On Types of Trade,Adjustment of Labor and Welfare Gains During Asymmetric Liberalizations

Abstract

This paper modifies the two-industry, two-country Heckscher-Ohlin model with intermediate goods to decompose trade into its horizontal and vertical intra-industry, as well as inter-industry parts. Acknowledging that liberalization affects each type of trade differently, and that changes in each imply labor adjustment of different magnitudes, the paper analyzes the effects of widely observed asymmetries in liberalization policies. The paper concludes with the implications of the model for the liberalization between the East and the West through the Europe Agreements.