APPLIED ECONOMICS ACTIVITY 1: SCARCITY AND COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE

I. “ In your observation in your environment, identify if the following resources are

scarce (may it be relative or absolute scarce), or abundant in the Philippines : ”

1. Oil = Scarce_________________
2. Banana plants = Abundant_________________________
3. Rice = Scarce_________________________
4. Carbon Minerals = Abundant___________________________
5. Diamonds = Scarce_________________________
6. Marine resources = Abundant___________________________
7. Human resources with technical know-how = Abundant_______________________
“ ”

II. “ Give more examples of Philippine resources that are scarce and abundant in
nature. ”

ABUNDANT IN THE PHILIPPINES SCARCE RESOURCES IN THE

PHILIPPINES

Gold Coal

Copper Phosphorus

Chromite Scandium

III. Now, based on your observation, what is the comparative advantage of the
Philippines over other countries, and what are our problems with resources?
Explain briefly.

- The comparative advantage that the Philippine has over other countries resides in the huge
overseas labor force. Our overseas labor force may not majority the professional work but we
also have commonality in terms of management and technical jobs in international corporation.
Aside from that, we also have the comparative advantage in the form of production of
agricultural goods such as sugarcane and coconuts because we use our own recipes that the
whole world enjoys. When we talk about our problems with resources, it’s really hard to believe
how our rich biodiversity is under threat as of now but it is really under threat. The only problem
that we face is the humans itself as they do different activities that affects the rich biodiversity
that we have such as deforestation and forest degradation, illegal fishing and illicit wildlife trade.