Understanding Global Trade

by Elhanan Helpman

Overview

Helpman explains what shapes international production and distribution of goods and the resulting trade flows, and provides a clear, original account of the trade-theory revolutions of the 1980s and the post-recession. Though it contains no equations, Understanding Global Trade is mathematical in its elegance, precision, and power of expression.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674060784
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	04/25/2011
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Elhanan Helpman is the Galen L. Stone Professor of International Trade at Harvard University.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 Introduction 1

2 Comparative Advantage 12

2.1 Technology 15

2.2 Factor Proportions 28

3 Gainers and Losers 46

3.1 No Distributional Conflicts 48

3.2 Two Case Studies 52

3.2.1 The United States 52

3.2.2 Japan 53

3.3 Distributional Conflicts 56

3.4 Compensating Losers 62

4 Scale and Scope 68

4.1 Economies of Scale 72

4.2 Monopolistic Competition 79

4.3 Additional Sources of Gains from Trade 95

5 Across Firms within Industries 99

5.1 Exporting vs. Nonexporting Firms 100

5.2 Quantitative Assessment 107

5.3 Unemployment and Inequality 112

6 Offshoring and Outsourcing 126

6.1 Offshoring 129

6.2 The Traditional Approach 132

6.3 Horizontal FDI 134

6.4 Vertical FDI 142

6.5 Complex Integration 146

6.6 Internalization 154

7 Epilogue 166

Notes 173

Bibliography 193

Index 213

Editorial Reviews

Elhanan Helpman is among the foremost trade theorists of his generation. In this splendid book, he demonstrates that he can also write successfully for the public. This is welcome news for those who value an informed democracy.
-- Jagdish Bhagwati, author of In Defense of Globalization

The explosion in global trade over the past few decades is the defining economic phenomenon of our lifetimes, yet even professional economists struggle to understand its complexities. Understanding Global Trade explains, in a clear and non-technical style, important and exciting insights from the frontiers of research in international trade. Anyone interested in understanding the nuances of globalization should read this book. Elhanan Helpman is an immensely influential researcher who has towered above the field of international trade for more than three decades. With this wonderful book, his research ideas, and those of others in the field, will become known to a whole new audience.
-- Kenneth Rogoff, co-author of This Time is Different

Elhanan Helpman's Understanding Global Trade is a masterpiece of non-mathematical, fully understandable, but still rigorous, exposition. Within five chapters Helpman takes the reader from the classical theories of international trade, comparative advantage and Heckscher-Ohlin, to the modern theories that explain today's global trading world--of multinational firms, of outsourcing and outshoring, of why some firms export and others remain firmly local--and why it matters.
-- Stanley Fischer, Governor, Bank of Israel

From the Publisher

The explosion in global trade over the past few decades is the defining economic phenomenon of our lifetimes, yet even professional economists struggle to understand its complexities. Understanding Global Trade explains, in a clear and non-technical style, important and exciting insights from the frontiers of research in international trade. Anyone interested in understanding the nuances of globalization should read this book. Elhanan Helpman is an immensely influential researcher who has towered above the field of international trade for more than three decades. With this wonderful book, his research ideas, and those of others in the field, will become known to a whole new audience.

Kenneth Rogoff

Elhanan Helpman's Understanding Global Trade is a masterpiece of non-mathematical, fully understandable, but still rigorous, exposition. Within five chapters Helpman takes the reader from the classical theories of international trade, comparative advantage and Heckscher-Ohlin, to the modern theories that explain today's global trading world—of multinational firms, of outsourcing and outshoring, of why some firms export and others remain firmly local—and why it matters.

Stanley Fischer

Elhanan Helpman is among the foremost trade theorists of his generation. In this splendid book, he demonstrates that he can also write successfully for the public. This is welcome news for those who value an informed democracy.

Jagdish Bhagwati