Why do business internationalise?
International trade can be traced back to ancient years. Our ancestors, with the purpose of increasing the variety of local products, had been trying their best for decades to trade cross border. With the development of international business, international trade theories was developed to explain the benefit nations can get from utilizing free trade pattern and participating in the multilateral trade via opening up strategy by eliminating import control, export support and other types of anti-trade approaches (Georges, 2013, pp213-231). In this essay, two major parts of the evolution of international trade theory (traditional international trade theory and new international trade theory) were compared and
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Like Smith’s and Ricardo’s theory, Heckscher-Ohlin claims that every country engaging in free trade gain advantage. Unlike Ricardo’s theory, Heckscher-Ohlin stresses that the major determinants that form the law of trade theory is factor endowment, instead of difference in productivity (Hill, 2012).
Compare and Contrast Among New International Trade Theories
After World War II, with the appearance of multinational corporations, intra-industry trade and the increase of horizontal trade within developed countries, some situations can no longer be explained by traditional theory. Such as why United State who is abundant in capital imports more capital-insentive goods than its export of that (known as Leontief Paradox). During that time, new international trade theory enslaved the global market, among which, new trade theory points out that a firm’s ability to attain economies of scale and to enter an new market first gain advantage of trading abroad over other countries. Following that, Porter’s new comparative advantage theory states that the competitiveness of a firm in an industry bases on the combination of four mutually reinforcing attributes containing firm characteristics, demand condition, factor endowment, related and supporting industries. New trade theory stresses the role of luck and capacity of innovation, while Porter’s theory states that a firm’s competitive performance results from four components
There is no doubt that increasing in international trade is supporting the economic growth across the world, raising incomes and creating jobs. However, international trade can also some create economic obstacles, such as the international context and the market policy and regulations of each country, and consequently it can be said that the effects would have positive and negative sides, and it is useful to mention all of them and to take them into consideration.
There has been a dual view of trade since the time of the ancient Greeks. The two sides of these philosophers views are the recognition of the benefits of international exchange, but that there is concern that certain domestic industries would be harmed by foreign
However, it was apparent to economists that nations with similar resource endowments exchanged similar products with each other. Economists felt that trade explained solely by comparative advantage was an incomplete analysis of international trade. Furthermore, since the classical trade theory was unable to explain intraindustry trade, economists decided to expand on the classical trade theory by creating a new theory of trade (Carbaugh, 2011). The new theory states that economies of scale provide incentive for a country to specialize in a particular product (Carbaugh, 2011). Furthermore, based on economies of scale, nations with similar factor endowments will trade with each other as sometimes it is beneficial (Carbaugh, 2011). Arguments stemming from this new trade theory puts the economic case for free trade in doubt.
Which is cost difference determines the patterns of international trade. Absolute advantage is trade benefits when each country is at least cost producer of one of the goods being traded. In the 1800s, David Ricardo developed the theory of comparative advantage to measure gains from trades. This theory is based on comparative advantage and it states each nation should specialize in production of those goods for which its relatively more efficient with a lower opportunity cost.
This article is useful because it further explains the ricardian model which was one of the first basis of comparative advantage. It shows how the model explains comparative advantage and the benefits of it to growth.
During the 20th century economy has changed and international trade has been developped. It allowed to increase our standard of living. Therefore we need to understand why countries have opened their boarder and what the impact is. To do that we need to understantd what the trade bring to us in defining the comparative advantage. After that one important point is to understand which effect the technological change has on trade. Then the main point that it’s whether trade is benefical for everyone or leads to dangerous competitveness and why this behaviour can happen like protectionims and which are the consequences.
On the other hand, the criticisms of Porter’s theory vary widely from doubts on his theory’s originality (Dunning, 1993; Grant, 1991; Rugman and D’Cruz, 1993) to the over-reliance on global export shares as the measure of global competitiveness (Cartwright, 1993; Grant, 1991; Rugman and D’Cruz, 1993). Porter’s methodology was also denounced by several academics, which will be discussed below (Dunning, 1993; Rugman and D’Cruz, 1993; Rugman and
Few can contend that the world is more interconnected and interrelated more than ever. This web of interdependency is primarily made possible by trade, and in the twenty-first century, a large and significant portion of trade is conducted on a global scale. Furthermore, while the majority of people agree that free trade can benefit both parties in terms of economic development and an increase in overall production, many critics have voiced their fears of the negative consequences that may result from a global trade environment with few barriers or limits. Proponents of free trade argue that benefits far outweigh costs and that the primary gain is efficiency of production achieved through comparative
Thus, the Heckscher-Ohlin theory attempts to explain the pattern of international trade that we see in the world economy. The Heckscher-Ohlin theory is consistent with the notion of free trade. It also has commonsense appeal, and there are many examples of international commerce that are supportive of the theory
The classical model also known as the Ricardian model argued that countries trade because of differences in their technology however, the Heckscher-Ohlin (HO) is a factor-proportions theory of comparative advantage idea which argues that the idea of comparative advantage works under the influence of relative factor abundance and relative factor insensitivity (Suranovic, 2006).
Comparative advantage theory refers to a country’s ability to produce a good at a lower opportunity cost than another country.
The new trade theory began to emerge in the 1970s when a number of economists pointed out that the ability of firms to attain economies of scale might have important implications for international trade (Wickramasekera, Cronk & Hill 2013). This theory is based on two major concepts that are economies of scale and first-mover advantage. To elaborate:
The international trade of goods across the world accounts for approximately 60% of the world Gross Domestic Product (The World Bank, 2014). A great proportion of goods transactions occur every second. The primary question is whether international trade benefits a country as an entirety, and, if so, why would a country implement protective trade policies to restrict particular exports? To address this question, this essay aims to explore the impact of trade on various economic stakeholders, including consumers, producers, labour and government and, furthermore, will compare models and theories with reality to ascertain the true winner/ loser in the international trade market.
Turnbull (1986) recommend that a major weakness is a one-sided focus on the activities of the manufacturer together, that negotiate in the flow of goods and services to the customer
The principle of comparative advantage provides a simplified theory explaining why free trade is possible, even when one country has an economic disadvantage. Both the Ricardian and Heckscher-Ohlin theories rely on fixed economic assumptions of constant return and perfect competition. However, intuitively the basic principle of business is to increase returns through innovation, improving processes and technology or increasing economies of scale. Organizations understand they control pricing and are price setters, rather than price takers as suggested by perfect competition (Krugman & Obstfeld, 2003). The idea of increasing returns and imperfect competition challenge the foundations of comparative advantage.