IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/met/wpaper/0411.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Commodity Chains, Unequal Exchange and Uneven Development

Author

Listed:
  • Cem Somel

    (Department of Economics, METU)

Abstract

Research shows an uneven partition of value added along commodity chains between transnational firms and producers in developing countries. This paper briefly discusses how such a distribution occurs and how it leads to unequal exchange in trade. A North-South trade model reveals the uneven development consequences of this exchange. The terms of trade between North and South help maintain a gap in capital accumulation between the two regions. The model reveals that capital flows covering the trade deficit of the South with the North may help stimulate the unrequited transfer of real resources from South to North.

Suggested Citation

  • Cem Somel, 2004. "Commodity Chains, Unequal Exchange and Uneven Development," ERC Working Papers 0411, ERC - Economic Research Center, Middle East Technical University, revised Sep 2004.
    • Handle: RePEc:met:wpaper:0411
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://erc.metu.edu.tr/en/system/files/menu/series04/0411.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2004
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wood, Adrian, 1995. "North-South Trade, Employment and Inequality: Changing Fortunes in a Skill-Driven World," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198290155.
    2. Gibbon, Peter, 2001. "Upgrading Primary Production: A Global Commodity Chain Approach," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 345-363, February.
    3. R. Kaplinsky, 2000. "Globalisation and Unequalisation: What Can Be Learned from Value Chain Analysis?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 117-146.
    4. Robert C. Feenstra, 1998. "Integration of Trade and Disintegration of Production in the Global Economy," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 31-50, Fall.
    5. Dutt, Amitava Krishna, 1992. "The NICs, global accumulation and uneven development: implications of a simple three- region model," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 20(8), pages 1159-1171, August.
    6. Kenney, Martin & Florida, Richard, 1994. "Japanese maquiladoras: Production organization and global commodity chains," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 27-44, January.
    7. Robert C. Feenstra, 1998. "Integration of Trade and Disintegration of Production in the Global Economy," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 31-50, Fall.
    8. Kaplan, David & Kaplinsky, Raphael, 1999. "Trade and Industrial Policy on an Uneven Playing Field: The Case of the Deciduous Fruit Canning Industry in South Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(10), pages 1787-1801, October.
    9. Prema-Chandra Athukorala, 2000. "Manufactured exports and terms of trade of developing countries: Evidence from Sri Lanka," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(5), pages 89-104.
    10. Cem Somel, 2003. "Estimating the surplus in the periphery: an application to Turkey," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 27(6), pages 919-933, November.
    11. H. Schmitz & P. Knorringa, 2000. "Learning from Global Buyers," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 177-205.
    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. Linqing Liu & Shiye Mei, 2016. "Visualizing the GVC research: a co-occurrence network based bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(2), pages 953-977, November.
    2. Rich, Karl M. & Ross, R. Brent & Baker, A. Derek & Negassa, Asfaw, 2011. "Quantifying value chain analysis in the context of livestock systems in developing countries," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 214-222, April.
    3. Andrea González & Juan Carlos Hallak, 2022. "Relational links for insertion in non‐mass global value chains: Opportunities for middle‐income countries," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 653-672, May.
    4. Rich, Karl M. & Baker, Derek & Negassa, Asfaw & Ross, R. Brent, 2009. "Concepts, applications, and extensions of value chain analysis to livestock systems in developing countries," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 51922, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Roger Strange, 2011. "The outsourcing of primary activities: theoretical analysis and propositions," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 15(2), pages 249-269, May.
    6. Paul Streeten, 1998. "Globalisation: Threat or Opportunity?," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 37(4), pages 51-83.
    7. Islam, Md. Saidul, 2008. "From pond to plate: Towards a twin-driven commodity chain in Bangladesh shrimp aquaculture," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 209-223, June.
    8. Ponte, Stefano, 2002. "The 'Latte Revolution'? Regulation, Markets and Consumption in the Global Coffee Chain," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 1099-1122, July.
    9. Mulvaney, Dustin & Krupnik, Timothy J., 2014. "Zero-tolerance for genetic pollution: Rice farming, pharm rice, and the risks of coexistence in California," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 125-131.
    10. Pol Antras & Elhanan Helpman, 2004. "Global Sourcing," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(3), pages 552-580, June.
    11. Ayako Ebata & Hayley MacGregor & Michael Loevinsohn & Khine Su Win & Alexander W. Tucker, 0. "Value Chain Governance, Power and Negative Externalities: What Influences Efforts to Control Pig Diseases in Myanmar?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 0, pages 1-22.
    12. Cipollina, Maria & Salvatici, Luca, 2007. "EU and developing countries: an analysis of preferential margins on agricultural trade flows," Working Papers 7219, TRADEAG - Agricultural Trade Agreements.
    13. Carlo Maria Rossotto & Khalid Sekkat & Aristomene Varoudakis, 2005. "Opening up telecommunications to competition and MENA integration in the world economy," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(7), pages 931-955.
    14. repec:ipg:wpaper:2014-496 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Anna Giunta & Domenico Scalera & Francesco Trivieri & Jeffrey B. Nugent & Mariarosaria Agostino, 2011. "Firm Productivity, Organizational Choice and Global Value Chain," Working Papers 2011R09, Orkestra - Basque Institute of Competitiveness.
    16. Colantone, Italo & Crinò, Rosario, 2014. "New imported inputs, new domestic products," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 147-165.
    17. Hiratsuka, Daisuke, 2011. "Production Networks in Asia: A Case Study from the Hard Disk Drive Industry," ADBI Working Papers 301, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    18. Rosario Crinò, 2010. "Service Offshoring and White-Collar Employment," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 77(2), pages 595-632.
    19. Pol Antràs, 2005. "Incomplete Contracts and the Product Cycle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1054-1073, September.
    20. Michael D. Bordo & Barry Eichengreen & Douglas A. Irwin, 1999. "Is Globalization Today Really Different than Globalization a Hunderd Years Ago?," NBER Working Papers 7195, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Masahisa Fujita & Jacques-François Thisse, 2006. "Globalization And The Evolution Of The Supply Chain: Who Gains And Who Loses?," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 47(3), pages 811-836, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unequal exchange; development; commodity chains;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F02 - International Economics - - General - - - International Economic Order and Integration
    • F2 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business
    • F4 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:met:wpaper:0411. 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: Erol Taymaz (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ermettr.html .

    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.