This article examines how factor intensity rankings between industries and the economy-wide asymmetry in the degree of factor substitution combine to influence the manner in which changes in relative commodity prices affect the factoral distribution of income. (The reciprocal influence of factor endowment changes on the composition of outputs is also discussed.) The analysis is undertaken in a general three-factor, two-commodity framework, the minimal sized model that allows both influences to affect factor prices and admits of the possibility of complementarity between factors. Factors which are good substitutes find their returns behave somewhat similarly when commodity prices change while factors which are complements experience strongly asymmetrical fortunes. A crucial role is played by a comparison of the share of the ‘middle’ factor in each sector.