Primary commodities - food, raw materials, fuels and base metals - continue to be a substantial proportion of the exports of many developing countries and account for over 40 per cent of world trade. The determinants of primary commodity prices, and the terms on which they are traded for manufactured goods, are topics of considerable importance for development economists.The Economics of Primary Commodities brings together in one volume important new work by a group of leading scholars on the economic analysis of primary commodity markets. Their detailed coverage of major recent developments in the field include discussion of modelling and policy issues. Topics addressed include excess co-movement of commodity prices, the stabilization of earnings in volatile commodity markets, a macroeconomic framework for trade terms between north and south, and the influence of economic policy on commodity markets. The essays should provide the reader with an overview of the current 'state-of-the-art' and a useful platform on which future research might be based.

This book will be welcomed by academic researchers, practitioners and postgraduate students concerned with the economics of trade, economic development and international economics.