A structuralist critique of ecologically unequal exchange: capital, technological, and financial dependence

The article critically extends the theory of ecologically unequal exchange (EUE) through themacroeconomic perspective of Latin American Structuralism, placing productive, technological,and financial dependence at the core of the center–periphery relation. I develop a globalenvironmentally-extended and capital-augmented multi-regional input-output (EECAMRIO)model for the period 2000–2020, assessing trade in materials, labor, and land, as well as tradein capital goods, low-carbon technologies, and foreign direct investment flows, as well as sectoralinvestment and resource requirements. The results suggest that while materials, labor,and land flow from the periphery to the center, capital goods, low-carbon technologies, and financialflows circulate exclusively within the center, excluding the periphery from global tradenetworks. The sectoral analyses reveals that EUE is driven by the penetration of foreign investmentinto peripheral production structures, as peripheral economies import capital goodsprimarily to export resource-intensive commodities, while the center (and China) import capitalgoods to export technology- and capital-intensive goods. Building on these results, thearticle advances a structuralist interpretation of EUE based on the relation between capitalimports and resource exports. EUE ceases to be a primary cause of underdevelopment, butthe result of the historically-determined asymmetric integration of peripheral economies intothe world capitalist system. The results of this study not only provide important insights for"Ecological Structuralism", but also position EUE within dynamics of the ecological transition.