EXPORT INSTABILITY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH.

SUMMARY Does export instability interfere with economic development? Work by M cB ean answers in the negative. He finds no systematic relationship between instability and economic growth. This paper asks three questions about M cB ean's work: (1) Has he measured the relevant variables appropriately? (2) Were special factors at work in the period he studied (1950-58) ? (3) Was his sample of countries representative? It presents a broader statistical analysis, using a different index of instability, two decades of data, and more countries. In general, the findings do not contradict M cB ean. But calculations using different time periods (1950-66 and 1956-67) do produce some evidence of interference. Furthermore, the paper finds one new relationship-a strong inverse connection between instability and the level of investment in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]