An Empirical Analysis of Commodity Exchange in the International Economy: 1965-80

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Theories of trade and economic development assume that generic types of commodities move together in distinct patterns of international exchange. Using factor analysis, this research note examines the patterns of exports between nations and empirically identifies the “bundles” of exports which flow together in the circuits of world trade. The results are interpretable along a rough two-dimensional scale which contrasts “production” with “extraction” and “capital-intensive” with “labor-intensive” processing, and the pattern is remarkably stable between 1965 and 1980. The implications of these results with regard to theoretical notions about “unequal exchange” and “the new international division of labor” are discussed.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: