This paper examines the controversy involving international trade by employing a simple model. It analyzes the effects of unilateral technological improvements in one entity on the welfare of that entity and its trading partners. Improvements in one country are irreversible and lead to...

From 1980-2009 the Polish economy experienced structural dislocation. The growth and success of the Solidarity movement represented the shift in manufacturing from Soviet bloc trade to membership in the European Union. This paper examines four independent metrics that measure the changing...

To date there does not exist one a generally acceptable measure or index of Specialization in International Trade. Development Economic Theory embraces the expectation of a direct relationship between economic growth and export diversification. However, International Trade Theory supports the...

This paper shows, using a simple model, that wasteful innovations may result in a loss-loss situation where no country experiences an increase in welfare. If some countries introduce innovations that result in harmful effects on other countries, it may cause the adversely affected countries to...

Montenegro, newly independent since 2006, saw its commodity exports collapse in the worldwide financial crisis of 2008. It took three years for the volume of its exports to recover. Using one to four-digit Standard Industrial Trade Classification (SITC) commodity trade data, this paper analyzes...

What can economists learn from dynamic partial control of chemical reactors? Both chemical reactors and the economy involve many variables that are difficult to fully predict or control. Thus, this paper suggests the use of partial control, which involves indentifying only the key variables that...

Development economists agree that increasing export diversification is a concomitant to economic development. An accepted explanation for Africa’s export stagnation is its dependence on monoculture, and on small number of commodities. Recently a large body of literature focuses on the...

As our trading world becomes more globalized, who benefits and who gets hurt? This paper relies on the Ricardian model to explore the effects of technological improvements in underdeveloped countries on the welfare of developed countries. For example, trading between the United States and China,...

Given a world consisting of two countries, two commodities, and two consumers, this paper analyzes the potential effects of the current global trend of shifting world productions with regards to consumer goods. When technological improvements occur in a developing country, would terms of trade...

This paper explores several theories regarding how China has become highly successful in capturing world export markets. The paper concludes that increased competitiveness is dependant on, but not limited to several factors discussed in detail including, exchange rate undervaluation, low wage...