Major Importing Countries Research Articles

Communications on energy oil and economics

Looking at the prolonged depression which has gripped the industrialized world following the quadrupling of oil prices by OPEC, the author considers that most of the blame lies with the governments of the major importing countries. Instead of relying on monetary policies, they should instead concentrate on the direct manipulation of employment.

Trends and patterns of the international tropical hardwood trade

In spite of the rapid expansion of tropical hardwood exports since 1960, there was no change in the structure of the trade. For a more equitable distribution of gains from the trade, tropical developing countries need to move away from log exports into domestic processing of wood. The main obstacles to future expansion of tropical hardwood exports are a lack of necessary complementary inputs in the producing countries and the restrictions to market access in the major importing countries. Rationalization of the production and trade of tropical hardwoods could contribute significantly to world welfare.

Cooperation Among Oil Exporting Countries with Special Reference to Arab Countries: a Political Economy Analysis

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will probably be remembered in history as an outstanding example of relatively successful intergovernmental cooperation among developing countries. OPEC's achievements in raising the oil export income of members appear remarkable in view of the deep sociopolitical divisions among them—occasionally verging on armed conflicts. Nevertheless, OPEC countries have managed not to let these conflicts wreck their common interest in obtaining substantially better terms from the international companies and from consumer countries. That OPEC countries could obtain better terms is not only the result of member solidarity but also of the relatively inelastic demand for petroleum. Another crucial factor favoring OPEC is that major consumer countries have been moderate in their drive to collectively countervail OPEC, except indirectly by allowing their international oil companies to join forces ostensibly in defense of consumers' interests. Major consumer countries have also declined so far to split forcefully the OPEC coalition. The continued existence of OPEC largely depends on (1) members' perception of gain outweighing sacrifices or frustrations of working together, and (2) the tolerance of major industrial importing countries.

Long-Term Trends in Banana Exports: Further Evidence of Secular Fluctuations in Tropical Agricultural Trade

The present paper is an extension of a previous article presenting evidence of secular fluctuations or in the growth of tropical agricultural trade.' In that article, twenty-one time series relating to the volume of exports of six of the most valuable tropical agricultural commodities were examined and analyzed to determine whether Kuznets cycles have been characteristic of the growth of tropical agricultural trade, and to consider how these cycles were related to major fluctuations in capital exports and demand in the major importing countries. 2 The evidence presented there confirmed the view that the observed fluctuations (which were characteristic of most of the series examined) were transmitted from the importing countries.