Testing the General Validity of the Heckscher-Ohlin Theorem

Daniel Bernhofen () and John C. Brown

American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 2016, vol. 8, issue 4, 54-90

Abstract: We exploit Japan's mid-nineteenth century transition from autarky to open trade to test Alan Deardorff's (1982) seminal and parsimonious autarky price formulation of the Heckscher-Ohlin theorem. Factor price data from Japan's late autarky period impose a refutable restriction on Japan's factor content of trade. Our data are constructed from many historical sources, including a major Japanese survey of agricultural techniques and a rich set of nineteenth century comparative cost studies. Evaluating Japan's factor content of trade during 1865-1876 under alternative theoretical assumptions about technology, we provide robust evidence in favor of the Heckscher-Ohlin hypothesis.

JEL-codes: F14 N55 N75 Q10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
Note: DOI: 10.1257/mic.20130126
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