If the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua sign a trade agreement in which each country would specialize in production, coffee and rum will be produced according to which country has a comparative advantage in the production of each good. Comparing their opportunity costs for producing coffee, we see that Nicaragua has a lower opportunity cost for producing coffee (1/6 of a barrel of rum, versus the Dominican Republic's opportunity cost of 1/2 barrel of rum). Nicaragua, therefore, should specialize in coffee. Comparing their opportunity costs for producing rum, we see that the Dominican Republic has a lower opportunity cost for producing rum (2 tons of coffee, versus 6 tons for Nicaragua). The Dominican Republic, therefore, should specialize in rum.
