A premium paid to a factor of production in one industry over the return earned by the same factor in the other industry in a two-sector model is a distortion that affects all factor prices and the general efficiency of production. It allows for the possibility that the industry employing the higher capital-labor ratio nonetheless pays labor a higher distributive share. In such a case, commodity outputs are inversely related to commodity prices. Furthermore, the paper explores how distortions can affect the shape of the transformation schedule and the optimal strategy to be followed by a factor of production intent on maximizing its returns.

This paper examines how well the basic properties of the traditional 2 × 2 model of a competitive economy, commonly used in much of the pure theory of international trade, generalize when more goods and factors are considered. The notion of factor intensity and the Hekscher-Ohlin, Stolper-Samuelson, and Rybczynski theorems are discussed. The role played by the no-joint-production assumption as opposed to small dimensionality in the latter two results is stressed. The mathematical appendix provides a compact and formal statement of the properties discussed in the text.

This paper examines how well the basic properties of the traditional 2 × 2 model of a competitive economy, commonly used in much of the pure theory of international trade, generalize when more goods and factors are considered. The notion of factor intensity and the Hekscher-Ohlin, Stolper-Samuelson, and Rybczynski theorems are discussed. The role played by the no-joint-production assumption as opposed to small dimensionality in the latter two results is stressed. The mathematical appendix provides a compact and formal statement of the properties discussed in the text.