Heckscher-Ohlin model

The Heckscher-Ohlin model was produced as an alternative to the Ricardian model of basic comparative advantage. Despite its greater complexity it did not prove much more accurate in its predictions. However from a theoretical point of view it did provide an elegant solution by incorporating the neoclassical price mechanism into international trade theory.

The theory argues that the pattern of international trade is determined by differences in factor endowments. It predicts that countries will export those goods that make intensive use of locally abundant factors and will import goods that make intensive use of factors that are locally scarce. Empirical problems with the H-O model, known as the Leontief paradox, were exposed in empirical tests by Wassily Leontief who found that the United States tended to export labor intensive goods despite having a capital abundance.

Core assumptions of the H-O model: (1) Labor and capital flow freely between sectors (2) The production of shoes is labor intensive and computers is capital intensive (3) The amount of labor and capital in two countries differ (difference in endowments) (4) free trade (5) technology is the same across countries (long-term) (6) Tastes are the same.