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NAVIGATING IN TROUBLED WATERS: SOUTH AMERICAN EXPORTS OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, 1900-1950*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2015

VICENTE PINILLA  and
GEMA APARICIO
VICENTE PINILLA
Affiliation:
Universidad de Zaragoza
GEMA APARICIO
Affiliation:
Independent Scholar
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Abstract

The objective of this article is to offer empirical evidence regarding the behaviour of the exports and relative prices of agricultural and food products from South America between 1900 and 1950. These were years of intense turbulence, which profoundly affected the countries of the region, generating a deep pessimism concerning the potentiality of the export-led development model. This study offers a new quantitative base to analyse the evolution of exports of agrifood products from South America between 1900 and 1938. The paper also offers a series for the evolution of the terms of trade in the region which takes into account in its construction, for the first time, the relative weights of South American exports of the distinct agricultural products.

Resumen

El objetivo del artículo es ofrecer evidencia empírica sobre el comportamiento de las exportaciones y precios relativos de productos agrarios y alimentos de América del Sur, entre 1900 y 1950. Estos, fueron años de intensas turbulencias que afectaron profundamente a los países de la región, lo que generó un hondo pesimismo sobre la potencialidad del modelo de desarrollo dirigido por las exportaciones. El trabajo presenta una base cuantitativa nueva para analizar la evolución de las exportaciones de productos agrarios y alimentos de Sudamérica entre 1900 y 1950. También ofrece una serie de términos de intercambio para las exportaciones agrarias de Sudamérica, que utiliza por primera vez para su construcción los pesos relativos en éstas de los distintos productos agrarios.

Keywords

Latin American economic historyinternational agrifood tradegreat depressionterms of tradeF14N56N70N76Q17Historia Económica LatinoamericanaComercio internacional agroalimentarioGran DepresiónTérminos de intercambio
Type
Articles/Artículos
Information
Revista de Historia Economica - Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History , Volume 33 , Supplement 2 , September 2015 , pp. 223 - 255
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Copyright
© Instituto Figuerola, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 2015 

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Footnotes

*

This study has received financial support from the Government of Spain, through its Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, project ECO 2012-33286. It has also received backing from the European Social Fund and the government of Aragon, through the Research Group «Agrifood Economic History» (19th and 20th centuries). The authors are especially grateful to Juan Huitzilihuitl Flores Zendejas and Raúl Serrano for their help. They also received helpful comments and suggestions from Fernando Collantes, Joseph Francis, Domingo Gallego, Alfonso Herranz, Agustina Rayes, Xavier Tafunell, Jeffrey G. Williamson and participants at the XVI World Economic History Congress, the Conference on Trade, Poverty and Growth in History organized by the Carlos III University and the Fundación Ramón Areces and seminars at the Pompeu Fabra and Zaragoza universities. The authors also thank three anonymous referees for their helpful comments. The usual disclaimers apply.

a

Department of Applied Economics and Economic History, Faculty of Economics and Business Studies, University of Zaragoza, Gran Via 4, 50005 Zaragoza, Spain. vpinilla@unizar.es

b

Independent Scholar, 14505 E. Walnut Run, Fort Wayne, IN 46814, Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA. aparicio4@gmail.com

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