Abstract:
Although the empirical literature is not unanimous about the existence of a continuous long-term deterioration in the terms of trade for commodities (the original and most common formulation of the Prebisch- Singer hypothesis) and, hence, about the possibility of inferring their future behaviour on this basis, there is a consensus as to the sharp drop in the barter terms of trade, especially from the 1920s on. This paper presents a critical review of the theoretical and empirical literature on the subject and the implications for development strategies.
Keywords:Terms of trade; Economic development (search for similar items in EconPapers) JEL-codes:F1F2 (search for similar items in EconPapers) Date: Written 2004-03-03 Note: Type of Document - pdf; prepared on Win 98; to print on SEPHIS; pages: 31; figures: 4 tables, 3 figures View list of references