The Rôle of Relative Wage Differences in International Trade

Abstract

Introduction: the problem, 1. — I. Examination of statistics: absolute wage differences and the ability to compete, 4; wages and the productivity of labor, 5; relative wages and their relation to exports, 8; cheap labor groups, 14. — II. The theory of relative wages: isolating the influence of wage differences on competitive power, 16; conditions under which a comparative advantage in wages is likely to be “decisive,” 20; comparison with the doctrine of comparative costs, 25; importance of relative wages and the need for more statistics, 28.