TERMIUM Plus®

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PRINCIPLE COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE [1 record]

Record 1 2008-02-13

English

Subject field(s)
  • Laws of the Market (Economy)
  • National and International Economics
  • Foreign Trade
CONT

What did David Ricardo mean when he coined the term comparative advantage? According to the principle of comparative advantage, the gains from trade follow from allowing an economy to specialize. If a country is relatively better at making wine than wool, it makes sense to put more resources into wine, and to export some of the wine to pay for imports of wool. This is even true if that country is the world's best wool producer, since the country will have more of both wool and wine than it would have without trade.

French

Domaine(s)
  • Lois du marché (Économie)
  • Économie nationale et internationale
  • Commerce extérieur
CONT

David Ricardo, un économiste britannique du XIXe siècle, soutenait qu'un pays pouvait tirer profit des échanges commerciaux même quand un autre pays jouissait d'un avantage absolu dans la production de tous les biens et services. Il faisait valoir, avec raison, que s'il employait à produire les biens et services pour lesquels il était relativement plus efficient et qu'il importait les produits pour lesquels il était relativement moins efficient, un pays pouvait accroître son revenu national. Et ce serait le cas même si ce pays était moins efficient en termes absolus dans la fabrication de tous les produits. Il s'agit du célèbre principe de l'avantage comparatif.

Spanish

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