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COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE

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Synonymes ou variantes : COMPARATIVE COST
DOCTRINE OF COMPARATIVE COSTS
LAW OF COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE
LAW OF COMPARATIVE COSTS
PRINCIPLE OF COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE
THEORY OF COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE
THEORY OF COMPARATIVE COST
Équivalents : AVANTAGE COMPARATIF
VENTAJA COMPARATIVA
Domaine : Économie

Définition

The ability of a country or region to produce a good or service at a lower opportunity cost, relative to other goods or services, compared to another country or region. By extension, the theory elaborated by David Ricardo.

Contexte

"It is often claimed, for example, that some countries have no comparative advantage in anything. That is virtually impossible. […] We reject the use of labour standards for protectionist purposes, and agree that the comparative advantage of countries, particularly low-wage developing countries, must in no way be put into question."
(World Trade Organization (WTO), Understanding the WTO, visited 2009-06-09)

Description

In economics, the theory of comparative advantage explains why it can be beneficial for two countries to trade, even though one of them may be able to produce every kind of item more cheaply than the other. What matters is not the absolute cost of production, but rather how easily the two countries, comparatively, can produce different kinds of things.

Therefore, comparative advantage is the opposite of Adam Smith's principle of absolute advantage: a country has an absolute advantage in the production of a good relative to another country if it can produce the good at lower cost or with higher productivity; absolute advantage is the measure of industry productivities across countries. A country has a comparative advantage in the production of a good if it can produce that good at a lower opportunity cost, i.e. the cost (sacrifice) incurred by choosing one option over an alternative one that may be equally desired. Therefore, a country can have a comparative advantage without having an absolute advantage.
(adapted from Suranovic, S., Definitions: Absolute and Comparative Advantage, International Economics Study Center, 2006, visited 2009-06-09)

Historical Background

This principle was first described by Robert Torrens in 1815 in an essay on the corn trade. In his essay, he concluded that it was to England's advantage to trade various goods with Poland in return for corn, even though it might be possible to produce that corn more cheaply in England than Poland. However, the theory of comparative advantage is usually attributed to David Ricardo who explained it clearly in his 1817 book The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, using the example of the cloth industry and the wine industry of England and Portugal.

"Ricardo showed that the specialization good in each country should be that good in which the country had a comparative advantage in production. To identify a country's comparative advantage good requires a comparison of production costs across countries. However, one does not compare the monetary costs of production or even the resource costs (labor needed per unit of output) of production. Instead one must compare the opportunity costs of producing goods across countries."
(Suranovic, S., The Theory of Comparative Advantage - Overview, International Economics Study Center, 2007, visited 2009-06-09)

Debate

The principle of comparative advantage is often used to justify free trade, but the theory is often quite different from the reality. A country that ceases production of a certain good will not necessarily have another one with which to replace it. Moreover, certain types of production will benefit from technological advances, while others will tend to remain more stable.

In addition, the theory of comparative advantage seeks an immediate profitability by neglecting a long term specialization of investments. Some specialists argue that this financial specialization excludes innovation and establishes a technological dependency which gives an advantage to rich countries and consolidates inequalities.

Relations sémantiques

Hiérarchiques
Quasi-synonyme Competitive advantage
Contrastif Absolute advantage
Opportunity cost
Associatives
Concept proche FREE TRADE
GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES
Propriété Industry
Dictionnaire analytique de la mondialisation et du travail
© Jeanne Dancette