8.1 International Specialisation and Trade

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1 8.1 International Specialisation and Trade
IGCSE Economics 8.1 International Specialisation and Trade

2 Learning Outcomes Describe the benefits and disadvantages of specialisation at regional and national levels Describe methods of trade protection Discuss the merits of free trade and protection

3 Video – Globalisation, you’re living IT

4 Globalisation – What is it?
Write a definition and add it to the Socrative document Globalisation – What is it?

5 What is Globalisation? The increasing social, technological, political and economic interdependence and interaction between people, firms and entire economies around the world

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7 Why has globalisation occurred?

8 Rapid globalisation is a result of:
Increasing wealth Development of new technologies Faster and cheaper communication – internet Transition of many former planned economies to free market economies – reduction in international trade barriers

9 International Trade and Specialisation

10 Value of global trade in physical goods 1960–2010
What factors have driven this increase?

11 International Specialisation
This is where countries/regions tend to focus on producing particular products. Usually those where they have an advantage in terms of human, man made or natural resources

12 International Specialisation
This is where countries/regions tend to focus on producing particular products that they have the natural, human or man-made resources to do . WHY? US aircraft Spanish olive oil Italian shoes

13 Task – Match the country to their best known product
Saudi Arabia Fish Iceland Tea Norway Timber Germany Oil Argentina Manufactured Goods France Beef India Lamb Jamaica Wine New Zealand Coffee Kenya Tourism

14 Answers

15 What does the Philippines specialise in?
What factors make the Philippines able to specialise in these products? Which countries do you think the Philippines exports these products to? More info here

16 Who does the Philippines trade with?

17 Video Clip – 60 Second Adventures in Economics
Why do countries

18 Key Question Who are the winners and losers from specialisation?
Consider Customers? Workers? Businesses? Economies? In what ways might these stakeholders benefit/lose from international specialisation?

19 International Specialisation – Advantages
By concentrating on what people and businesses do best rather than relying on self sufficiency: Higher output: Total production of goods and services is raised and quality can be improved Variety; Consumers have access to a greater variety of higher quality products A bigger market: Specialisation and global trade increase the size of the market offering opportunities for economies of scale Competition and lower prices: Increased competition acts as an incentive to minimise costs, keep prices down and therefore maintains low inflation

20 Disadvantage of Specialisation
A country can be vulnerable if it has to rely on imports to meet its needs A country may be vulnerable if the specialized product is replaced by alternatives Jobs in areas such as production may be vulnerable if cheaper labour is available elsewhere A country also becomes very vulnerable to changes in exchange rate and also world economic conditions

21 Regional specialisation
When regions within a country concentrate on producing things that they are best at, rather than wasting resources on products that they make less efficiently What regional specialisation occurs in the Philippines?

22 Absolute and Comparative Advantage
Have you heard of these terms before? What do they mean? What is the difference? Absolute and Comparative Advantage

23 Adam Smith – Theory of Absolute Advantage David Ricardo –
Theory of Comparative Advantage

24 Video – 6 mins

25 Absolute and Comparative Advantage
A country has an absolute advantage in the production of a product when it can produce that product at a much lower cost per unit than any other country is able to Average cost per unit $100 Average cost per unit $130 X Y A country has a comparative advantage in the production of a product relative to other countries when its opportunity cost of producing that product is lower than in any other country To produce 100 more cars, country X must give up 4,000 televisions To produce 100 more cars, country Y must give up 7,000 televisions

26 Task - Question

27 Free Trade

28 Free Trade The unrestricted purchase and sale of goods and services between countries involves the movement and exchange of physical goods such as materials, component parts, equipment and finished products as well as services, ideas, money and labour, across international borders

29 The gains from free trade
International trade involves the movement and exchange of physical goods such as materials, component parts, equipment and finished products as well as services, ideas, money and labour, across international borders

30 Arguments for Free Trade
It allows countries to benefit from specialization They can produce what they are best able to and then trade their surplus It increases consumer choice Consumers can enjoy a greater variety of goods and services from across the world It increases competition and efficiency Firms must improve their costs and product quality to compete with overseas producers It creates additional business and employment opportunities New and existing firms can expand their sales to growing consumer markets overseas It allows firms to access the best workforces, materials and technologies from anywhere in the world

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32 Arguments Against Free Trade
Trade with low-cost economies is threatening jobs in many developed economies and reducing opportunities for less-developed economies to grow their industries Trade is increasing the rate at which we are depleting natural resources Trade may increase the exploitation of workers and the environment in many less-developed economies as multinationals are attracted to them by low wages and taxes It has increased the gap between rich and poor nations because developed and rapidly developing economies dominate global demand for many natural resources, including foodstuffs, timber and metal ores, and have used their purchasing power to force down their market prices

33 Methods of Trade Protection

34 What is protection? Protection or protectionism involves the use of trade barriers by governments to restrict international market access and competition What ways can Governments intervene in international trade?

35 Trade Barriers Tariffs Quotas Import Licensing
Administrative complexity Subsidies Exchange control Exchange rate manipulation Embargo

36 Tariffs Tariffs are indirect taxes on the prices of imported goods to discourage domestic demand (by increasing prices) But imposing them often results in affected overseas countries imposing tariffs of their own in retaliation

37 Quotas This is a limit on the volume of an imported good allowed into a country

38 Import Licensing Government grants licenses for import of certain goods, not granting a licence is a type of protection

39 Administrative complexity (Red Tape)
The government may require imports to fill in time-consuming paperwork This creates a burden that can be seen as a cost and therefore a discouragement for importers Unreasonable quality controls and strict standards requirements for imported products

40 Administrative complexities
Size and weight restrictions Product labelling requirements Test certificates

41 Subsidies These are government grants paid to domestic producers to reduce their production costs, enabling them to sell their products at lower prices than overseas producers

42 Exchange Control Governments preventing or limiting the amount of foreign exchange to which importers have access E.g. If Argentinian importers are not allowed to buy dollars they may not be able to buy goods from the US

43 Exchange rate manipulation
The governments can buy or sell its own currency in order to alter the exchange rate E.g. It could sell its own currency in order to reduce the exchange rate and make exports cheaper and imports expensive

44 Embargo A complete ban on import of certain types of goods or all goods from a specified country

45 Arguments for Trade Protection
To protect infant (or sunrise) industries To protect sunset industries To protect strategic industries, such as agriculture, energy and defence equipment To protect domestic firms from dumping To limit over-specialization To correct a trade imbalance

46 Arguments against protectionism
It reduces the gains from trade It restricts consumer choice It restricts new business opportunities Inefficient domestic firms protected from overseas competition will continue to be inefficient Other affected countries will retaliate against trade barriers