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Can globalisation stop the decline in commodities' terms of trade?

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  • André Varella Mollick
  • João Ricardo Faria
  • Pedro H. Albuquerque
  • Miguel A. León-Ledesma

Abstract

In this paper we address the following question: would a fully integrated world economy eliminate the widely reported decline in the terms of trade of primary commodities? We address the question by looking at the terms of trade within the US (a highly integrated economy). Our findings show two results. First, US internal real commodities' terms of trade over the 1947--1998 period experienced slowly declining but significant trends. Second, once we control for the effect of US prices on international terms of trade, we find a long-run relationship between the US and international relative prices. These findings support the view that the decline of commodities' terms of trade bears no relationship with the process of globalisation. This seems to indicate that, if world terms of trade behaved as the US terms of trade, neither increased integration nor protectionist measures would eliminate this trend. Copyright The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved., Oxford University Press.

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  • André Varella Mollick & João Ricardo Faria & Pedro H. Albuquerque & Miguel A. León-Ledesma, 2008. "Can globalisation stop the decline in commodities' terms of trade?," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 32(5), pages 683-701, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cambje:v:32:y:2008:i:5:p:683-701
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    2. Leon Podkaminer, 2021. "Does trade support global output growth? Further evidence on the global trade – global output connection," Bank i Kredyt, Narodowy Bank Polski, vol. 52(1), pages 23-36.
    3. André Varella Mollick & João Ricardo Faria & Pedro H. Albuquerque & Miguel A. León-Ledesma, 2008. "Can globalisation stop the decline in commodities' terms of trade?," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 32(5), pages 683-701, September.
    4. Byrne, Joseph P & Fazio, Giorgio & Fiess, Norbert, 2010. "Optimism and commitment: An elementary theory of bargaining and war," SIRE Discussion Papers 2010-102, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    5. Ricardo Azevedo Araujo, 2016. "Assessing the dynamics of terms of trade inamodelof cumulative causation andstructural change," Brazilian Journal of Political Economy, Center of Political Economy, vol. 36(1), pages 150-167.
    6. Byrne, Joseph P. & Fazio, Giorgio & Fiess, Norbert, 2013. "Primary commodity prices: Co-movements, common factors and fundamentals," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 16-26.
    7. Trofimov, Ivan D., 2018. "Income terms of trade and economic convergence: Evidence from Latin America," MPRA Paper 87598, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Leon Podkaminer, 2014. "Does trade drive global output growth?," Bank i Kredyt, Narodowy Bank Polski, vol. 45(4), pages 311-330.
    9. Leon Podkaminer, 2016. "Has trade been driving global economic growth?," NBP Working Papers 251, Narodowy Bank Polski.
    10. Leon Podkaminer, 2019. "The decline in investment shares is not caused by falling relative prices of capital: a note," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 46(2), pages 369-380, May.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics

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