、保鲜及冷冻 156356 、海洋运输 15945 其他非铁矿（不包括铜、铅、锌和铝） 162057 、钢制品和轧钢机 15273 原油及天然气 295088 、采煤 8491 狩猎器具 142599 、特殊的工业机械 10439 原生铜 2008010 、石油产品 27139 其他原生金属（不包括铅、铜及铝） 16344

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Table 4-3: Factor Content of U.S. Exports and Imports for 1962

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b、克拉维斯 (Kravis)， 1956年C、基辛（ Keesing)， 1966年d、鲍得温 (Baldwin)， 1971年e、布朗逊 (Branson)和莫挪尤斯(Monoyios)， 1977年

f、利默尔 (Leamer)， 1980， 1984年g、斯特思 (Stern)和马斯库斯 (Maskus)， 1981年h、萨尔瓦托 (Salvatore)和巴拉扎什(Barazesh)： 1990年

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– Tests on Global Data• A study by Bowen, Leamer, and Sveikauskas

tested the Heckscher-Ohlin model using data for a large number of countries.

– This study confirms the Leontief paradox on a broader level.

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Table 4-4: Testing the Heckscher-Ohlin Model(P84)

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– Tests on North-South Trade• North-South trade in manufactures seems to fit the

Heckscher-Ohlin theory much better than the overall pattern of international trade.

– The Case of the Missing Trade• A study by Trefler in 1995 showed that

technological differences across a sample of countries are very large.

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Table 4-5: Trade Between the United States and South Korea, 1992 (million dollars)(P84 ）

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Table 4-6: Estimated Technological Efficiency, 1983 (United States = 1)

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• Implications of the Tests– Empirical evidence on the Heckscher-Ohlin

model has led to the following conclusions:• It has been less successful at explaining the actual

pattern of international trade.• It has been useful as a way to analyze the effects

of trade on income distribution.

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• The Heckscher-Ohlin model, in which two goods are produced using two factors of production, emphasizes the role of resources in trade.

• A rise in the relative price of the labor-intensive good will shift the distribution of income in favor of labor:– The real wage of labor will rise in terms of both

goods, while the real income of landowners will fall in terms of both goods.

Summary

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• For any given commodity prices, an increase in a factor of production increases the supply of the good that uses this factor intensively and reduces the supply of the other good.

• The Heckscher-Ohlin theorem predicts the following pattern of trade:– A country will export that commodity which uses

intensively its abundant factor and import that commodity which uses intensively its scarce factor.

Summary

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Summary

• The owners of a country’s abundant factors gain from trade, but the owners of scarce factors lose.

• In reality, complete factor price equalization is not observed because of wide differences in resources, barriers to trade, and international differences in technology.

• Empirical evidence is mixed on the Heckscher-Ohlin model.– Most researchers do not believe that differences in

resources alone can explain the pattern of world trade or world factor prices.

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Units of land used to produce one calorie of food, aTF

Units of labor used to produce one calorie of food, aLF

1

Isocost lines

Appendix: Factor Prices, Goods Prices, and Input Choices

Figure 4A-1: Choosing the Optimal Land-Labor Ratio

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//1

2

Appendix: Factor Prices, Goods Prices, and Input Choices

Figure 4A-2: Changing the Wage-Rental RatioUnits of land used to produce one calorie of food, aTF

Units of labor used to produce one calorie of food, aLF

Slope = - (w/r)2

Slope = - (w/r)1

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FF

CCSlope = - (w/r)

Appendix: Factor Prices, Goods Prices, and Input Choices

Figure 4A-3: Determining the Wage-Rental Ratio

Land input

Labor input

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FF

CC1

Slope = - (w/r)1

CC2Slope = - (w/r)2

Appendix: Factor Prices, Goods Prices, and Input Choices

Figure 4A-4: A Rise in the Price of Cloth

Land input

Labor input

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Reading

•邹薇 (2002):论竞争力的源泉 : 从外生比较优势到内生比较优势 ,《武汉大学学报(社会科学版 )》， 1月

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Question

• P87,2•思考：美国经济的不断开放是导致近年来收入不平等日益扩大的主要原因吗？中国呢？