What does comparative advantage mean in international trade?

• A. The ability to produce a good at a higher opportunity cost than others.
• B. The ability to produce a good at a higher opportunity cost than others in certain contexts.
• C. The ability to produce a good at a lower opportunity cost than others, guiding specialization.
• D. The advantage of producing goods domestically only.

Answer: (C)

Comparative advantage comes from differences in opportunity costs and drives why countries specialize. It means a country should focus on producing the good for which its alternative sacrifices (its opportunity cost) are smallest relative to other countries. Even if one country can produce everything more efficiently (an absolute advantage), there’s still a benefit to trade as long as each country has at least one good with a lower opportunity cost. That’s why the best statement is that a country should produce a good at a lower opportunity cost than others, guiding specialization. The other options misstate the idea by pointing to higher costs, context-dependent costs, or domestic-only production, which ignores the gains from trading with others. For example, if Country A sacrifices less of one good to produce it than Country B, A should specialize in that good and trade for the other good, increasing total output for both.