Question

In Lurnee, it takes 10 resources to produce 1 ton of cocoa and 13.5 resources to produce 1 ton of rice. In South Tyberg, it takes 40 resources to produce 1 ton of cocoa and 20 resources to produce 1 ton of rice. Lurnee has a comparative advantage over South Tyberg in cocoa. This follows the theory of comparative advantage, and we can say that engaging in free trade benefits all countries that participate in it; however, this conclusion stems from which of these inaccurate assumptions?
A. We have assumed that agrarian nations do not specialize in producing particular products.
B. We have assumed the prices of resources and exchange rates in the two countries are dynamic.
C. We have assumed diminishing returns to specialization.
D. We have assumed constant returns to scale.
E. We have assumed there are barriers to the movement of resources from the production of one good to another within the same country.

Answer 1

Answer: We have assumed constant returns to scale.

Explanation:

Comparative advantage simply stated that an economy should produce the goods whereby the said economy has a lower opportunity cost than its counterpart.

Based on the analysis in the question, the inaccurate assumption is that we have assumed constant returns to scale. This means that an increase in the inputs such as capital and labour which are used in producction will also cause an identical increase in output. In reality, this isn't always true.