Productivity Growth and Changes in the Terms of Trade in Japan and the U.S.

In this paper we employ a recently proposed procedure (Dlewert and Morrison[1985]) for adjusting real domestic product and productivity for changes in a country's terms of trade. We apply this procedure to a comparison of two major industrialized countries, the U.S. and Japan. The approach is based on assessing the impact on, alternatively, production or final sales to domestic purchasers, of changes in terms of trade and the balance of payments deficit in a consistent accounting framework. This treatment of international trade allows for comparative statics analysis based only on production theory. The comparison is carried out for a relatively open economy, Japan, with an economy that may not be as vulnerable to terms of trade changes, the U.S. for the years 1967 to 1982.