In: Finance
Suppose the government of Portugal forces all companies operating in Portugal to install good and modern safety equipment in their factories. The government of Portugal forces all companies to provide safer and more comfortable working conditions for workers in the factories.
How will this affect the exports of Portugal?
Explain your answer.
if the government of Portugal forces all companies who are operating in Portugal to install good and modern safety equipment in their factories and provide comfortable working conditions for workers in the factory, it will mean that the cost of the production of these companies will be going to increase, but the quality of the products are going to increase, so from a quality perspective, the exports are going to increase.
But when we consider the cost approach, it will mean that these measures of providing the safety equipments and comfortable working condition to the workers will lead to the additional cost to the whole company, and it will be reflected in the sales price as well, so the sales price of the companies will be higher and the product will be costlier than earlier, so the exports will be lower because the prices of products have gone higher.
So from equality perspective, the exports can increase but from a cost-benefit point of view, the exports are going to decrease.