Question

Collect Data
Use the chart below to identify one developing country and one developed country to compare to the United States. Use this template to record data for each country and complete the analysis.

Answer 1

Collect Data
Use the chart below to identify one developing country and one developed country to compare to the United States. Use this template to record data for each country and complete the analysis.

The chart contains basic data for the United States, two developing countries, and two developed countries, including top agricultural and industrial goods and the worker hours to produce one unit. Note that worker hours to produce one unit is a measure of productivity. The lower the worker hours to produce one unit, the more productive workers are in that country. This may be considered an advantage.

Country United States Country A
Developing Country B
Developing Country C
Developed Country D
Developed
CORN
(Worker hours to produce one unit) 2 6 8 2 4
CITRUS
(Worker hours to produce one unit) 4 10 10 6 8
APPAREL
(Worker hours to produce one unit) 2 4 6 2 2
COMPUTER SOFTWARE
(Worker hours to produce one unit) 4 12 8 8 4
Analysis—Using the data you collected, answer each of the following analysis questions in well-written paragraphs in your own words.
Identify an example of absolute advantage relative to the United States from your data tables. Be sure to identify which country has absolute advantage (U.S. or other), the product, and data to support your claim. Tip: When considering absolute and comparative advantage, worker hours to produce one unit is a reflection of productivity.
Identify an example of comparative advantage relative to the United States from your data tables. Be sure to identify which country has comparative advantage (U.S. or other), the product, and data to support your claim.
Explain why most trade occurs because of comparative advantage. Be sure to provide examples from the data tables or from the lesson to support your answer.

Answer 2

pretty wordy to answer here. Absolute advantage just compare how long it take to produce one unit, if your country can do it faster than you have the absolute advantage. So US compared to A. US has absolute advantage in everything because they require fewer hours than country a!

Answer 3

Can you help me cause I still dont get it @ddrayer

Answer 4

Sure! So when we talk about absolute advantage all we mean is that one country can produce a good faster than the other! So if you look at say Corn for USA and Country A you can see that it requires 2 hours of work in the US and 6 in Country A. That means the US is faster at producing corn than country A! This is all we mean by absolute advantage. Let me know if this gets you started @kellyjuste

Answer 5

No, still dont understand @ddrayer

Answer 6

The chart gives us the number of hours it requires to produce a single unit of a good. I am focusing on corn for the explanation. The table tells us that in the United States it requires 2 hours to produce a unit of corn but in country A it requires 6 hours to produce a unit of corn. Since it requires less time in the United States to produce corn than in country A, its clear that the USA is better at producing it. That is what we call an absolute advantage.