Export instability and economic development: a reappraisal

Abstract

Among the many problems besetting international economic relations, the instability of exports of developing countries has always been a major topic of analysis and discussion. Although developing countries identify this issue as an important obstacle to development, most of the inquiries over the last 30 years about its causes and consequences have produced controversial results. The economic literature on export instability is divided into two main streams, one analysing world markets for primary commodities and their quantity-price-earnings relationships, the other focussing on individual developing countries and their macroeconomic frameworks. The present work comments on recent additions to each of these streams which have livened the debate, before offering a new contribution to the theoretical and empirical analysis of export instability.

JEL: F49, O11