精品文档---下载后可任意编辑LABOR PRODUCTIVITY AND COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE: THE RICARDIAN MODELANSWERS TO TEXTBOOK PROBLEMS1
The production possibility curve is a straight line that intercepts the apple axis at 400 (1200/3) and the banana axis at 600 (1200/2)
The opportunity cost of apples in terms of bananas is 3/2
It takes three units of labor to harvest an apple but only two units of labor to harvest a banana
If one foregoes harvesting an apple, this frees up three units of labor
These 3 units of labor could then be used to harvest 1
5 bananas
Labor mobility ensures a common wage in each sector and competition ensures the price of goods equals their cost of production
Thus, the relative price equals the relative costs, which equals the wage times the unit labor requirement for apples div