Stolper–Samuelson theorem

The Stolper–Samuelson theorem is a theorem in Heckscher–Ohlin trade theory. It describes the relationship between relative prices of output and relative factor returns—specifically, real wages and real returns to capital.

The theorem states that—under specific economic assumptions (constant returns to scale, perfect competition, equality of the number of factors to the number of products)—a rise in the relative price of a good will lead to a rise in the real return to that factor which is used most intensively in the production of the good, and conversely, to a fall in the real return to the other factor.