Technical Progress, Terms of Trade and Welfare under Variable Returns to Scale

The implications of variable returns to scale (VRS) have been extensively studied by trade theorists (e.g. Batra, 1968; Jones, 1968; Kemp and Negishi, 1970; and Eaton and Panagariya, 1979). It is, however, notable that virtually no efforts have been made to examine the welfare implications of growth for an open economy in the presence of VRS. The only exception is a recent study by Eaton and Panagariya (1982). They derived sufficient conditions for growth, rising either from factor accumulation or technical progress, to improve the welfare of a small country characterized by VRS.1 The purpose of this paper is to analyse the welfare implications of economic growth, identified specifically with Hicks-neutral technical progress, for a small as well as a large country in the presence of VRS. We obtain several alternative sufficient conditions for growth to be welfare-increasing. In addition, the effects of growth on the terms of trade in the case of a large country, as well as the effect of technical progress in both countries on the terms of trade, are examined

Economics · International economics · Macroeconomics · Market economy · Production (economics) · Returns to scale · Scale (ratio) · Scale effects · Technical progress · Terms of trade · Variable (mathematics) · Welfare · Economic Growth and Productivity · Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth · Monetary Policy and Economic Impact

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