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Price Fluctuations and Growth Patterns in Singapore's Trade, 1831–1913
Author(s) -
Kobayashi Atsushi
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
australian economic history review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.493
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1467-8446
pISSN - 0004-8992
DOI - 10.1111/aehr.12113
Subject(s) - purchasing power parity , economics , price index , international economics , index (typography) , international trade , economic integration , trade barrier , purchasing power , terms of trade , monetary economics , exchange rate , macroeconomics , world wide web , computer science
Using a newly created trade price index, this paper determines the real growth rate of Singapore's trade during 1831–1913. We find that Singapore's trade grew between 1831 and 1873 at a higher rate than during the later period. An analysis of the terms of trade and purchasing power parity reveals that the growth pattern of Singapore's entrepôt trade changed after 1850 from growth fuelled by transit trade of industrial products to balanced growth between regional imports and exports. This change resulted from the operation of the international monetary system, which enhanced market integration between Britain and Southeast Asia via Singapore.