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Avoiding and escaping the 'commodity trap' in development

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  • Mahdi Ghodsi
  • Robert Stehrer

Abstract

Based on the 'Prebisch-Singer' hypothesis, a strand of literature has emerged that focuses on the phenomenon of commoditisation and 'commodity trap' in development. Following Kaplinsky (2006), we revisit the hypothesis on a country's terms of trade in manufacturing trade. Offering high quality products and targeting 'niche' markets in high-income countries are beneficial strategies for developing countries to improve their terms of trade and escaping a potential 'commodity trap'. Barriers to entry via standards in the importing countries might even support such strategies. In this study, we firstly propose a proxy to capture commoditisation. Then, applying a gravity model on global bilateral intra-industry trade flows controlling for multilateral resistances over the period 1998-2014, it is shown that compliance with quality non-tariff measures (NTMs) reduces the negative impact of commoditisation on industry-level terms of trade.

Suggested Citation

  • Mahdi Ghodsi & Robert Stehrer, 2020. "Avoiding and escaping the 'commodity trap' in development," Global Business and Economics Review, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 23(2), pages 187-211.
    • Handle: RePEc:ids:gbusec:v:23:y:2020:i:2:p:187-211
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    2. D. Sapsford & P. Sarkar & H. W. Singer, 1992. "The prebisch‐singer terms of trade controversy revisited," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 4(3), pages 315-332, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Payam Elhami & Mahdi Ghodsi & Robert Stehrer, 2021. "Quality of Goods Imports: Which Role for Non-tariff Measures?," wiiw Policy Notes 46, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    terms of trade; product quality; commodity trap; commoditisation; non-tariff measure; NTM; sanitary and phytosanitary measures; SPS; technical barriers to trade; TBT.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

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