Essays on trade and endogenous factor accumulation

This dissertation examines the interactions between trade and growth in a series of models which incorporate the endogenous accumulation of human and physical capital accumulation into the framework of the Heckscher-Ohlin model of international trade. A recent paper by Bond, Trask, and Wang (BTW; 1997) considers a general model in this framework and demonstrate a lack of transitional dynamics for the open economy as well as an indeterminacy in both long-run and short-run comparative advantage. This dissertation continues this line of research by addressing issues regarding the determinants of long-run comparative advantage and explanations of differences in cross-country growth experiences.;In the first essay, I consider the addition of recursive preference structure to the BTW model. I show the existence of transitional dynamics for open economies which correspond to the current cross-country empirical evidence. However, the indeterminacy in both long-run and short-run comparative advantage remains. Furthermore, I demonstrate the existence of an additional source of indeterminacy in the short-run arising from cross-country differences in the rate of time preference.;In the second essay, I consider the addition of a third, fixed factor of production to the model. For open economies, I show that although the model is now characterized by a greater number of factors than traded goods, any long-run trading equilibrium will be characterized by factor price equalization. However, I demonstrate that as a result of the dimensionality of the production structure, determinant long-run comparative advantage based on initial endowments will emerge in this setting.;In the models described above, human and physical capital are differentiated only to the extent that the human capital investment good in non-traded. In the final essay, I follow the general framework of Findlay and Kierzkowski (1983) and model the endogenous accumulation of human capital in an overlapping generations framework. I demonstrate the results of the earlier essays will be robust with respect to a more realistic structure on the nature of human capital accumulation.