Imagine that you work for the World Bank and you have been called to Ghana to aid the new president to come up with a new international trade strategy. You are told that the new government is interested in moving away from agriculture and into manufacturing. To do so, the government wants to pursuit a policy of import substitution industrialization (ISI). You are given a brief about Ghana highlighting the following points: About half of Ghana’s population depends on agriculture, but Ghana still imports some of its food. The majority of Ghana's people live in rural areas and exist on a subsistence way of life. Ghana has one of the highest rates of income inequality in the world. Nearly half of the population is employed in agriculture. Ghana imports and exports food from and to neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire. The latter nation is very similar to Ghana in most ways. It has a similar environment, a similar level of education, and similar institutional background. Would you argue that trade between the two countries can be explained by comparative advantage? Why or why not? Ghana also exports food to Switzerland. The latter nation is very different to Ghana in most ways. Would you argue that trade between the two countries can be explained by comparative advantage? Why or why not?

ENGR.ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

14th Edition

ISBN:9780190931919

Author:NEWNAN

Publisher:NEWNAN

Chapter1: Making Economics Decisions

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 1QTC

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Imagine that you work for the World Bank and you have been called to Ghana to aid the new president to come up with a new international trade strategy.

You are told that the new government is interested in moving away from agriculture and into manufacturing. To do so, the government wants to pursuit a policy of import substitution industrialization (ISI).

You are given a brief about Ghana highlighting the following points:

About half of Ghana’s population depends on agriculture, but Ghana still imports some of its food.
The majority of Ghana's people live in rural areas and exist on a subsistence way of life.
Ghana has one of the highest rates of income inequality in the world.
Nearly half of the population is employed in agriculture.

Ghana imports and exports food from and to neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire. The latter nation is very similar to Ghana in most ways. It has a similar environment, a similar level of education, and similar institutional background. Would you argue that trade between the two countries can be explained by comparative advantage? Why or why not?

Ghana also exports food to Switzerland. The latter nation is very different to Ghana in most ways. Would you argue that trade between the two countries can be explained by comparative advantage? Why or why not?

Definition Video Definition Ability of a country to produce goods and services at a lower opportunity cost compared to other countries. Here, opportunity cost refers to the forgone units of one good in order to produce one more unit of another good. For example, the opportunity cost of producing good X in country A is 2Y and in country B is 1.25Y. Country B has a lower opportunity cost of producing good X than country A. Therefore, country B has a comparative advantage in the production of good X. Video

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