International exchanges take place - like any transaction - in a context that exchange

participants consider more favorable than if they were in a state of autarchy, that is, when no
exchange relations had been established between them. The simplest explanation for the
emergence of a favorable context is the existence of needs that can only be met by exchange.
This was the case, using a special example in the history of the world economy, the emergence
of the Silk Road, a commercial route that united Europe with Asia for more than 1,000 years
(114 BC - 1450 en) in a circuit goods such as gold and silver, ivory, precious stones went to Asia
in exchange for others like spices, porcelain, furs and, of course, silk.
The existence of complementary needs is based on a certain specialization of world
economies. This idea was widely discussed by the Scottish economist (and philosopher) Adam
Smith (1776) by the term division of labor. Before being a condition of exchanges, specialization
is an essential factor of greater productivity and thus of superior welfare.
In his description: "The division of labor, to the extent that it can be introduced, causes in
each trade a proportional increase of the productive forces of labor. (...) This large increase in the
amount of work (...) is due to the following three different circumstances: firstly, the increase in
the skill of each worker; secondly, saving time, which is usually lost by moving from one type of
work to another; and finally, the invention of a great number of machines, which make it easier
and less labor-intensive, making one man capable of producing more than the production of
many people "(Smith, 1776, pp. 8-9).
Smith also noticed that obtaining superior productivity through specialization opens the way
to fructification of surplus in production by exchange: Anyone who offers someone a fair, is
willing to do the following: Give me what I want and get what you want. This is the meaning of
any such offer; and in this way we get the most of the services we need from each other. (...)So,
the safety of being able to change, as needed, the excess of his labor - which is far greater than
what he consumes - with parts of the work of others, encourages each man to devote himself to a
special occupation and and and to cultivate and perfect his intelligence or talent for a certain kind
of occupation "(Smith, 1776, pp. 13-14).
However, the ability of the world's economies to benefit from earnings through specialization
and exchanges is different for at least two reasons. The first is that the specialization is
dependent on a series of economic conditions that can or can not be equally valued in national
economies. The second reason is that national states resort to trade-related measures in pursuit of
economic policy objectives. These interventions, generally called trade policy, result in the
continuous and often unpredictable change of exchange conditions.
Despite the economic benefits of specialization, it was even apparent to Adam Smith that not
all countries can benefit equally and thus reach the same levels of development. The fact that
industrial occupations are inherently exposed to greater diversification capabilities gives
countries that are predominantly such specialists, Smith argues, an advantage over those more
geared to agricultural occupations. But this is not the only premise that differentiates the
conditions for capitalizing on the specialization.