MANUFACTURED EXPORTS FROM DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES AND THEIR TERMS OF TRADE - A REEXAMINATION OF THE SARKAR-SINGER RESULTS

Sarkar and Singer (1991) argue that the terms of trade for exports of manufactures from developing countries (DCs), like that for their prim ary commodity exports, have manifested a long-term trend favoring the importing developed countries. We contend here that the authors have n ot paid adequate attention to appropriately adjusting the data and tha t they have misinterpreted the results. When these limitations are tak en into account, a sound basis exists for the conclusion that, through rapid expansion of manufactured exports, DCs as a group have achieved significant gains in import purchasing power without generating adver se impact on the net barter terms of trade.