Unequal exchange is a much disputed concept, used preferably in Marxian economics but also in ecological economics to denote forms of exploitation hidden in, or underwriting trade. Originating, in the wake of the debate on the Singer-Prebisch thesis, as an explanation of the falling terms of trade for underdeveloped countries, the concept was coined in 1962 by the Greco-French economist Arghiri Emmanuel to denote an exchange taking place where th...
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Unequal exchange is a much disputed concept, used preferably in Marxian economics but also in ecological economics to denote forms of exploitation hidden in, or underwriting trade. Originating, in the wake of the debate on the Singer-Prebisch thesis, as an explanation of the falling terms of trade for underdeveloped countries, the concept was coined in 1962 by the Greco-French economist Arghiri Emmanuel to denote an exchange taking place where the rate of profit has been internationally equalised, but wage-levels (or those of any other factor of production) have not. It has since acquired a variety of meanings, often linked to other or older traditions which perhaps then raise claims to priority.
In the works of Paul Baran, and subsequently adopted in the dependency approach of Andre Gunder Frank, there is a related but distinct concern with the transfer of values due to superprofits. This did not refer to the terms of trade, but to the transfer taking place within multinational...
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