IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/ereveh/v16y2012i2p119-143.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Commodity market disintegration in the interwar period

Author

Listed:
  • William Hynes
  • David S. Jacks
  • Kevin H. O'rourke

Abstract

In this paper, we document the disintegration of international commodity markets between 1913 and 1938. There was dramatic disintegration during World War I, gradual reintegration during the 1920s, and then a substantial disintegration after 1929. The period saw the unravelling of many of the integration gains of 1870-1913. While increased transport costs help explain the wartime disintegration, they cannot explain the post-1929 increase in trade costs. The proliferation of tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, the collapse of the interwar gold standard, and the evaporation of commercial credit loom large as suspects. Copyright , Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • William Hynes & David S. Jacks & Kevin H. O'rourke, 2012. "Commodity market disintegration in the interwar period," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 16(2), pages 119-143, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:ereveh:v:16:y:2012:i:2:p:119-143
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ereh/her009
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Knick Harley, C., 1980. "Transportation, the world wheat trade, and the Kuznets Cycle, 1850-1913," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 218-250, July.
    2. Ejrnaes, Mette & Persson, Karl Gunnar, 2000. "Market Integration and Transport Costs in France 1825-1903: A Threshold Error Correction Approach to the Law of One Price," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 149-173, April.
    3. Balke, Nathan S & Fomby, Thomas B, 1997. "Threshold Cointegration," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 38(3), pages 627-645, August.
    4. Eichengreen, Barry & Irwin, Douglas A., 1995. "Trade blocs, currency blocs and the reorientation of world trade in the 1930s," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(1-2), pages 1-24, February.
    5. Goldberg, Pinelopi K. & Verboven, Frank, 2005. "Market integration and convergence to the Law of One Price: evidence from the European car market," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 49-73, January.
    6. O'Rourke, Kevin & Williamson, Jeffrey G., 1994. "Late Nineteenth-Century Anglo-American Factor-Price Convergence: Were Heckscher and Ohlin Right?," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(4), pages 892-916, December.
    7. Persson, Karl Gunnar, 2004. "Mind the gap! Transport costs and price convergence in the nineteenth century Atlantic economy," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(2), pages 125-147, August.
    8. Charles Engel & John H. Rogers, 2004. "European product market integration after the euro [‘The law of one price in Scandinavian duty-free stores,’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 19(39), pages 348-384.
    9. Hurd, John II, 1975. "Railways and the expansion of markets in India, 1861-1921," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 263-288, July.
    10. Obstfeld, Maurice & Taylor, Alan M., 1997. "Nonlinear Aspects of Goods-Market Arbitrage and Adjustment: Heckscher's Commodity Points Revisited," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 441-479, December.
    11. Antoni Estevadeordal & Brian Frantz & Alan M. Taylor, 2003. "The Rise and Fall of World Trade, 1870–1939," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(2), pages 359-407.
    12. Jacks, David S., 2006. "What drove 19th century commodity market integration?," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 383-412, July.
    13. Mohammed, Saif I. Shah & Williamson, Jeffrey G., 2004. "Freight rates and productivity gains in British tramp shipping 1869-1950," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 172-203, April.
    14. Jakob B. Madsen, 2001. "Trade Barriers and the Collapse of World Trade During the Great Depression," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 67(4), pages 848-868, April.
    15. Yasuba, Yasukichi, 1978. "Freight rates and productivity in ocean transportation for Japan, 1875-1943," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 11-39, January.
    16. Jacks, David S., 2005. "Intra- and international commodity market integration in the Atlantic economy, 1800-1913," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 381-413, July.
    17. Klovland, Jan Tore, 2005. "Commodity market integration 1850–1913: Evidence from Britain and Germany," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 163-197, August.
    18. Andrew Coleman, 2007. "The pitfalls of estimating transactions costs from price data: evidence from trans-Atlantic gold-point arbitrage, 1886-1905," Reserve Bank of New Zealand Discussion Paper Series DP2007/07, Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
    19. Douglas A. Irwin, 1998. "The Smoot-Hawley Tariff: A Quantitative Assessment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(2), pages 326-334, May.
    20. Harley, C. Knick, 1978. "Western Settlement and the Price of Wheat, 1872–1913," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(4), pages 865-878, December.
    21. Metzer, Jacob, 1974. "Railroad Development and Market Integration: The Case of Tsarist Russia," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(3), pages 529-550, September.
    22. Coleman, Andrew, 2007. "The pitfalls of estimating transactions costs from price data: Evidence from trans-Atlantic gold-point arbitrage, 1886-1905," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 387-410, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Federico, Giovanni, 2007. "Market integration and market efficiency: The case of 19th century Italy," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 293-316, April.
    2. Mario J. Crucini & Gregor W. Smith, 2014. "Geographic Barriers to Commodity Price Integration: Evidence from US Cities and Swedish Towns, 1732 - 1860," CAMA Working Papers 2014-75, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    3. Meissner, Christopher M., 2014. "Growth from Globalization? A View from the Very Long Run," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 8, pages 1033-1069, Elsevier.
    4. Matthias Morys & Guillaume Daudin & Kevin H. O'Rourke, 2008. "Globalization, 1870-1914," Economics Series Working Papers 395, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    5. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/6145 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Bruce Blonigen & Anca Cristea, 2013. "The Effects of the Interstate Commerce Act on Transport Costs: Evidence from Wheat Prices," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 43(1), pages 41-62, August.
    7. Adam, Marc Christopher, 2019. "Return of the tariffs: The interwar trade collapse revisited," Discussion Papers 2019/8, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    8. Vellore Arthi & Markus Lampe & Ashwin Nair & Kevin Hjortshøj, 2023. "Deliberate Surrender? The Impact of Interwar Indian Protection," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(657), pages 23-47.
    9. Kevin Hjortshøj O’Rourke, 2018. "Two Great Trade Collapses: The Interwar Period and Great Recession Compared," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 66(3), pages 418-439, September.
    10. Kris James Mitchener Author e-mail: kmitchener@scu.edu & Kirsten Wandschneider Author e-mail: kirsten.wandschneider@univie.ac.at & Kevin Hjortshøj O’Rourke Author e-mail: akevin.orourke@nyu.edu, 2021. "The Smoot-Hawley Trade War," Working Papers 20210061, New York University Abu Dhabi, Department of Social Science, revised Mar 2021.
    11. David Chilosi & Giovanni Federico, 2021. "The effects of market integration during the first globalization: a multi-market approach," European Review of Economic History, Oxford University Press, vol. 25(1), pages 20-58.
    12. Kris James Mitchener & Kevin Hjortshøj O'Rourke & Kirsten Wandschneider, 2022. "The Smoot-Hawley Trade War," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(647), pages 2500-2533.
    13. Vellore Arthi & Markus Lampe & Ashwin Nair & Kevin Hjortshøj O'Rourke, 2020. "The Impact of Interwar Protection: Evidence from India," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _180, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    14. O'Rourke, Kevin, 2017. "Two Great Trade Collapses: The Interwar Period & Great Recession Compared," CEPR Discussion Papers 12286, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Chilosi, David & Volckart, Oliver, 2009. "Money, states and empire: financial integration cycles and institutional change in Central Europe, 1400-1520," Economic History Working Papers 27884, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    16. Ihle, Rico & von Cramon-Taubadel, Stephan, 2008. "A Comparison of Threshold Cointegration and Markov-Switching Vector Error Correction Models in Price Transmission Analysis," 2008 Conference, April 21-22, 2008, St. Louis, Missouri 37603, NCCC-134 Conference on Applied Commodity Price Analysis, Forecasting, and Market Risk Management.
    17. Aslanidis, Nektarios & Martínez Ibáñez, Oscar & Tadei, Federico, 2020. "The Integration of West Africa in the Global Economy, 1842-1938," Working Papers 2072/417678, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    18. Mario J. Crucini & Gregor W. Smith, 2016. "Distance and Time Effects in Swedish Commodity Prices, 1732–1914," NBER Working Papers 22175, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Chilosi, David & Federico, Giovanni, 2015. "Early globalizations: The integration of Asia in the world economy, 1800–1938," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-18.
    20. Jacks, David S. & Meissner, Christopher M. & Novy, Dennis, 2010. "Trade costs in the first wave of globalization," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 127-141, April.
    21. Chilosi, David & Murphy, Tommy E. & Studer, Roman & Tunçer, A. Coşkun, 2013. "Europe's many integrations: Geography and grain markets, 1620–1913," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 46-68.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F59 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - Other
    • N70 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - General, International, or Comparative

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oup:ereveh:v:16:y:2012:i:2:p:119-143. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/ereh .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.