Terms-of-trade and the current accountA two-country/two-sector growth model

Abstract

This paper examines the equilibrium relation, within the non-specialized area, between the current account and the terms-of-trade in a two-country/sector growth model. Along a convergent eqirilibrium path, this relation can have any sign depending on the trading sectors' relative factor intensities and on the steady state relative price slopes of demand for and supply of investment goods. It is also shown that a negative association between capital accumulation and the terms-of-trade for the exporter of capital intensive goods does not require an import sector growing faster than the export sector.