Alzania produces and consumes 500,000 tons of cotton during a year. Reports indicate that Alzania's neighbor, which also employs the same number of people in the cotton industry, consumed 400,000 tons of cotton. This led industry experts to believe that Alzania had an absolute advantage in the production of cotton over its neighbor. a. alzanias neighbor has been producing cotton longer than alzania. b. alzainias neighbor exported half its production of cotton that year. c. alzania is a closed economy. d. the cotton industry in Alzania is heavily regulated by the government. e. workers in Alzania have higher productivity due to better education and training.

The answer is: E) workers in Alzania have higher productivity due to better education and training.

Explanation:

Alzania and its neighbor both produce cotton and they both have the same amount of workers in the production of cotton. If Alzania is able to produce more cotton (or any type of product) using the same amount of resources (in this case labor) than its neighbor, we can conclude that Alzania does have an absolute advantage in that industry.

This absolute advantage exists because Alzania's workers are more productive than their neighbor's workers.

For example, lets say both countries have 5,000 cotton workers. Alzania produces 100 tons of cotton per worker, while its neighbor only produces 80 tons of cotton per worker. That means Alzania's workers are more productive, and labor usually gains productivity through education or training.