Changes in the export instability of less developed countries – a dissenting note

Abstract

The article provides a re-examination of Lancieri’s recent findings on export instability and his claim that there was no decline in developing countries from 1950 to 1972. The author concludes that there was indeed a mild decline and that Lancieri’s findings are actually consistent with earlier research. It is argued that export instability in less developed countries fell between the fifties and the sixties, but began to grow in the late sixties and early seventies. This places the current stabilisation issue in a consistent historical setting.