The study examines to what extent weak labor unions and an abundance of labor have a negative effect on less developed countries terms of trade, as hypothesized by Hans Singer (1950) and Rául Prebisch (1950). Using a sample from panel data for 74 less developed countries during the period 1980 – 2010 in OLS-regressions with fixed effects, I find some evidence that weak labor unions and abundance of labor is negatively correlated with the terms of trade, which could be interpreted in favor of the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis. The marginal effect of an abundance of labor also appears to have less negative impact on the terms of trade as labor unions grow stronger.

This thesis seeks to verify the concept of so-called resource curse at the beginning of the new millennium. The theoretical part defines the symptoms of the alleged curse, curse transmission channels and criticism of the concept. Compared to other studies dealing with the theme of the resource curse this work is not focused on just one transmission channel. The practical part verifies several hypotheses established by comparing research papers on impacts of natural resources. The validity of the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis, Dutch disease symptoms and a negative impact on political institutions (inclination toward authoritarianism, high level of corruption, high government spending, low efficiency of economic and political decision-making and low investment in education) is verified. For the analysis have been selected two African countries (Nigeria and Botswana) and two advanced countries (Canada and Norway). The last part of this thesis provides policy implications. The results confirm the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis for selected commodities in the long term and some of the symptoms of Dutch disease at the beginning of the new millennium. Hypotheses regarding the impact on the political institutions have not been confirmed, since the results varied across the countries. The high vulnerability of the countries to movements in commodity prices was found.

Tidigare forskning har visat på att länder vars export till stor del utgörs av råvaror riskerar att ha en lägre ekonomisk utveckling. Detta på grund av ett ofördelaktigt prisförhållande där priset stiger snabbare för tillverkade varor än vad det gör för råvaror. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka om det finns något samband mellan råvaruexport och ekonomisk utveckling. Därför genomförs att antal regressionsanalyser i paneldata som inkluderar exportdata från 45 länder, med stor geografisk och ekonomisk spridning, under tidsperioden 2001–2020 för att se hur korrelationen ser ut mellan andelen av exporten som utgörs av råvaror och variabler som anses representera ekonomisk utveckling, det vill säga BNP- och löneökning. Resultatet påvisar ett tydligt samband mellan råvaruexport och BNP-tillväxt, som blir ännu starkare när en regression genomförs med laggade variabler, vilket skulle kunna peka mot en kausalitet. Analysen visar dock att det inte verkar finnas något samband mellan råvaruexport och löneökning. / Earlier studies have shown that countries whose export is highly dependent on primary goods tend to show slower economic development. That is because of disadvantageous terms of trade where prices are rising faster for manufactured goods than primary goods. The purpose of this paper is therefore to examine if there is a relationship between primary export and economic development. Therefore, a number of regressions are performed with panel data that include export data from 45 countries, with a large geographic and economic distribution, during the time period 2001–2020 to see what the correlation looks like between the share of exports that is made up by primary goods and variables that represent economic development, namely GDP growth and wage increase. The result demonstrates a clear correlation between primary exports and GDP growth, which become even clearer when a regression is performed with lagged variables, which could indicate causality. However, the analysis does not seem to show a correlation between primary exports and wage increases.

Cette thèse analyse les enjeux du développement économique liés aux dynamiques des cours des matières premières en général et ceux du coton en particulier. Traditionnellement, les travaux s’inscrivant dans une optique de long terme questionnent la pertinence des spécialisations primaires des PMA. À moyen terme l’intérêt porte davantage sur l’instabilité dont les conséquences sont d’autant plus importantes que la dépendance des pays à l’exportation de tels produits est forte. Les enjeux s’articulent alors autour des modalités de régulation des marchés, du choix d'outils (publics ou marchands) pour la gestion des incertitudes, le tout dépendant de l’appréhension de l’instabilité comme un phénomène endogène ou exogène. Dans un contexte nouveau marqué par l’affirmation d’oligopoles de firmes, la segmentation du processus productif mondial, et la financiarisation des marchés de matières premières, nous proposons un cadre analytique permettant d’aborder différemment ces problématiques. Nos travaux montrent d’abord comment les approches du type chaînes globales de valeur peuvent être mobilisées pour mieux orienter les stratégies commerciales / industrielles des PMA. S’appuyant sur la notion de rationalité limitée dans le cadre de modèles de comportements hétérogènes, ils prouvent ensuite l’existence d’une forte composante endogène dans l’instabilité et par là même, l'inefficacité des seuls outils marchands. Au final, pour les pays africains producteurs de coton, il apparait qu’il reste possible de mettre ce produit au service d’une stratégie globale de développement. Cela passe par le recours à des mécanismes hybrides de gestion de l’instabilité, combiné au renforcement des dynamiques de coopération transfrontalières en vue d’une structuration de chaînes régionales de valeur. / This thesis analyzes the economic development issues related to the medium and long-term dynamics of commodities prices in general and cotton prices in particular. Studies on the long-term perspective traditionally question the relevance of primary specializations of LDCs. In the medium term, the interest is relates to price instability for which the consequences are all the more important as countries’ dependency on the exports of such products becomes stronger. The stakes then revolve around market regulation modalities, and the choice of risk management tools (e.g. public or private interventions). These depend on the apprehension of price fluctuations as a phenomenon arising from endogenous or exogenous market factors. In a new economical context influenced by the growing importance of oligopolistic firms, a segmentation of the productive process and the financialization of commodity markets, we address differently these issues through a new analytical framework. The proposed analysis first shows how approaches such as the ones related to global value chains are more adapted to tackle industrial/commercial policies in commodity dependent LDCs. Second, in a context of heterogeneous behavioral models, we rely on the concept of bounded rationality to show the presence of a strong endogenous component in instability. Thus, it proves the inefficiency of private interventions to counter instability. Considering these findings in the case of African cotton producers, we conclude that it remains possible to incorporate the commodity in a global development strategy. But this involves the use of hybrid-type mechanisms (public-private) for managing uncertainty, combined with a reinforcement of cross-border cooperation dynamics in order to structure regional value chains.