Abstract
We investigate how joint production affects the likelihood of factor price equalization (FPE) through trade. Following up on recent contributions by Samuelson (1992) and Jones (1992), we propose to take the relative size of the FPE region of endowment distributions to measure this likelihood, and we show that it mayincrease even if joint production leads to adecrease of the number of basic production processes, and it maydecrease even if the number of basic production processes operated in equilibrium isthe same as under nonjoint production. A 2×2×2 example is analyzed in more detail. Moreover, we show that the argument of Jones (1992) can be reinterpreted in a more applied direction by considering the effects of switching from a regime where only intermediate products are traded to a regime where all products are traded. The paper shows that the likelihood of FPE may decrease by integrating product markets in this way. Still more surprising is the fact that integration may even destroy FPE.
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Albert, M., Kohler, W. Factor-price equalization under joint and nonjoint production. Zeitschr. f. Nationalökonomie 62, 271–294 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01238820
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01238820