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International trade in wheat and other cereals and the collapse of the first wave of globalization, 1900–38

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 February 2019

Gema Aparicio  and
Vicente Pinilla
Gema Aparicio
Affiliation:
14505 E. Walnut Run, Fort Wayne, IN 46814, USA
Vicente Pinilla*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Zaragoza, Department of Applied Economics and Economic History and Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA), Faculty of Economics and Business Studies, Gran Via 4, 50005 Zaragoza, Spain. E-mail: [email protected]
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyse the dynamics of international trade in cereals, primarily wheat, in the first third of the twentieth century, with a special focus on the causes of the fall in exchanges and prices that took place in the 1930s. Developments over this period are compared with the general trade in food and agricultural products. An examination of the structure of the trade in wheat, maize, and rice shows the operation of their respective markets, giving special attention to the import and export flows between consumers and producers. To understand the functioning of the market for these products, the article examines the changes in supply, demand, and prices, and the emergence and development of intermediary companies in this business. The argument draws from a new database, based on the statistics published by the International Institute of Agriculture.

Keywords

agricultural protectionismglobalizationgrain tradeinternational agrifood tradewheat
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Global History , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , March 2019 , pp. 44 - 67
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

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Footnotes

†

This study has received financial support from the Government of Spain, through its Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, project ECO2015–65582-P. It has also received backing from the European Social Fund and the Government of Aragon, through the Research Group S55_17R. We are grateful for the help provided by Domingo Gallego, Ángel González-Esteban, Michael Kopsidis, Javier Silvestre, and Patrick Svensson, and the comments received on its presentation to the 10th European Social Science History Conference and from two anonymous referees and the editors. Totals given in the tables have been calculated from rounded figures, so may differ slightly from the data totals. The usual disclaimers apply.

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