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Factor Intensity Versus Factor Substitution in a Specified General Equilibrium Model

Henry Thompson
- 15 Mar 1995 - 
- Vol. 10, Iss: 3, pp 283-297
TLDR
In this article, the sensitivity of the comparative static elasticities of a general equilibrium model of production to factor intensity and factor substitution was examined, and it was shown that factor intensity influences the comparative statics more than factor substitution.
Abstract
This paper examines the sensitivity of the comparative static elasticities of a general equilibrium model of production to factor intensity and factor substitution. A model of the US economy is specified with three factors and two goods. Changing factor endowments have consistently inelastic effects on factor prices. Prices of goods, however, have elastic effects on factor prices, and factor endowments have elastic effects on outputs. Factor intensity influences the comparative statics more than factor substitution. Under a move toward free trade characterized by a falling price of manufactures relative to services, the wage of unskilled labor falls while the wage of skilled labor and the price of capital rise.

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Trade, Technology snd Labour Markets: General Equilibrium Perspectives

Abstract: This paper summarizes the state of the debate on the effects of "globalization" and spontaneous technical change on wages and, in this context, describes the results from a recent study of the links between trade, technical change and labor market behavior These new results show that comparatively minor generalization of the standard Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson model of trading countries substantially moderates the Stolper-Samuelson factor reward changes stemming from trade refonn in part for this reason, results from a global general equilibrium analysis suggest that the direct effects of increased openness are a comparatively minor explanator of the observed shifts in labor demand and that skilled-labor-using technical change would appear most important Of course, part of that technical change may itself be in response to international competition Any protectionist response against developing countries, driven by concerns about wage inequality or unemployment, is shown to be counteroductive
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Capital investment and employment in the information sector

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors measure the employment effects of changes in capital investment in the U.S. information sector by econometrically estimating an employment multiplier from historical data.
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Morocco and the US Free Trade Agreement: A specific factors model with unemployment and energy imports

TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the impact in Morocco of its pending free trade agreement with the US in a specific factors model with unemployment and energy imports, and the model predicts substantial adjustments for reasonable price scenarios.
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FTAA and Colombia: Income redistribution across labor groups

TL;DR: In this paper, a specific-factors model of production with seven skilled groups of labor is applied using projected price changes for the three major sectors of the economy, and every labor group, except production labor, is projected to lose.
References
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A Three-Factor Model in Theory, Trade and History

TL;DR: In this article, Bhagwati et al. discuss the trade, balance of payments and growth in the Indian economy, and the impact of trade on economic growth. But they do not discuss the role of trade in economic development.
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The Relevance of the Two-Sector Production Model in Trade Theory

TL;DR: This article examined how well the basic properties of the traditional 2 × 2 model of a competitive economy, commonly used in much of the pure theory of international trade, generalize when more goods and factors are considered.
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Factor intensities and factor substitution in general equilibrium

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine how factor intensity rankings between industries and the economywide asymmetry in the degree of factor substitution combine to influence the manner in which changes in relative commodity prices affect the factoral distribution of income.
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Some theorems of trade and general equilibrium with many goods and factors

Winston W. Chang
- 01 May 1979 - 
TL;DR: In this article, the Stolper-Samuelson matrix, the Rybczynski matrix, and the matrix which measures the effect of a change in factor endowments upon factor rewards at constant commodity prices were derived.