What type of advantage do countries gain through an efficient use of their resources?

Countries gain comparative advantage when they effectively utilize their resources to produce goods or services at a lower opportunity cost compared to other nations. This concept highlights the efficiency of resource allocation, where a country specializes in the production of goods that it can produce more efficiently, relative to other goods.

By focusing on their strengths and ensuring resources are directed toward their most productive uses, countries can trade these specialized goods with others, benefiting from trade and improving overall economic welfare. Thus, a country with a comparative advantage can produce certain products more efficiently than others and, through trade, can access a broader range of goods and services than it would be able to produce on its own.

In contrast, absolute advantage would refer to a country being able to produce more of a good with the same amount of resources than another country, which is a different consideration focused on overall productivity, rather than opportunity costs in production. Resource advantage and trade advantage are not standard terms used in the context of international trade theory in the same way, making comparative advantage the more accurate and widely recognized concept in this scenario.