Grade 6 · Social Studies · Lesson 19

Specialization and comparative advantage

Countries do not try to produce everything they need. Instead, they specialize — focusing on the goods and services they make best — and trade for the rest. This idea sits at the heart of international economics and explains why trade can leave everyone better off.

What this lesson teaches

1Define specialisation as focusing on producing what one does most efficiently
2Explain comparative advantage as the reason countries gain by trading even when one is better at everything
3Identify the natural, human, and capital factors that lead a country to specialize
4Apply specialisation and comparative advantage to real and invented country examples

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