Abstract:Based on the standard renewable resources model of Brander and Taylor (1997), this article introduces asymmetric property rights of North-South countries to investigates the effect of North-South trade on the change of ecological resources of trading countries. The result shows that if both countries have weak governments of resources conservation, the South's relative price of resource goods is lower than that of the North, and the South exports resource goods and imports manufactured goods, thus the South's short-run welfare declines, and the North's short-run welfare increases. On the other hand, if both countries have strong governments of resource conservation, then the relative price ranking, trade patterns and the short-run welfare results reverses. But regardless of the governmental type, as a result of which that the property right enforcement level of the South is lower than that of the North, which uniquely determines that the international trade leads to the gradual ecological resources depletion in the South, and its long-run welfare worsens; while the ecological resources stock increase gradually in the North and its long-run welfare improves.

Key words:north-south trade,property right,ecological resources impoverishment