The Measurement of Unequal Exchange

Abstract

Unequal exchange is the deviation of the prices of commodities from their values that results from intersectoral profit equalisation and from institutional barriers. Its magnitude is measured in this paper. The method of calculating unequal exchange from input—output tables is outlined, then the results are presented. The results show that, if commodities produced in the Philippines in 1961 had sold at the same price—value ratio as did commodities produced in Canada in the same year, total export revenue would have amounted to 5.269 billion pesos instead of the actual 1.129 billion pesos.