Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (9)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bloch, H.
Right arrow Articles by Sapsford, D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Related Collections
Right arrow F02 - International Economic Order; [...]
Right arrow O19 - International Linkages to Development; [...]
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Cambridge Journal of Economics 24:461-481 (2000)
Copyright © 2000 Cambridge Political Economy Society

Article

Whither the terms of trade? An elaboration of the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis

H Blochz and D Sapsfordzz

z Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia
zz Department of Economics, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YX, UK
Corresponding author/address
E-mail: D.Sapsford@lancaster.ac.uk

Abstract

Movements in the prices of primary products and manufactured goods are analysed using a model that introduces differences in wage and price determination between primary production and manufacturing. Wages and prices in primary production are treated as competitively determined, while prices and wages in manufacturing are determined by mark-up pricing and union-employer bargaining, respectively. The objective is to capture the influence of structural differences between manufacturing and primary production on the terms of trade between industrialised and developing worlds as discussed in the seminal contributions to the development literature by Raul Prebisch and Hans Singer. The model is estimated using price and wage data from the post-World War II period. Support is found for the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis; however, our estimates suggest that, during periods of particularly rapid manufacturing growth, there have been intervals of net improvement in the terms of trade of primary producers.

Key Words: terms of trade • commodity prices • Prebisch-Singer hypothesis


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Cambridge J EconHome page
A. V. Mollick, J. R. Faria, P. H. Albuquerque, and M. A. Leon-Ledesma
Can globalisation stop the decline in commodities' terms of trade?
Camb. J. Econ., September 1, 2008; 32(5): 683 - 701.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Review of Radical Political EconomicsHome page
R. Ram
Trends in Developing Countries' Commodity Terms-of-Trade since 1970
Review of Radical Political Economics, June 1, 2004; 36(2): 241 - 253.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Progress in Development StudiesHome page
P. Sarkar
The North-South terms of trade debate: a re-examination
Progress in Development Studies, October 1, 2001; 1(4): 309 - 327.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.