Classical theories of international trade briefly. The theory of comparative advantage. Theory of Absolute Advantage

Topic: Classical and modern theories of world trade (Option No. 9)

University: VZFEI

Year and city: Moscow 2011

Option number 9

1. Classical and modern theories of world trade. 3

2. Control test tasks. fifteen

3. Task. sixteen

List of references.. 18

1. Classical and modern theories of world trade

world trade- is a form of communication between producers of different countries, arising on the basis of the international division of labor, and expresses their mutual economic dependence.

The first attempt at a theoretical understanding of international trade and the development of recommendations in this area was the doctrine of mercantilism, which dominated the manufacturing period, i.e. from the 16th century until the middle of the 18th century. when the international division of labor was predominantly limited to bilateral and tripartite relations. At that time, industry had not yet broken away from the national soil, and goods were produced for export from national raw materials. So, England processed wool, Germany - flax, France - silk into flax, etc. The mercantilists held the view that the state should sell as much of any goods on the foreign market as possible, and buy as little as possible. At the same time, gold, identified with wealth, will accumulate. It is clear that if all countries pursue such a policy of refusing to import, then there will be no buyers and there will be no question of any international trade.

Classical theories of world trade

A. Smith's theory of absolute advantages

The founder of economic science, Adam Smith, in his book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776), paid considerable attention to the division of labor based on the specialization of economic activity. At the same time, A. Smith extended the conclusions about the division of labor to the world economic sphere, for the first time theoretically substantiating the principle of absolute advantages (or absolute costs): “The basic rule of every prudent head of the family is not to try to make at home such items, the production of which will cost more than buying them on the side ... What seems reasonable in the conduct of any private family can hardly be unreasonable for the whole kingdom. If any foreign country can supply us with any commodity at a cheaper price than we are able to manufacture it, it is much better to buy it from her with some part of the product of our own industrial labor applied in that area in which we have some advantage"

Thus, the essence of A. Smith's views is that the basis for the development of international trade is the difference in absolute costs. Trade will bring economic benefits if goods are imported from a country where costs are absolutely lower, and those goods are exported whose costs in this country are lower than abroad.

D. Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage

Another classic, David Ricardo, convincingly proved that interstate specialization is beneficial not only in cases where a country has an absolute advantage in the production and marketing of a given product compared to other countries, i.e. it is not necessary that the cost of producing this product be less than the cost of similar products produced abroad. It is quite enough, according to D. Ricardo, for this country to export those goods for which it has a comparative advantage, i.e. that in these commodities the ratio of its expenditures to that of other countries would be more favorable to it than in other commodities.

The theory of comparative advantage is based on a number of assumptions. It comes from the presence of two countries and two goods; production costs only in the form of wages, which, moreover, are the same for all professions; ignoring differences in wage levels between countries; no transport costs and free trade. These initial prerequisites were necessary to identify the basic principles for the development of international trade.

The Heckscher-Ohlin factor ratio theory of production

Further development of the classical theory of international trade is associated with the creation in the 20s. 20th century Swedish economists Eli Heckscher and Bertil Olin theories of the ratio of factors of production. This theory is based on the same premises as Smith and Ricardo's theories of absolute and comparative advantage. The main difference is that it proceeds from the presence of not one, but two factors of production: labor and capital. According to the views of Heckscher and Ohlin, each country is endowed with these factors of production to varying degrees, which gives rise to differences in the ratio of prices for them in countries participating in international trade. The price of capital is the interest rate, and the price of labor is wages.

The level of relative prices, i.e. the ratio of capital and labor prices in countries more saturated with capital will be less than in countries where there is a shortage of capital and relatively large labor resources. Conversely, the level of relative prices for labor and capital in countries with excess labor resources will be lower than in other countries where they are deficient.

This in turn leads to a difference in relative prices for the same goods, on which national comparative advantages depend. Hence, each country tends to specialize in the production of goods that require more factors with which it is relatively better endowed.

Factor price equalization theorem (Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson theorem)

Under the influence of international trade, the relative prices of goods participating in world trade tend to equalize. This also leads to an equalization of the ratio of prices for factors of production used in the creation of these goods in different countries. The nature of this interaction was revealed by the American economist P. Samuelson, who proceeded from the basic postulates of the Heckscher-Ohlin theory. In accordance with the Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson theorem, the mechanism for equalizing prices for factors of production is as follows. In the absence of foreign trade, the prices of factors of production (wages and interest rates) will differ in both countries: the price of the excess factor will be relatively lower, and the price of the scarce factor will be relatively higher.

Participation in international trade and the country's specialization in the production of capital-intensive goods lead to the flow of capital into export industries. The demand for a factor of production that is abundant in a given country exceeds the supply of the latter, and its price (interest rate) rises. On the contrary, the demand for labor, which is a scarce factor in a given country, is relatively reduced, which leads to a decrease in its price - wages.

In another country, relatively better endowed with labor resources, specialization in the production of labor-intensive goods leads to a significant movement of labor resources to the corresponding export industries. An increase in the demand for labor leads to an increase in wages. The demand for capital decreases relatively, which causes a decrease in its price - the interest rate.

Leontief's paradox

In accordance with the theory of the ratio of factors of production, relative differences in their endowment determine the structure of foreign trade of individual groups of countries. In countries that are relatively more capital-saturated, capital-intensive goods should predominate in exports, while labour-intensive goods should dominate in imports. Conversely, in countries that are relatively more labor-saturated, labor-intensive goods will dominate in exports, and capital-intensive goods will dominate in imports.

The factor ratio theory of production has been repeatedly subjected to empirical tests by analyzing specific statistical data in relation to various countries.

The most famous study of this kind was carried out in 1953 by the famous American economist of Russian origin V. Leontiev. He analyzed the structure of US foreign trade in 1947 and 1951.

The US economy after World War II was characterized by high capital saturation and relatively higher wages compared to other countries. According to the factor-of-production theory, the United States of America should have exported predominantly capital-intensive goods and imported predominantly labor-intensive goods.

V. Leontiev determined the ratio of capital and labor costs required for the production of export products worth 1 million dollars and the volume of imports of the same value. Contrary to expectations, the results of the study showed that US imports were 30% more capital intensive than exports. This result became known as the "Leontief paradox".

There are various explanations of Leontief's paradox in the economic literature. The most persuasive of these is that the United States, earlier than other industrialized countries, has achieved significant advantages in the creation of new high-tech products. Therefore, American exports were dominated by goods with relatively high skilled labor costs, while imports were dominated by goods that required relatively large capital outlays, including various types of commodities.

Leontief's paradox warns against overly straightforward and simplistic use of the conclusions of the Heckscher-Ohlin theory for practical purposes.

Modern theories of international trade

The Heckscher-Ohlin theory explained the development of foreign trade by the different endowment of countries with factors of production, however, in recent decades, trade between countries where the difference in endowment with factors is small there is a contradiction - the causes of trade have disappeared, and trade has increased. This is explained by the fact that the Heckscher-Ohlin theory developed in those years when inter-industry trade was predominant. Back in the early 1950s, the exchange of raw materials from developing countries for manufactured goods from developed countries was most characteristic. By the beginning of the 80s, already 2/3 of exports, for example, from Great Britain accounted for Western Europe and North America. In the foreign trade of industrialized countries, the mutual exchange of manufactured products has become predominant. Moreover, these countries simultaneously sell and buy not just manufactured products, but goods of the same name, differing only in qualitative characteristics. A feature of the production of export goods of industrialized countries is the relatively high cost of R&D. These countries today are increasingly specialized in the production of the so-called science-intensive high-tech products.

The development of knowledge-intensive industries and the rapid growth of the international exchange of their products led to the formation of neo-technological theories. This direction is a collection of individual models that partially complement each other, but sometimes contradict each other.

Technology Gap Theory

In accordance with this theory, trade between countries takes place even with the same endowment with factors of production and can be caused by technical changes that occur in one industry in one of the trading countries, due to the fact that technical innovations initially appear in one country, the latter gains an advantage: new technology makes it possible to produce goods at a lower cost. If the innovation consists in the production of a new product, then the entrepreneur in the innovator country has a so-called "quasi-monopoly" for a certain time, in other words, he receives additional profit by exporting a new product. Hence the new optimal strategy: to produce not what is relatively cheaper, but what no one else can produce yet, but is necessary for everyone or many. As soon as others can master this technology - to produce something new and again something that is not available to others.

As a result of the emergence of technical innovations, a "technological gap" is formed between countries that have and do not have these innovations. This gap will gradually be overcome, because other countries begin to copy the innovation of the innovator country. However, until the gap is bridged, trade in new goods produced using new technology will continue.

The "product life cycle" theory

In the mid 60s. American economist R. Vernon put forward the theory of the product life cycle, in which he tried to explain the development of world trade in finished products based on the stages of their life, i.e. the period of time during which the product has viability in the market and ensures the achievement of the goals of the seller.

The above theory is the most popular neo-technological theory. It attracted almost all economists, since it more accurately reflects the real state of the international division of labor in the modern period. In accordance with this theory, each new product goes through a cycle that includes the stages of introduction, expansion, maturity and aging. Each stage is distinguished by a specific nature of demand and technology.

At the first stage of the cycle, the demand for the product will be small. It is presented to people with high incomes, for whom the price is not of great importance when making a decision to purchase a product. The more people with high incomes, the more likely it is that new products will appear on the market, the production of which requires high costs, because their technology hasn't matured yet. This technology involves the use of a large number of highly skilled workers. The export of the new product at the first stage will be insignificant.

In the second stage - the stage of growth, the demand in the domestic market expands rapidly, the product becomes universally recognized. Serial production of large batches of new goods begins. At this stage, there is a demand for a new product abroad. Initially, it is fully satisfied through exports, and then foreign production of a new product begins due to the transfer of technology.

In the third stage, demand in the domestic market is saturated. The production technology is completely standardized, which makes it possible to use less skilled labor, reduce production costs, prices and achieve maximum production of goods by firms in the innovator country and foreign companies. The latter begin to penetrate the domestic market of the country where the goods appeared.

At the last stage of the cycle, the product ages, its production begins to decline. A further reduction in prices no longer leads to an increase in demand, as it was at the stage of maturity.

This is the general scheme of the passage of a new product "cycle of life". Theorists of this model are not limited to such general descriptions. They believe that it is possible to identify specific countries whose conditions are most suitable for the production of either the latest goods or goods that are at other stages of maturity.

The theory of specialization of production

In the early 80s of the XX century. American economists P. Krugman and K. Lancaster proposed an alternative to the classical explanation of the causes of international trade. According to their approach, countries with the same factor endowment will be able to benefit most from trade with each other if they specialize in different industries, characterized by economies of scale. The essence of this effect, well known from microeconomic theory, is that with a certain technology and organization of production, long-term average costs decrease as the volume of output increases, i.e. economies of scale arise.

In order for the effect of mass production to be realized, obviously, a sufficiently capacious market is necessary. International trade plays a decisive role in this, as it allows the formation of a single integrated market, more capacious than the market of any single country. As a result, consumers are offered more products and at lower prices.

Theory of international competitiveness of nations

In a separate row is the theory of M. Porter, who believes that the theories of D. Ricardo and Heckscher-Ohlin have already played a positive role in explaining the structure of foreign trade, but in recent decades they have actually lost their practical significance, since the conditions for the formation of competitive advantages have changed significantly, the dependence of the competitiveness of industries on the presence in the country of the main factors of production is eliminated. M. Porter identifies the following determinants that form the environment in which the competitive advantages of industries and firms develop:

1) factors of production of a certain quantity and quality;

2) the conditions of domestic demand for the products of this industry, its quantitative and qualitative parameters;

3) the presence of related and supporting industries that are competitive in the world market;

4) the strategy and structure of firms, the nature of competition in the domestic market.

The named determinants of competitive advantage form a system, mutually reinforcing, and, causing the development of each other. Added to these are two more factors that can seriously affect the situation in the country: the actions of the government and random events. All of the listed characteristics of the economic environment in which competitive industries can be formed are considered in dynamics as a flexible developing system.

The state plays an important role in the process of formation of specific advantages of the sectors of the national economy, although this role is different at different stages of this process. These can be targeted investments, export promotion, direct regulation of capital flows, temporary protection of domestic production and promotion of competition in the early stages; indirect regulation through the tax system, development of market infrastructure, information base for business in general, financing of scientific research, support for educational institutions, etc. Experience shows that in none of the countries the creation of competitive industries was possible without the participation of the state in one form or another. This is all the more relevant for transition economies, since the relative weakness of the private sector does not allow it to independently form the necessary factors of competitive advantage and win a place in the world market in a short time.

The theory of foreign trade activities of firms

In this theory, the object of analysis is not a single country, but an international firm. The objective basis of this approach is a fact generally recognized by economic science: a significant part of foreign trade operations is actually an intra-company exchange: intra-company communications currently account for about 70% of all world trade in goods and services, 80-90% of licenses and patents sold, 40% of capital exports .

Intra-company trade is based on the exchange of semi-finished products and spare parts used in the assembly of a product intended for sale on the world market. At the same time, foreign trade statistics indicate that foreign trade is rapidly expanding between countries where the largest transnational corporations are located.

So, the development and complication of international trade is reflected in the evolution of theories that explain the driving forces of this process. In modern conditions, differences in international specialization can only be analyzed on the basis of the totality of all key models of the international division of labor.

If we consider world trade in terms of its development trends, then on the one hand, there is a clear strengthening of international integration, the gradual erasure of borders and the creation of various interstate trade blocs, on the other hand, a deepening of the international division of labor, the gradation of countries into industrialized and backward.

In historical terms, one cannot fail to note the growth of the influence of Asian countries on the processes of world trade; it is quite likely that in the new millennium this region will take a leading role in the global process of production and sale of goods.

2. Control test tasks

1. Specify the features according to which developing countries belong to the periphery of the world economy:

a) raw material specialization;

b) low level of development of productive forces;

c) intensive type of economy;

d) the multistructural nature of the economy with a predominance of non-market relations;

e) flexible adaptation to the world economic situation.

Answer: a), b), d).

The periphery is primarily developing countries. Since market relations in these countries function poorly, the market does not stimulate the development of production, they supply mainly raw materials to the world market.

2. The main reason for the outflow of labor from Russia is:

a) foreign activities of TNCs;

b) low level of real wages in the country;

c) unemployment;

d) religious factor.

Answer: b).

The most important reason for the outflow of labor from Russia is the low level of wages. Specialists of various professions leave for other countries to find new jobs in order to ultimately improve their material well-being, which is not easy to do in Russia.

3. Challenge

Two goods of the same quality - Russian and American - cost 300,000 rubles and 20,000 dollars, respectively. The nominal exchange rate of the US currency is 24 rubles. / 1 dollar. What is the real exchange rate?

Decision:

A general measure of a country's competitiveness in international markets is the price of a given country's product relative to the price of a similar product in another country, taking into account the ratio of the currencies of these countries. This ratio is called the real exchange rate and is calculated as follows:

Where: P - the price of goods (or the general price level) in their country;

P * - the price of goods (or the general level of prices) abroad;

e - nominal exchange rate;

ε - real exchange rate.

ε \u003d 1/24 dollars / rubles * 300000 / 20000 \u003d 0.625

That is, the price of a Russian product is 0.625 US. That is, ceteris paribus, we can exchange 6 units of Russian goods for 1 unit of American goods.

Answer: The real exchange rate is 0.625

List of used literature

Kudrov V. M., World economy: textbook. - M.: Yustitsinform, 2009 - 512 p.
Malkov IV World economy in questions and answers: textbook. allowance. - M.: Prospekt, 2004. - 271 p.
Polyak G. B., Markova A. N. History of the world economy: textbook. For university students. - 3rd ed. - M.: UNITI-DANA, 2008. - 670 p.

Theories of comparative advantage

International trade is the exchange of goods and services, through which countries satisfy their unlimited needs on the basis of the development of the social division of labor.

The main theories of international trade were laid down in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. eminent economists Adam Smith and David Ricardo. A. Smith in his book “A Study on the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” (1776) formulated the theory of absolute advantage and, arguing with mercantilists, showed that countries are interested in the free development of international trade, since they can benefit from it regardless of whether whether they are exporters or importers. D. Ricardo in his "Principles of Political Economy and Taxation" (1817) proved that the principle of advantage is only a special case of the general rule, and substantiated the theory of comparative advantage.

When analyzing theories of foreign trade, two circumstances should be taken into account. First, economic resources - material, natural, labor, etc. - are unevenly distributed among countries. Second, the efficient production of different goods requires different technologies or combinations of resources. It is important to emphasize, however, that the economic efficiency with which countries are able to produce different goods can and does change over time. In other words, the advantages, both absolute and comparative, enjoyed by countries are not given once and for all.

The theory of absolute advantage.

The essence of the theory of absolute advantage is as follows: if a country can produce a particular product more and cheaper than other countries, then it has an absolute advantage.

Consider a hypothetical example: two countries produce two goods (grain and sugar).

Suppose one country has an absolute advantage in grains and the other in sugar. These absolute advantages can, on the one hand, be generated by natural factors - special climatic conditions or the presence of huge natural resources. Natural advantages play a special role in agriculture and extractive industries. On the other hand, the advantages in the production of various products (primarily in the manufacturing industries) depend on the prevailing production conditions: technology, qualifications of workers, organization of production, etc.

In conditions where there is no foreign trade, each country can consume only those goods and such quantities as it produces, and the relative prices of these goods in the market are determined by the national costs of their production.

Domestic prices for the same goods in different countries are always different as a result of peculiarities in the availability of factors of production, the technologies used, the qualifications of the labor force, etc.

For trade to be mutually beneficial, the price of a commodity in the foreign market must be higher than the domestic price of the same commodity in the exporting country and lower than in the importing country.

The benefit to countries from foreign trade will be an increase in consumption, which may be due to the specialization of production.

So, according to the theory of absolute advantage, each country should specialize in the production of the product in which it has an exclusive (absolute) advantage.

The law of comparative advantage. In 1817, D. Ricardo proved that international specialization is beneficial for the nation. It was the theory of comparative advantage, or, as it is sometimes called, "the theory of comparative costs of production." Let's consider this theory in more detail.

Ricardo took only two countries for simplicity. Let's call them America and Europe. Also, to simplify the matter, he took into account only two goods. Let's call them food and clothing. For simplicity, all production costs are measured by labor time.

It should probably be agreed that trade between America and Europe should be mutually beneficial. It takes fewer working days to produce a unit of food in America than in Europe, while it takes fewer working days to produce a unit of clothing in Europe compared to America. It is clear that in this case, America will apparently specialize in food production and, exporting a certain amount of it, will receive in return a ready-made dress exported by Europe.

However, Ricardo did not limit himself to this. He showed that comparative advantage depends on labor productivity ratios.

Based on the theory of absolute advantage, foreign trade always remains beneficial for both parties. As long as there are differences in the ratios of domestic prices between countries, each country will have a comparative advantage, that is, it will always have a product whose production is more profitable at the existing cost ratio than the production of others. The gain from the sale of products will be greatest when each product is produced by the country in which the opportunity cost is lower.

Comparison of situations of absolute and comparative advantage leads to an important conclusion: in both cases, the gain from trade stems from the fact that cost ratios in different countries are different, i.e. The directions of trade are determined by relative costs, whether or not a country has an absolute advantage in the production of a product. It follows from this conclusion that a country maximizes its gains from foreign trade if it specializes entirely in the production of a product in which it has a comparative advantage. In reality, such full specialization does not occur, which is explained, in part, by the fact that replacement costs tend to increase as output increases. Under conditions of increasing replacement costs, the factors that determine the direction of trade are the same as under constant (constant) costs. Both countries can benefit from foreign trade if they specialize in the production of those goods where they have a comparative advantage. But with increasing costs, firstly, full specialization is unprofitable and, secondly, as a result of competition between countries, the marginal costs of substitution are leveled off.

It follows that, as food production and ready-made clothing increase in specialization and production, a point will be reached at which the ratio of costs in the two countries equalizes.

In this situation, the grounds for deepening specialization and expanding trade - differences in the ratio of costs - exhaust themselves, and further specialization will not be economically feasible.

Thus, the maximization of gains from foreign trade occurs with partial specialization.

The essence of the theory of comparative advantage is as follows: if each country specializes in those products in the production of which it has the greatest relative efficiency, or relatively lower costs, then trade will be mutually beneficial for both countries from the use of productive factors will increase in both cases.

The principle of comparative advantage, when extended to any number of countries and any number of products, can be of universal significance.

A serious drawback of the principle of comparative advantage is its static nature. This theory ignores any fluctuations in prices and wages, it abstracts from any inflationary and deflationary gaps in the intermediate stages, from all sorts of balance of payments problems. It proceeds from the fact that if workers leave one industry, they do not turn into chronically unemployed, but will certainly move to another, more productive industry. Not surprisingly, this abstract theory was heavily compromised during the Great Depression. Some time ago, her prestige began to recover again. In a mixed economy based on the theory of neoclassical synthesis, which mobilizes modern theories of chronic recessions and inflation, the classical theory of comparative advantage regains public importance.

The theory of comparative advantage is a coherent and logical theory. For all its excessive simplification, it is very important. A nation that ignores the principle of comparative advantage may pay a heavy price for this - a decline in living standards and a slowdown in potential economic growth rates.

Heckscher-Ohlin's Theory of International Trade

The theory of comparative advantage leaves aside the key question: what causes cost differences between countries? The Swedish economist E. Heckscher and his student B. Ohlin tried to answer this question. According to them, the differences in costs between countries are mainly due to the fact that the relative endowment of countries with factors of production is different.

According to the Heckscher-Ohlin theory, countries will tend to export surplus factors and import scarce factors of production, thereby compensating for the relatively low provision of countries with factors of production on a global scale.

It should be emphasized that we are not talking here about the number of factors of production available to countries, but about their relative availability (for example, the amount of cultivable land per worker). If in a given country there is relatively more of a factor of production than in other countries, then its price will be relatively lower. Consequently, the relative price of the product, in the production of which this cheap factor is used to a greater extent than others, will be lower than in other countries. Thus, comparative advantages arise, which determine the direction of foreign trade.

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Topic: Basic theories of international trade

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	Introduction…………………………………………………………....
	Theories of international trade………………………………................................................... .........
	The theory of comparative advantage D.Ricardo………………......
	Heckscher-Ohlin theory………………………………………………...
	"Leontiev's Paradox"…………………………………………………
	Neotechnological theories…………………………………….......
	Technology Gap Theory………………………………….
	Theory of the “product life cycle”……………………………………
	M. Porter's theory: the theory of competitive advantages…………
	The theory of specialization of production………………………………
	The theory of foreign trade activities of firms………………………
	The role of Russia's foreign trade in the global economy.................................................................. ...............................................
	Trends and factors in the development of Russia's foreign trade………
	The structure of Russia's foreign trade………………………………
	Conclusion…………………………………………………………...
	Glossary…………………………………………………………….
	Bibliography……………………………….....
	Appendix……………………………………………………..........

INTRODUCTION

What is the basis of trade between countries. Generally speaking, international trade is a means by which countries can develop specialization, increase the productivity of their resources, and thus increase overall output. Sovereign states, as well as individuals and regions of a country, can benefit by specializing in the products they can produce with the greatest relative efficiency and then exchanging for goods they cannot produce efficiently themselves.

Theories of international trade, originating from English classical political economy, have gone through a number of stages in their development along with the development of world economic thought. However, their central questions were and remain the following:

what underlies the international division of labor

what international specialization is most effective for individual countries and regions and brings them the greatest benefits

what factors predetermine the competitiveness of a country in world trade

The relevance of this topic lies in the fact that in modern conditions, the country's active participation in world trade is associated with significant advantages: it allows you to more efficiently use the resources available in the country, join the world's achievements in science and technology, to carry out structural restructuring of its economy in a shorter time, and more fully and diversified to meet the needs of the population.

The purpose of this work is to most fully consider international trade and trade policy, to identify the problem and prospects for the development of international trade.

Research objectives: to help understand the theoretical foundations, principles and features of the theories of international trade, to learn their most important mechanisms and methods, to understand specific forms.

The theoretical and methodological basis of the study are the achievements of domestic and foreign science.

When working on this coursework, the works of such economists as O. Heckscher, B. Olin, D. Ricardo, R. Dornbusch, D. Keynes, P. Krugman, V. Leontiev, K. McConnell, A. Marshall, M. Obstfeld, S. Fischer, J. Schumpeter. The most useful were the works of L. Abalkin, A. Aganbegyan, N. Petrakov, J. Tobin, P. Fisher, and others.

1. Theories of international trade

International trade is a form of communication between producers of different countries, arising on the basis of the international division of labor, and expresses their mutual economic dependence. The following definition is often given in the literature: "International trade is the process of buying and selling between buyers, sellers and intermediaries in different countries."

International trade is the paid total trade turnover between all countries of the world. However, the concept of “international trade” is also used in a narrower sense: for example, the total trade turnover of industrialized countries, the total trade turnover of developing countries, the total trade turnover of the countries of a continent, region, for example, the countries of Eastern Europe, etc.

The problems of international trade were of interest to scientists and politicians even at a time when other areas of economic theory had not yet been developed.

1.1. D. Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage

The theory of international trade by D. Ricardo, and earlier by A. Smith, was called upon to prove, in contrast to the mercantilists, the necessity and expediency of free foreign trade. Smith explained the existence of international trade and its profitability by the difference in the absolute costs of production of goods in different countries. The international division of labor and specialization were considered expedient, since each country had special conditions and resources that provided it with advantages over other countries: the ability to produce certain goods at a lower cost (or the ability to produce more goods per unit time).

In A. Smith's theory of absolute advantage, the principles of rational behavior of an economic entity are transferred to the sphere of international trade: if you can buy a product abroad at a lower price than at home, then it is better to do this by specializing in the production of that product that is cheaper to produce at home. certain advantages in the industry.

The division of labor and the specialization of countries in goods in which they have an absolute advantage, the export of these goods after meeting domestic needs in exchange for other goods whose production costs are lower in other countries, all this makes it possible to achieve a general economy of costs in trading countries, since each of them mainly produces those goods for which it spends less resources than other countries.

D. Ricardo took the next step in the theory of international trade, proving its expediency even for those cases where the country does not have an absolute advantage in the production of any goods. He showed that whenever, in the absence of trade, there are differences between countries in the ratio of production costs of different goods, each country will have a comparative advantage: it will always have a product whose production will be more efficient than the production of others, given the existing ratio of costs in different countries. . It is in the production of such goods that the country should specialize and export it in exchange for other goods.

D. Ricardo's theory was based on differences in the costs of production of goods between countries, as well as on the assumption of the constancy of replacement costs in each country. In practice, however, the assumption of constant replacement costs has proven untenable. In many industries, the growth of production was accompanied by an increase in marginal costs, and consequently, the release of each additional unit of goods required the abandonment of the production of more and more other goods. In addition, the transfer of production from one industry to another led to an increase in replacement costs and for the reason that the production of different types of goods required a different combination of resources, different technologies, etc. the assumption of constant replacement costs had the consequence that the maximum gain from foreign trade was achieved when countries completely specialized in goods in the production of which they had a comparative advantage. But the real structure of foreign trade did not confirm this conclusion. There were practically no examples of complete specialization in the world.

All this led to the replacement of this premise with a more acceptable one – about increasing replacement costs. This meant that as one industry expanded at the expense of others, the release of each additional unit of a product was accompanied by the abandonment of the production of more and more output in other industries.

Thus, the theory of comparative advantage shows that consumption opportunities in a country can be expanded not only by improving or increasing domestic factors (which pushes the boundaries of production possibilities), but also through international trade and specialization within the international division of labor.

1.2. Heckscher–Ohlin theory

The new model was created by the Swedish economists Eli Heckscher and Bertel Ohlin. Up until the 60s. the Heckscher-Ohlin model dominated the economic literature.

The essence of the neoclassical approach to international trade and the specialization of individual countries is as follows: For reasons of historical and geographical nature, the distribution of material and human resources between countries is uneven, which, according to neoclassicists, explains the differences in relative prices for goods, on which, in turn, depend national comparative advantage. From this follows the law of proportionality of factors: in an open economy, each country tends to specialize in the production of goods that require more factors with which the country is relatively better endowed. Ohlin put this law even more succinctly: "International exchange is the exchange of abundant factors for rare ones: a country exports goods whose production requires more abundant factors."

In accordance with the Heckscher-Ohlin theory, countries will export those goods, the production of which requires significant costs of relatively excess factors, and import goods, in the production of which relatively scarce factors would have to be intensively used. Thus, in a latent form, excess factors are exported and scarce ones are imported. The intensive use of a factor, for example, labor, in the production of a product means that the share of labor costs in its value is higher than in the cost of other goods (usually such a product is called labor-intensive).

The relative endowment of a country with factors of production is determined as follows: if the ratio between the amount of this factor and other factors in the country is higher than in the rest of the world, then this factor is considered relatively excessive for this country, and vice versa, if the specified ratio is lower than in other countries, the factor is considered deficient.

Practice partly confirms the conclusions of the Heckscher-Ohlin theory. But in recent decades, the structure of provision of developed countries (especially European ones) with the necessary production resources has been relatively leveling off, which, according to the Heckscher-Ohlin theory, should have reduced their incentives to trade with each other. However, this does not happen. On the contrary, the center of gravity in international trade is shifting precisely to trade between industrialized countries, that is, countries with approximately the same supply of factors of production. Moreover, the proportion of mutual deliveries of similar industrial goods is growing in world trade. This does not fit into the Heckscher-Ohlin theory.

1.3. "Leontief's Paradox"

Practical searches in order to confirm or refute the Heckscher-Ohlin theory were largely facilitated by the appearance in the 50s of the so-called "Leontief paradox". V. Leontiev showed that in 1947 the United States, which was considered a capital-abundant country, exported not capital-intensive, but labor-intensive products, although, according to the Heckscher-Ohlin theory, the result should have been the opposite. Further studies, on the one hand, confirmed the presence of this paradox in the United States in the post-war period, on the other hand, they showed that capital is not the most abundant factor in the country. Above it are cultivated land and scientific and technical personnel. And here the Heckscher-Ohlin theory was confirmed: the United States turned out to be a net exporter of goods in the production of which these factors are intensively used. Let's consider this in more detail.

Leontiev, later awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics, relied on the surest of the instincts in science: to always check whether theoretical conclusions correspond to reality.

This time he decided to test the conclusion of the Heckscher-Ohlin theory that countries tend to export goods in the production of which they intensively use factors that are redundant for them, and import goods in the production of which these factors are used less intensively. More precisely, he wanted to simultaneously test two assumptions: 1) the Heckscher-Ohlin theory is correct, 2) in the US economy, as was widely believed, capital is more abundant than in its trading partners.

Leontiev obtained the ratio of the value of fixed capital and the number of workers in the export and import-substituting industries of the United States in 1947. This required calculations of capital and employment not only in several dozen of the industries under consideration, but also taking into account the capital and labor that were contained in their goods as a result of the use of products of other industries. Being one of the pioneers of the input-output balance, he successfully used its capabilities to obtain the necessary estimates of the capital-labor ratio by multiplying the coefficient matrices by the vectors of capital and labor costs, the cost of exports and imports by industry. The test conditions were as follows: if the conclusions of the Heckscher-Ohlin theory are correct, and capital in the United States is relatively more abundant, then the rate of capital expenditure per worker in a standard set of goods exported from the United States should be higher than that in import-substituting products, included in the standard set of goods imported into the United States.

The paradoxical results obtained by Leontiev puzzled not only himself, but also other economists: it turned out that in 1947 the United States was selling labor-intensive goods to other countries in exchange for relatively capital-intensive ones. The key parameter was only 0.77, while, according to the Heckscher-Ohlin theory, it should have been much higher than unity.

Leontiev himself and other economists approached this problem in different ways. The method has been repeatedly tested and found to be basically correct. There was no doubt about the excess of capital in the US compared to other countries. Theoretically, the paradox could be explained by the fact that the share of capital-intensive products in the structure of US demand was even higher than in production, which turned the country into a net importer of capital-intensive goods; however, this explanation was not suitable, since it did not correspond to reality. Other economists have tried to look for the cause in trade barriers or in the so-called "factor intensity reversibility" (where industry A is more capital-intensive than industry B under one ratio of factor prices, and less capital-intensive under another), but even this contributed little to the solution. Problems.

The most fruitful was the decision to introduce other factors of production into the model. Perhaps, many economists (and Leontiev among them) argued, one should take into account the fact that there are different types of labor, natural resources, capital, and so on. Numerous studies in this direction have led to two main results: 1) confirmed the existence of a "paradox" throughout most of the post-war period; 2) significantly improved our understanding of the availability of factors and the intensity of their use. The first refuted the Heckscher-Ohlin theory, the second supported it.

Despite differences in calculation techniques, all studies have largely confirmed the existence of the Leontief paradox in the United States between World War II and the early 1970s.

At the same time, in an attempt to unravel the Leontief paradox, scientists began to introduce into the model other factors of production, in addition to capital and labor. New calculations of "factor-intensity" have enriched, as already mentioned, our ideas about

who wins and who loses as a result of foreign trade. In a sense, this by-product of the Leontief Paradox controversy compensated for the damage it had done to the Heckscher-Ohlin theory. Of course, the US had some capital surplus and somehow exported less services of this factor than it imported. But research, stimulated by Leontief's work, has shown that capital is by no means the most abundant factor of production in the United States. The first place here belongs to cultivated land and scientific and technical personnel. Indeed, the United States is a net exporter of goods that make intensive use of these factors, in full accordance with the Heckscher-Ohlin theory. Thus, despite some damage done to the Heckscher-Ohlin theory by the Leontief paradox, it was eventually enriched by new results obtained in the course of studying this riddle.

Thus, the result of the discussion around the "Leontief's paradox" was the tendency to decompose the factors of production and take into account each of the subspecies when explaining the directions of export and import flows. As separate factors capable of providing relative advantages to industries or firms, they began to single out, for example, labor of various qualifications, the quality of managerial personnel, various categories of scientific personnel, various types of capital, etc.

On the other hand, attempts to find a replacement for the Heckscher-Ohlin theory continue. Such, for example, is the theory according to which the countries that specialize in industries receive benefits from foreign trade. Which are characterized by economies of scale (or lower costs per unit of output when increasing production volume). But it is known from microeconomics that in industries with efficient mass production there is usually no free competition, which means that production will be in the hands of large monopolies.

1.4. Neotechnological theories

High-tech industries include the production of medicines, electronic computers and equipment, radio-electronic components, laboratory equipment, aviation and rocket and space industries.

1.5. Technology Gap Theory

1.6. The "product life cycle" theory

It is the most popular neo-technological theory. It attracted almost all economists, since it more accurately reflects the real state of the international division of labor in the modern period. In accordance with this theory, each new product goes through a cycle that includes the stages of introduction, expansion, maturity and aging. Each stage is distinguished by a specific nature of demand and technology.

At the first stage of the cycle, when a new product has just begun to be produced initially for the domestic market, the demand for it will be small. It is presented to people with high incomes, for whom the price is not of great importance when making a decision to purchase a product. The more people with high incomes, the more likely it is that new products will appear on the market, the production of which requires high costs, because their technology hasn't matured yet. This technology involves the use of a large number of highly skilled workers. The export of the new product at the first stage will be insignificant.

At the third stage (maturity), demand in the domestic market is saturated. The production technology is completely standardized, which makes it possible to use less skilled labor, reduce production costs, prices and achieve maximum production of goods by firms in the innovator country and foreign companies. The latter begin to penetrate the domestic market of the country where the goods appeared.

At the last stage of the cycle, the product ages, its production begins to decline. A further reduction in prices no longer leads to an increase in demand, as it was at the stage of maturity.

The neotechnological theories reflect the process of a radical restructuring of the system of the international division of labor based on the development of electronics, computer science, advanced communications, and new materials. In many areas of this process, the Asia-Pacific region sets the tone. Moreover, there is a fairly rapid blurring of the traditional "center-periphery" division. This phenomenon is called the "flying geese" concept. Its essence is that there is a continuous process of successive passage of certain phases of economic development by highly industrialized states, new industrial countries (NIS), ASEAN countries.

1.7. Michael Porter's Theory: Competitive Advantage Theory

factors of production of a certain quantity and quality;

conditions of domestic demand for the products of this industry, its quantitative and qualitative parameters;

the presence of related and supporting industries that are competitive in the world market;

strategy and structure of firms, the nature of competition in the domestic market.

1.8. The theory of specialization of production

How trade functions in terms of economies of scale, how countries benefit from it, is shown in Figure 1, where the example of American aircraft and Japanese ships is considered from the perspective of the theory of specialization of production.

Aircraft

B E US Court

Japan D C

Fig.1. Model of the theory of specialization of production

In the absence of trade, if each country desired to have both aircraft and ships, it would have to produce them in small quantities at inefficient locations like B (for the US) and E (for Japan). Both production possibilities curves are concave in this case, reflecting economies of scale.

As follows from the graphical model, when moving along the US production possibility curve from point B to point A (increasing output in aircraft manufacturing and reducing production of ships), the cost per aircraft in terms of ships that have to be abandoned becomes smaller (curve gets tough). This (presumably) may be due to the fact that aircraft manufacturing is economically efficient, while shipbuilding is the other way around, freeing up more and more resources with every unfinished ship. The same reasoning holds true for Japan's production possibilities curve. Here, as in the D. Ricardo model with non-increasing costs, countries have an incentive to complete specialization: for the USA, this is point A, for Japan, point D.

It should also be noted that the implementation of economies of scale, as a rule, leads to a violation of the principles of perfect competition, since it is associated with the concentration of production and the consolidation of firms that turn into monopolists. Accordingly, the structure of markets is changing. They become either oligopolistic with a predominance of inter-industry trade in homogeneous products, or markets of monopolistic competition with developed intra-industry trade in differentiated products. In this case, international trade is increasingly concentrated in the hands of giant international firms, transnational corporations (TNCs), which inevitably leads to an increase in the volume of intra-company trade, the directions of which are often determined not by the principles of comparative advantage or differences in the availability of factors of production, but by the strategic goals of the firms themselves - TNK.

1.9. The theory of foreign trade activities of firms

Statements by high-ranking Russian politicians that Russia is a full member of the G8, that Russia has been recognized as a country with a market economy, that it is ready to join the WTO, are made with pride.

Meanwhile, there is nothing particularly to be proud of, because Russia has not become a full-fledged member of the international economic community with a full right to vote on all the most important problems. Russia was forcibly "dragged" into the world economy, burdened with all its inherent problems and without providing any tools to solve them. This fact, most clearly manifested in the crisis year of 1998, when events in the currency and stock markets of distant Southeast Asia had a much greater impact on the country's economy than the Russian government, now, after 4 years of economic growth, is still perceived as a problem, as a potential threat to macroeconomic stability. And if then the main problem was the flow of capital, "hot money", now it is increasingly the flow of goods, i.e. the country's dependence on raw material exports, and, consequently, on the conjuncture of world commodity markets.

Indeed, the Russian economy, as many experts note, has become quite open: in terms of the ratio of trade turnover and GDP (60%), Russia in 2003 surpassed such countries as France (47%), Germany (56%), Japan (18% ) and the USA (21%). Foreign trade has a decisive impact on the economic development of the country. Thus, the contribution of exports to production growth was 87% in 1999 and 66% in 2003. 1 A number of strategically important industries rely in their development on export deliveries. In 2003, the proceeds from exports amounted to 80% in non-ferrous metallurgy, 62% in the oil and gas industry, and 56% in ferrous metallurgy. 2 Export-oriented industries account for 70-75% of the economy's profits and about the same amount of investment, 50-60% of tax revenues, 25-30% of household income, all foreign exchange earnings needed to pay off external debt and maintain the ruble exchange rate. At the same time, up to half of the retail turnover and investments in machinery and equipment are provided by imports.

It seems appropriate to pay closer attention to the general trends in the development of foreign trade as one of the types of international economic relations (IER), which, in turn, are part of the integrity of a higher order - the world economy. It is this systemic view of the problem that makes it possible to display the development processes in their entirety, and not confine ourselves to describing quantitative shifts in the structure of foreign trade.

2. The role of Russia's foreign trade in the world economy

Even the most general view of the processes taking place in the world economy and in Russia's foreign trade allows us to see how complex and contradictory they are, and to understand the need for a dialectical approach to them, which represents any phenomenon as a unity of two opposite tendencies. In relation to foreign trade, these trends can be simplified as follows: unification, integration, unification, growth of openness and liberalization, on the one hand, and regionalization, specialization, socio-economic differentiation, diversification, separatism and protectionism, on the other.

Indeed, on the one hand, the role of foreign trade in the development of the world economy of Russia can hardly be overestimated: the exchange of goods and services allows some countries to meet the needs for scarce raw materials, cheap consumer goods and thereby reduce production costs and control inflation; other countries - to realize the natural surplus of natural resources, technological superiority and expand the final demand of their economy, going beyond the narrow national borders and receiving additional income, profit; thereby giving impetus to the further development of production. But the importance of Russia's foreign trade has especially increased in recent decades, when, with the development of means of transport and communications, the world's largest manufacturers were able to effectively locate and regulate production facilities scattered around the globe, and most developing countries chose as their base strategy of export-oriented growth, which brought success to the countries of Southeast Asia. At the same time, consumers got the opportunity to buy goods and services without intermediaries, from the Russian Federation, even in other countries of the world (via the Internet). 3

However, on the other hand, these undoubtedly positive shifts are accompanied by a mass of negative consequences that cast doubt on the very possibility and expediency of further development in the same direction. It turns out that the liberalization of foreign trade for Russia brings, rather, negative results in the form of withdrawal of free financial resources and degradation of production. Instead of increasing the efficiency of the economy, in fact, there is an extraction of financial resources. In addition, the disadvantages of an export-oriented development strategy are becoming clearer: the more countries embark on this path, the less likely they are to succeed due to the overproduction of raw materials and food products. All this taken together poses a threat to the world economy as a whole, as it rebounds on developed countries, whose well-being is to a certain extent based on sources of cheap raw materials and labor and third-country markets. The threat of a classic Keynesian crisis of overproduction due to limited global demand is becoming increasingly clear.

Therefore, opposite trends arise and strengthen, ultimately aimed at limiting the influence of Russia's international relations and foreign trade on the economic development of countries, smoothing out the negative consequences, expressed primarily in the redistribution of value added in favor of developed countries with a technologically advanced export structure. .

Let us dwell in more detail on the analysis of the above tendencies and contradictions.

2.1. Trends and factors in the development of Russia's foreign trade

One trend - the world economy is becoming more and more integral, unified, connected, interdependent - slowly but surely, the formation of a single legal, cultural, informational and economic space is underway, where ideas freely spread and their carriers move, capitals, goods and services move, opportunities for operational management of huge financial and industrial empires, parts of which are scattered around the world. This, as noted by many researchers, is facilitated by the following factors: 4

- scale- growth in production volumes, concentration and centralization of capital and, as a result, the emergence of organizational forms whose activities go beyond national borders, acquiring an international character and contributing to the formation of a single world market;

- organizational and technological- a qualitatively new level of means of transport and communication, ensuring the rapid dissemination of goods and services, resources and ideas with their application in the most favorable conditions, as well as a radical change in the means of business communication, accelerating the exchange of economic and financial information, creating opportunities for prompt, timely and effective solving industrial, scientific, technical, commercial problems at the international level;

- scientific and technological- determined by the economic benefits of using advanced scientific, technical, technological and qualification levels of leading specialists for the accelerated implementation of new solutions at relatively low costs;

- sociological- manifested in overcoming national limitations, weakening the role of habits and traditions, social ties and customs, which increases the mobility of people in territorial, spiritual and psychological terms, contributing to international migration;

- political- expressed in weakening the rigidity of state borders, facilitating the freedom of movement of citizens, goods and services, capital, as well as strengthening the "political unity" of the world after the collapse of the USSR. 5

All these trends are manifested in the development of Russia's foreign trade.

First of all, its liberalization is taking place, expressed primarily in the reduction of obstacles to the free movement of goods and services.

Thus, from the end of the 1940s to 2003, tariffs on the import of industrial goods from Russia to developed countries decreased by 90% - to an average of 4%.

Secondly, the processes of international integration are growing, manifested in the creation and strengthening of interstate trade and economic blocs - the EEC, ASEAN, NAFTA, MERCOSUR, the Andean group.

Thirdly, Internationalization and globalization of the world economy are intensifying, by which most experts understand the process of emergence and development of transnational forms of management, within their framework a certain share of production, consumption, exports, imports and income of countries depends on the decisions of international centers located outside them.

Fourth, there is a deepening of the international division of labor, intercountry specialization.

Fifth, ongoing processes of universalization, unification, standardization apply to the entire economic and political life, production and consumption standards, value systems and legislative norms, scientific and technological progress, which will eventually lead to the formation of a single zone, a single legal and cultural-information field.

Starting from the second half of the XX century. the growth of Russia's foreign trade has become explosive. In the period 1950-2003. the volume of world exports, calculated in constant prices, increased by 21.8 times (an average annual growth rate of 6.4%). Over the same period, world production increased by 7.1 times (an average annual growth rate of 4.0%). 6

Thus, the share of exports in production increased by 3 times. In current prices, by 2003 the share of exports in GDP reached 20.2%. 7 The highest growth rates of foreign trade were observed in the 50s (7.2%) and 60s (8.6%). In the 1970s and 1980s, these rates gradually slowed down (5.2 and 3.9%, respectively), only to grow rapidly again in the 1990s (7.0%). At the same time, from 1950 to 2003, exports of manufactured goods increased the most (42 times) and, to a much lesser extent, exports of raw materials (8.3 times) and foodstuffs (5.9 times). In the 1990s, exports of office and telecommunications equipment (12% per year), machine-building and transport equipment (8%), and chemical products (7%) grew at the fastest pace. eight

2.2. The structure of Russia's foreign trade

The structure of Russia's foreign trade over the past 50-70 years has undergone significant changes. If in the first half of the 20th century (1937) about 2/3 of world trade was accounted for by food, raw materials and fuel, then in 2003 it was only 22% of trade, and the share of manufacturing increased accordingly to 78%, while the share of machines and equipment - from 11 to 42% (Table 1). nine

It should be noted the trend towards an increase in the consumption of raw materials and energy resources. However, the growth rate of trade in raw materials lags noticeably behind the overall growth rates of Russia's foreign trade, which is due to the production of substitutes for raw materials, its more economical use, and the deepening of its processing.

An important trend is the growth of trade in services: scientific, technical, industrial, commercial, financial and credit. Active trade in machinery and equipment has given rise to a number of new services - engineering, leasing, consulting, information and computing services - which in turn stimulates cross-country exchange of services, especially scientific, technical, industrial, communicative financial and credit nature. At the same time, trade in services, especially information and computing, consulting, leasing, and engineering, stimulates world trade in industrial goods.

As a result, by the end of the 20th century foreign trade has become one of the main factors of economic development.

The largest share in Russia's foreign trade is still occupied by developed countries. The countries of Western Europe in 2003 accounted for 39.3% of the world trade turnover, North America - 19.6%, Japan - 6.6%, and the rapidly developing countries of Southeast Asia (including China) - 17.7%. At the same time, the share of North America in exports in the period from 1948 to 1973 decreased from 27.3 to 16.9%, stabilizing further at this level. The share of Western Europe, which grew in 1948-1973. from 31.5 to 45.4%, then fluctuated in the range of 39-44%. ten

As a result, we can conclude that the current situation in the world, and in particular in Russia, is characterized by a typical Keynesian crisis of overproduction due to limited demand. On the one hand, demand from developed countries for raw materials and foodstuffs in Russia is limited by their economic growth rates (2-3% per year), 11 it lags behind the growth in supply from developing countries, which seek to catch up with developed countries, securing higher growth rates for themselves. production and GDP growth (5-10%). In addition, the demand for raw materials is limited by technological factors: the growth of energy saving, a decrease in material intensity, and the demand for food is limited by the policy of developed countries (especially the EU) to protect local producers for reasons of national security. On the other hand, the demand from developing countries for the product of foreign trade is limited due to the low solvency of the population, business and government in these countries. Another sign of the crisis may be an increase in the number of mergers and acquisitions: in fact, consolidation, consolidation, integration and cooperation is an effective way to reduce costs in the face of fierce competition and limited demand.

CONCLUSION

The development and complexity of international trade is reflected in the evolution of theories that explain the driving forces of this process. In modern conditions, differences in international specialization can only be analyzed on the basis of the totality of all key models of the international division of labor.

If we consider world trade in terms of its development trends, then on the one hand, there is a clear increase in international integration, the gradual erasure of borders and the creation of various interstate trade blocs, on the other hand, a deepening of the international division of labor, the division of countries into industrialized and backward.

It is impossible not to notice the ever-increasing role of modern means of communication in the process of exchanging information and concluding transactions themselves. Trends towards the depersonalization and standardization of goods allow accelerating the process of concluding transactions and the circulation of capital.

On the example of Russia, it can be noted that the country is a huge market for goods, services and capital. However, the degree of realization of this potential in the foreign economic sphere is very modest.

The state of Russian foreign trade is still painfully affected by the rupture of economic ties as a result of the collapse of the USSR, the curtailment of trade with the former socialist countries - members of the CMEA, which until the beginning of the 90s. were the main consumers of domestic engineering products.

But if the role of Russia in world trade is small, then for Russia itself the importance of the foreign economic sphere is very significant. Foreign trade remains an important source of investment goods, and also plays an important role in supplying the population of Russia with food and various goods.

Summing up, we note that international, or foreign, trade occupies a special place in the complex system of the world economy. Although in modern conditions the leading form of international economic relations is not the export of goods, but foreign investment, international trade in its scope and functions remains extremely important. It mediates almost all types of cooperation, including joint production activities of multinational entities, international technology transfer, etc. Both historically and logically, the internationalization of economic life has always begun with the sphere of commodity circulation.

		GLOSSARY
№ p/p	term	definition
	International trade	Trade of an individual country with other countries, consisting of paid exports/imports
	General license	Grants the right to any person for a certain period of time to freely import or export goods
	Globalization	Strengthening the interdependence of the influence of various spheres world economy, expressed in the gradual transformation of the world economy into a single market for goods/services/capital/labor and - the main thing - knowledge and information
	Individual license	Provided to a specific company; only she can import or export goods
	Internationalization of business activities	Formation, development of economic ties with other countries
	commercial document	Invoice, bill of lading, bill of lading
	License	Permission to use the objects of the license under certain conditions
	International trade	Paid cumulative trade turnover between all countries of the world, based on the international division of labor
	open economy	The economy of a country that opens its borders to the penetration of goods / capital from other countries and freely exports its goods / services to other countries
	Trademark	A designation registered in accordance with the established procedure, which serves to distinguish the goods of one company from the products of another
	financial document	Check, bill
		A financial document that has the name "check" on it naming the paying bank, directing the bank to pay the amount, the date and place of receipt of the check, the signature of the drawer

List of used literature

1. Avdokushin E.F., International economic relations. Tutorial. - M.: Marketing, 2005

2. Buglay V.B., Liventsev N.N., International economic relations. -M.: Finance and statistics, 2003

3. Kireev A.P., International Economics. - M.: Higher School, 2000

4. Kostyuk V.N., Macroeconomics. - M.: Center, 2004

5. Mikhailushkin A. I., Shimko P. D., Economics: Textbook for higher education institutions. - M .: Higher School, 2005

6. Mikhailushkin A.I., Shimko P.D., International Economics. - M.: Higher school, 2002

7. N. G. Mankiw, Macroeconomics. Per. from English. - M .: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 2008

8. Ovchinnikov G. P., International Economics: Proc. allowance. - St. Petersburg: Publishing House of V. A. Mikhailov, 2004

9. Pindike, Rubitfeld, Microeconomics. – M.: Deld, 2007

10. Salvatore D., International Economics: TRANS. from English / Ed. G. N. Kotova. - M., 2002

Applications

Appendix 1.

Dynamics of physical volumes of world production and exports in 1950-2000.

Appendix 2

Structure of Russia's foreign trade by commodity groups in 2003

1 Obolensky V.P. Prospects for expanding competitive advantages and changing the structure of Russia's foreign trade // Forecasting Problems. 2004. No. 6. P. 24

2 Obolensky V.P. Prospects for expanding competitive advantages and changing the structure of Russia's foreign trade // Forecasting Problems. 2004. No. 6. P. 48

3 International economic relations. Proc. for universities / Ed. prof. V.E. Rybalkin. Ed. 4th, revised. and additional M.: UNITI-DANA, 2001. S. 129

4 Krasnov L.V. Problems of development of Russia's foreign trade at the present stage // Problems of Forecasting. 2002. No. 6. S. 28-41

5 Dolgov S.I. Globalization of the economy. A new word or a new phenomenon. M.: Economics, 2002. S. 271

6 Obolensky V.P. Prospects for expanding competitive advantages and changing the structure of Russia's foreign trade // Forecasting Problems. 2004. No. 6. P. 51

7 Krasnov L.V. Problems of development of Russia's foreign trade at the present stage // Problems of Forecasting. 2002. No. 6. P. 43

Main theories international trade (4)Abstract >> Economic theory

Analysis major theories international trade. Object of study - main theories international trade: theory absolute advantages of A. Smith, theory comparative advantages D. Ricardo, theory ratios...

theories international trade (3)

Abstract >> Economics

The basis for the development of the social division of labor. Main theories international trade were laid at the end of the 18th beginning ...

The rule of international specialization, depending on absolute advantages, excluded from international trade countries that did not have them. D. Ricardo in his work "Principles of Political Economy and Taxation" (1817) developed the theory of absolute advantages and showed that the presence of an absolute advantage in the national production of a particular product is not a necessary condition for the development of international trade - international exchange is possible and desirable when having comparative advantage.

The theory of international trade D. Ricardo is based on the following premises:

free trade;

Fixed costs of production;

Lack of international labor mobility;

No transport costs;

Lack of technical progress;

Full-time;

There is one factor of production (labour).

The theory of comparative advantage states that if countries specialize in the production of those goods that they produce at a relatively lower cost compared to other countries, then trade will be mutually beneficial for both countries, regardless of whether production in one of them will be absolutely more efficient. than in the other. In other words: the basis for the emergence and development of international trade can only be the difference in the relative costs of production of goods, regardless of the absolute value of these costs.

In D. Ricardo's model, domestic prices are determined only by cost, that is, by the terms of the offer. But world prices can also be set by the conditions of world demand, as proved by the English economist J. Stuart Mil. In his Principles of Political Economy, he showed the price at which goods are exchanged between countries.

Under free trade, commodities will be exchanged at a price ratio that is somewhere between the relative prices of the commodities they trade within each country. The exact final price level, that is, the world prices of mutual trade, will depend on the volume of world supply and demand for each of these goods.

According to the theory of reciprocal demand developed by J. S. Mill, the price of an imported good is determined by the price of the good that must be exported in order to pay for imports. Therefore, the final ratio of prices in trade is determined by the internal demand for goods in each of the trading countries. The world price is set on the basis of the ratio of supply and demand, and its level should be such that the income from the country's total exports will enable it to pay for imports. However, when analyzing comparative advantages, we are not examining the market for a single product, but the relationship between the markets for two products that are produced simultaneously in two countries. Therefore, one should consider not absolute, but relative volumes of demand and supply of goods.

Thus, this theory is the basis for determining the price of goods, taking into account comparative advantages. However, its disadvantage is that it can only be applied to approximately the same size countries, when domestic demand in one of them can affect the price level in another.

in the conditions of specialization of countries in trade in goods in the production of which they have a relative advantage, countries can benefit from trade (economic effect). A country gains from trade because it can buy more of the foreign goods it needs from abroad with its goods than it can at home. The gain from trade is obtained both from the side of saving labor costs and from the side of increased consumption.

The meaning of the theory of comparative advantage is as follows:

The balance of aggregate demand and aggregate supply is described for the first time. The value of a commodity is determined by the ratio of aggregate demand and supply for it, presented both within the country and from abroad;

The theory is valid for any quantity of goods and any number of countries, as well as for the analysis of trade between its various subjects. In this case, the specialization of countries in certain goods depends on the ratio of wage levels in each of the countries;

The theory justified the existence of a gain from trade for all countries participating in it;

It became possible to build foreign economic policy on a scientific foundation.

The limitation of the theory of comparative advantage lies in the assumptions on which it is built. It does not take into account the influence of foreign trade on the distribution of income within the country, fluctuations in prices and wages, the international movement of capital, does not explain trade between almost identical countries, none of which has a relative advantage over the other, takes into account only one factor of production - labor .

In recent decades, significant shifts have taken place in the directions and structure of world trade, which are not always amenable to exhaustive explanation within the framework of classical trade theories. This encourages both the further development of existing theories and the development of alternative theoretical concepts. Among such qualitative shifts, one should first of all take revenge on the transformation of technical progress into a dominant factor in world trade, the ever-increasing share in trade of counter deliveries of similar industrial goods produced in countries with approximately the same supply, a sharp increase in the share of world trade attributable to intra-company trade.

Product life cycle theory

In the mid-1960s, the American economist R. Vernoy put forward the theory of the product life cycle, in which he tried to explain the development of world trade in finished products on the basis of their life stages, i.e. the period of time during which the product has viability in the market and ensures the achievement of the goals of the seller.

The position that a firm occupies in an industry is determined by the way in which the firm ensures its profitability (competitive advantage). The strength of the competitive position is ensured either by a lower level of costs than competitors, or by differentiation of the manufactured product (improving quality, creating products with new consumer properties, expanding after-sales service, etc.).

Success in the global market requires the optimal combination of a correctly chosen competitive strategy of the company with the competitive advantages of the country. M. Porter identifies four determinants of a country's competitive advantage. Firstly, the availability of factors of production, and in modern conditions the main role is played by the so-called developed specialized factors (scientific and technical knowledge, highly skilled labor force, infrastructure, etc.), purposefully created by the country. Secondly, the parameters of domestic demand for the products of this industry, which, depending on its volume and structure, allows the use of economies of scale, stimulates innovation and product quality improvement, pushes firms to enter the foreign market. Thirdly, the presence in the country of competitive supplier industries (which provides quick access to the required resources) and related industries that produce complementary products (which makes it possible to interact in the field of technology, marketing, service, exchange information, etc.) - So according to M. Porter, clusters of national competitive industries are formed. Finally, fourthly, the competitiveness of the industry depends on the national characteristics of the strategy, structure and rivalry of firms, i.e. because what are the conditions in the country that determine the features of the creation and management of firms, and what is the nature of competition in the domestic market.

M. Porter emphasizes that countries have the greatest chance of success in those industries or their segments where all four determinants of competitive advantage (the so-called national rhombus) are most favorable. Moreover, the national rhombus is a system whose components are mutually reinforcing, and each determinant affects all the others. An important role in this process is played by the state, which, by pursuing a targeted economic policy, influences the parameters of production factors and domestic demand, the conditions for the development of supplying industries and related industries, the structure of firms and the nature of competition in the domestic market.

Thus, according to Porter's theory, competition, including in the global market, is a dynamic, evolving process, which is based on innovation and constant technology updates. Therefore, in order to explain competitive advantages in the world market, it is necessary to “find out how firms and countries improve the quality of factors, increase the efficiency of their application and create new ones”.