Capital has the inherent requirement of constant expansion. It requires breaking all geographical boundaries and realizing the transnational allocation of production factors. It is this expansion that promotes the internationalization of various countries. Internationalization is an inevitable requirement for the development of productive forces in general, but integration itself provides different opportunities to different countries. The main reason is that strong international capital from developed countries has brought almost all parts of the world into the same market and the same industry. In a production system, more interests and development opportunities are monopolized through the international market price system, foreign investment, and transnational operations. This does not necessarily promote the economic development of developing countries, and sometimes even threatens them. Healthy and independent economic development. ?

In terms of its effect on the economic structure, the essence of a country's economic internationalization is that the country will eventually be more deeply integrated into the price system of the international market. This is also the essential manifestation of the impact of the world economy on a country's economy, and in turn affects the choice and effect of a country's economic development strategy. Then, it is very necessary to understand and understand the characteristics of the international market price system.

There have been many results on this at home and abroad, but what is slightly lacking is that most of them are not in-depth enough, or the conclusions are relatively one-sided. The reality of my country's economic reform and opening up urgently requires us to handle the relationship between domestic and foreign markets. Therefore, further analysis of the formation of the international market price system becomes important. ? 1. The formation of the international market price system

In the current fully developed international market, different countries, different consumers and consumers must abide by a general economy, that is, the law of value. In an integrated world economy, the scope of the law of value also extends beyond national borders, transforming value into international value. In this way, the price of any country can no longer form its own system and must be linked to the international market price. Although the closeness of the link depends on factors such as the country's dependence on foreign trade, the structure of imported goods, and the flow of foreign capital. And change. ?

Marx’s outstanding work led him to propose the category of international value. From this we know that the international value of commodities is the basis for determining the international exchange price of commodities. The international price of commodities is the monetary expression of the international value of commodities and the transformation form of international value. The international production price is the combination of the average cost of each country and the average profit of each country. Determined by the sum; in the world market, the production price of commodities is the center of commodity exchange prices. Commodity exchange is the price fluctuation around the production price. This law mainly comes from changes caused by supply and demand. ?

This is true on a global scale, but if we further care about the impact of the international economic system on countries with different levels of development and different economic structures, further analysis of the internal formation mechanism of the international market price system cannot be avoided. ?

(1) The formation of two types of commodity prices?

Generally speaking, price is the monetary expression of the international value of commodities, or more precisely, it is determined by the international average production price of commodities. decided. However, when there is an imbalance of power or conflicts and contradictions between dominance and dependence in international economic relations, the price of commodities will be seriously distorted during the exchange process. ?

The formation of primary product prices?

Relevant statistics show that since this century, the price index of primary products relative to manufactured goods has declined at an average rate of 0.6% per year. [1] What causes this downward trend? ?

Some people use the reason that monopoly does not eliminate competition and believe that the emergence of monopoly prices does not and cannot cause prices in the international market to deviate from the average price for a long time. Even if the monopoly price is not broken by competition, overall It seems that it is just transferring part of the profits of other commodity producers to the hands of commodity producers with monopoly prices. If this view is correct in the economic relations within a developed capitalist country or between developed countries, then it is too simplistic to use it to analyze the economic exchanges between developed countries and developing countries.

The essential gap between the industrial and trade structures of developed countries and developing countries cannot be shortened in the short term. A fundamental limitation of developing countries’ foreign trade is that the amount of exports determines the amount of imports necessary for economic development and industrial adjustment; and developing countries are overly dependent on primary products, semi-manufactured products and other low value-added products. Most of the imported products are complex machinery and equipment, advanced technologies and other high value-added finished products. Furthermore, due to the favorable position that large multinational companies in developed countries occupy in the world economy and their control over world production and circulation, developing countries must fundamentally change their unfavorable economic situation and strive to have more say in various fields of the world economy. Not an easy task. Under such a premise, simply emphasizing that prices in the international market fluctuate around the production price of commodities will simplify things, which is not conducive to the analysis of international economic relations and is not conducive to grasping the essence of world economic integration. ?

There are forces that dominate and are dominated in the international market. Whether we like it or not, this is an objective fact. This means that there are factors other than the above factors at play in determining the international market price system. Their analysis will deepen our understanding of international economic relations and study the world economy from a higher perspective. Integrated development trend.

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For a long time, although the export commodity structure of developing countries has been greatly improved, it cannot be denied that primary products still account for a large proportion in the exports of developing countries. Most countries even remain dominant. The imported commodity structure of developing countries is dominated by manufactured goods, especially the import of production materials such as machinery and equipment.

Due to limited export capacity and strong demand for imports, to a certain extent, the export of primary products has a direct impact on those imports that are essential for economic development. This situation is essentially different from the exports of developed countries: the exports of developed countries (mainly manufactured products) are essentially a process of capital proliferation, with the goal of obtaining high profits. This difference in foreign economic and trade between developing countries and developed countries puts enterprises in developing countries in an unfavorable balance of power in commodity exchange: in order to obtain important information for their economic development, When finished products are imported, the prices of exported products will be depressed; on the contrary, even if the prices of advanced machinery and equipment and other finished products in developed countries are raised, people will still buy them. For backward countries, a large proportion of manufactured exports from developed countries is to obtain their use value, [2] and these products will be added to the production process of developing countries. Therefore, people have reason to say that "the relative decline in primary product prices is mainly due to the unbalanced balance of power in international exchanges." [2]?

Some people may also question that, in the international market now, Most commodities in the world are in a buyer's market. Why does it cause overestimation and underestimation of commodity prices due to the imbalance of power? It is true that there are many types of international markets today, and the diversity of the market provides buyers of goods with a lot of choice; but in any case, the different positions of developed and developing countries in the world economy are not consistent. No fundamental changes have occurred, especially as the status of large multinational corporations in developed countries gradually rises in the world economy, which further intensifies the differences in status between them. Although the monopoly of developed countries' multinational corporations on the world economy cannot eliminate competition in the world market, we cannot underestimate their long-term monopoly on important commodities. What's more, developed countries have always intervened in the economy, using loans, taxes, etc. A series of measures, including administrative measures, have affected the flow and direction of trade and strengthened controls on the export of key technologies and equipment. In this case, too much emphasis on the buyer's market is unrealistic. It is not difficult for us to import cars from developed countries, but the technology to produce cars requires a lot of money to buy, or even cannot be bought at a big price.

In order to export more products, backward countries often have to resort to currency devaluation to encourage their products to enter the world market. Such policies sometimes play a positive role in promoting exports and inhibiting imports. However, when it is difficult or even impossible to compress the imports required for economic development, currency depreciation will bring great side effects: commodities with later export numbers must be exchanged for equivalent finished products.

Going back to the buyer's market we mentioned earlier, it is actually primary products and low value-added manufactured products that are more likely to have buyer's market conditions, and these products play an important role in the exports of developing countries. proportion. If most developing countries must strive to expand exports, the prices of primary products and low value-added manufactured goods will fall even lower. ?

When analyzing the price formation of primary products, there are three factors that should not be ignored. The first is the widespread distribution of primary products. Most primary products are produced not only in developing countries but also in many developed countries. Although developing countries are rich in minerals, they are also widely distributed in North America, Oceania and other regions. This is especially true for agricultural products. Developing countries export agricultural products, and developed countries such as the United States and some Western European countries are more competitive than developing countries. When the price of primary products increases greatly, developed countries will increase their production of primary products, thereby causing the prices of primary products to fall again. In other words, it is difficult to increase the price of primary products as a whole. The second is the non-renewable nature of mineral products. The production of mineral products is actually a permanent drain on a country's wealth. People mine ore, but people don't produce it. What the buyer pays is only the cost of mining and transportation, not the ore itself. Therefore, mineral products do not have the general properties of commodities because they have no reproducible properties. [4] The third is the instability of primary product prices. Many statistics have shown that the prices of primary products fluctuate more sharply than those of manufactured products. [5] This is an inevitable reflection of the fragile status of primary products in international trade. Sudden changes in prices will cause serious interference to production enterprises and national economic development plans and strategies, adding another obstacle to economic growth. ?

The formation of prices for high value-added finished products?

These finished products mainly come from developed countries. Regarding the formation of its price, there are two points that require our attention. ?

First point, we have mentioned that in the exchange of goods in the international market, the different statuses of developed countries and other countries mainly lie in the existence of two different needs between capital appreciation and the pursuit of use value. contradiction. This contradiction makes it impossible for the price of high value-added manufactured goods to be overvalued in exchange. ?

Another point is that multinational companies in developed countries have the ability to penetrate into every corner of the world, which adds a lot of convenience to their operations.

An important feature of the operation of multinational companies is that there are close trade links between their subsidiaries and between parent companies and subsidiaries. The internal trade volume of large multinational companies accounts for a large proportion of their total trade. This kind of trade relationship is not actually a market relationship in the strict sense. There is no market in the strict sense within a multinational company. The price of goods is actually determined based on the global strategy of the multinational company, thus forming an internal price. It's the transfer price. This internal price constitutes an important means for multinational companies to pursue profit maximization. If a large multinational company controls all its production processes from raw materials to final products, then only its final products will encounter a real market. It can be seen from this that multinational companies have considerable freedom in valuing their products. ?

(2) The formation of the price system?

Many Western economists believe that the introduction of the international price system can promote the improvement of a country's economic efficiency. This view is also affirmed by many international economic and trade organizations, which believe that the international price system can better guide the economic development of various countries. If we look at it from the perspective of developed countries, the above view may be correct. However, if we look at the issue from the perspective of the entire international economic relations, especially from the perspective of developing countries, then it may have major flaws, or at least be very incomplete. ?Macroscopically speaking, there is a unified price system in the international market. No matter which country's products come from, as long as they enter the international market, they must be exchanged according to this price system. As the economies of various countries gradually become internationalized, the international price system will gradually penetrate into the economic structures of various countries. ?

In a general sense, a country's price system gradually changes with the level of economic development, and different stages of development should correspond to different price systems. But if you look at the entire international market, the situation is more complicated. It is undeniable that in the current world economy and even for a long time in the future, developed countries occupy and will maintain their dominant and even dominant position. The dominant role in international economic relations is also the capitalist production relations. Under such a premise, the international economic system will inevitably tend to safeguard the interests of developed countries, and this will be reflected in the structure of the price system. [6] In other words, the price system of the international market is more adapted to the needs of developed countries for the development of productivity, but its role in promoting the economies of developing countries is greatly limited. Due to the low level of productivity, it is difficult for the industrial structure of developing countries to adapt to such a strong relative price system from the outside, because before its development reaches a certain level, the over-penetration of the price system of the external market will create its own price structure. serious disorder.

This kind of imbalance or distortion in the price structure is an important obstacle to economic development. It may be caused by domestic economic policies or imperfect market mechanisms, just like what happened before my country's reform and opening up. This is reflected in the fact that commodity prices are artificially separated from the market and divorced from market relations, resulting in an unreasonable industrial structure and thus affecting the vitality of the entire national economy.

Similar to internally caused price distortions, price structural imbalances caused by external markets have an equally serious impact on a country’s economic development, and correction may require greater effort because of the changes in the world market. Change is beyond the control of a country. ?

Generally speaking, agriculture often occupies a very important position in the economic structure of most developing countries. If the dependence on the world market is strong, the prices of agricultural products will be strongly impacted by the international market. The agricultural productivity of developed countries is at a relatively high level of development, and agricultural products are highly competitive. If developing countries do not protect themselves properly, agriculture will inevitably suffer great damage. This phenomenon is relatively common in some countries in Africa and South America.

Developing countries have a large agricultural population, and agricultural production accounts for a large part of the gross national product. If agriculture is not properly developed, a large number of them will fall into poverty, which will subsequently affect the entire country. economic development and the interests of all classes. The imbalance in the industrial structure may lead to a substantial increase in imports. At this time, the export capacity will not necessarily be enhanced much, and developing countries will have to seek funds in the international market, and the scale of foreign debt in Asia will increase.

Although there are fewer countries troubled by debt problems in the world today than in the 1980s, the debt problem is far from being solved. It is only temporarily alleviated. In order to repay debts and purchase necessary imports, developing countries The country must expand its export production, further deepening its dependence on the world market without effectively limiting its negative impact. ?

In the process of integrating various countries into the international market and price system, those large multinational companies played a decisive role. Multinational companies transfer part of their production and business activities to other countries in order to seek more favorable production and business conditions. On the one hand, it provides new opportunities and impetus for the regular development of the host country and even the development of the world economy. On the other hand, this positive role of multinational corporations is still limited. At the same time, if a developing country has weak policy guidance when introducing foreign direct investment, its industrial sectors that are open to the outside world will face fierce competition from multinational companies.

Due to the huge disparity in power between developing countries and multinational corporations, it is difficult for corresponding sectors in developing countries to win in competition, and multinational corporations will be able to expand their presence or even gain a dominant position in these industrial sectors. This phenomenon is not uncommon in the development process of capitalism, but it is more subtle and difficult to detect in contemporary times. The difficulties encountered by many emerging international countries in South America illustrate this point. Under the strong penetration of multinational companies, the country's internal price system no longer has a unified and strict meaning, so it is difficult to say that it has economic autonomy. In fact, it is likely to form a serious dependence on international capital. ?

When examining multinational companies, we should not underestimate one of their important characteristics, which is that they can obtain additional income through "price transfer". This is a unique advantage of multinational companies and a product of the high development of international capital. Price transfer refers to the unique advantages of multinational companies and is the product of the high development of international capital. Price transfer means that a multinational company artificially raises or lowers the exchange price when exchanging tangible and intangible assets between branches based on its overall development strategy, so that the profits of different branches are transferred from one branch to another. other institutions. For example, multinational companies can evade high taxes through price transfers and also avoid host countries' foreign exchange controls.

Although many countries today have strengthened management and supervision of enterprises with direct investment by multinational corporations, due to the existence of the so-called internal market, multinational corporations will realize price transfers through asset transactions in various branches. Price transfer is a common phenomenon in the business activities of multinational companies and an important part of their global development strategies. A certain degree of independence from the market operating mechanism is a prominent feature of multinational corporations. ? 2. The enlightenment of waiting?

The analysis of the international market price system allows us to draw some conclusions and gain certain enlightenment. ? (1) Brief conclusion?

The price formation method of different types of commodities in the international market illustrates that developing countries will lose some wealth in foreign trade. It also well illustrates the situation of developing countries. Why do the overall terms of trade continue to deteriorate (the table below only illustrates the situation in the 1980s). ?Changes in the terms of trade of developing countries in the 1980s? (%, per year)? 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 Developing countries -2.6 -2.4 1.8 -1.8 -20.3 -0.5 1.4 1.1 Among them

Latin America -3.2 0.0 1.8 -1.9 -17.3 -1.5 1.6 1.6 Africa -1.9 -2.9 1.6 -2.2 -35.9 -6.4 -9.1 8.7 East Asia -2.9 1.3 4.6 -1.5 -12.3 0.3 3.3 0.3 West Asia -0.3 -5.9 -0.8 -2 .0 - 43.2 -3.5 -17.6 12.7 China -5.8 -1.0 3.1 -1.9 -12.6 0.7 1.6 2.4 China1.3 1.0 -1.7 0.6 8.7 0.4 1.0 -0.4 Source: United Nations World Economic Report 1993?

If developing countries Without adequate precautions, the ubiquitous and all-encompassing price system of the international market, which is basically adapted to developed countries, will gradually cause distortions in the price structure of developing countries and affect the improvement of their industrial structures and the development of the entire national economy. . In order to analyze the labor profit margins of major production sectors in different countries, some scholars have compared the distribution of labor in different sectors and the distribution of added value in different parts of developed capitalist countries and developing countries. The results found that differences in developed countries The two distributions of sectors have a close trend. The ratio between the two in different sectors (that is, the average added value created by each labor force in each sector in a certain period) is gradually narrowing. The maximum difference in the 1980s has been reduced to 3 times. about. In developing countries, the largest gap between different sectors is more than 20 times, and there is a trend of widening. [7] This shows that for most developing countries, with the development of internationalization, only a few sectors have joined the process of equalization of production factor prices, which of course includes the foreign trade sector and sectors controlled by transnational capital; however, , most industries are not included and are in the underdeveloped or even capitalist production stage. On the one hand, there is a serious tilt towards international capital, and on the other hand, a large number of industries are very backward. This is a serious problem for the economies of many developing countries. ?

What needs to be emphasized is that we do not deny that foreign trade is beneficial to backward countries, but it shows that the international market is not neutral for all countries, especially developing countries. Some external restrictions, if not prevented by effective policies, will cause serious imbalances in the national economic structure. In the contemporary world economy, even those economically developed countries cannot take the issue of price system lightly. The prevalence of trade protectionism proves this point from the negative side. No matter how high a country's economic development level is, it is difficult for it to maintain advantages in competition in many fields at the same time, and protection of industries in which it does not have an advantage may be necessary.

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(2) Interdependence, mutual competition, and limited opportunities?

The international expansion of capital has strengthened the interdependence between the economies of various countries, and to a certain extent has achieved intertwined interests, prosperity and loss. with *** condition. The scope and depth of common interests among countries have expanded. The development of integration and regionalization proves this. Especially within regional groups, in addition to the strengthening of economic interdependence, the systems and foreign policies pursued by member states will sometimes become more consistent. This situation is especially obvious in the process of Western European union.

However, we should also realize that this world has limited resources, limited market capacity, and limited development opportunities. The contradictory and conflicting interests among countries have not disappeared with the development of national integration and regionalization. In fact, they have spread to a wider range. However, the resolution of conflicts of interests is not as easy to cause serious military confrontation as before. This can be achieved through peaceful coordination or even cooperation. ?

In the process of integration and regionalization, there are still conflicts between national economic interests and regional economic interests. This is especially true of regional developments. Although the move from the European Community to the European Union has its own internal economic dependence and political security considerations, one reason that cannot be ignored is to enhance competitiveness with North America and Japan. The launch of the European Union further stimulated the establishment and expansion of the North American Free Trade Area. The United States proposed the "American Initiative" to actively promote the economic union of American countries; Japan accelerated its economic ties with countries in the region and "returned to Asia." These strategic adjustments are all aimed at competing for economic dominance and control in the world and in the region, and based on this, international competitions begin. It should also be noted that there are also contradictions and frictions within regional groupings. "Multi-speed Europe" is an example. Western European countries are not so consistent in the coordination of market unification, currency and other economic policies. This reflects that there are still many difficulties in the current European integration construction. What kind of Europe should we build? There are serious differences. ?

Competition among countries has risen to the coexistence of competition between countries, between countries and groups, and between groups. are intertwined, and the impact of inter-group competition is growing. Compared with competition between countries, competition between groups involves more confrontations, a wider scope, and is more complex. In the past, various competitors operated in different fields. Each competitor had its own competitive advantages, and the direct economic conflict of interests was not very intense, which means that the economic complementarity was strong. The economic relations between the United States, Western Europe and Japan in the long period after the Second Strategy illustrate this point. At that time, the market capacity provided by developing countries was relatively large, which also alleviated the conflict of interests among developed countries to a certain extent. In recent years, a different situation has emerged. In terms of development level and development potential, there are three almost equal competitors, namely North America, the European Union and Japan (sometimes including some countries in East Asia). As the space for parallel development between economic groups is getting smaller and smaller, in order to find a way out for their own capital and products, competition for the mutual market is becoming more intense. ?

In the process of integration and regionalization, different types of countries have different situations. Western countries are in the forefront and occupy an obvious dominant position. Among them, the United States is even more eager to seek a future. It is the leading international economic order with the Western Alliance as the main body. ?

For developing countries, maintaining rapid economic growth is inseparable from international economic exchanges and cooperation. Those who are isolated in the international community are in a state of insecurity. But at the same time, the developing economy is severely restricted by the current international economic order and environment. Economic internationalization will not bring rapid and healthy economic growth. How to better combine internationalization and own economic development and strive for a more powerful position in the world economy is a problem that most developing countries need to vigorously solve.

Some scholars often use the newly industrialized countries in East Asia as an example of how developing countries can achieve rapid development only by vigorously developing an export-oriented economy. There are two points that need to be pointed out here. First, it is not that the newly industrialized countries in East Asia have no protection for their own price systems. On the contrary, countries such as South Korea and Singapore have always tried their best to deal with the relationship with the international market and have appropriate protection for their own price systems. For example, the Singaporean government has strong control over foreign trade and uses tax and other policies to encourage the export of high value-added goods and develop its own industrial system as much as possible. It is not as dependent on the international market as some people imagine because the country is small. In South Korea, the government has been implementing protective measures for agriculture for many years. The import component of foreign trade policies is still very large even today. The state also strongly supports high-tech industries and encourages the export of high-tech products. Second, East Asian countries had a special external environment after the war. For a period of time, international capital strongly supported emerging industrialized countries and regions such as South Korea.

(3) Is the North-South contradiction a serious threat to the normal operation of the world economy?

The rich-poor polar structure of the world economy is a major issue in contemporary international economic relations. Developed countries are strengthening the international economic system centered on their own interests.

If developing countries want to achieve healthy economic development, in addition to reforming their domestic social and economic structures and carefully formulating development strategies, they must also actively engage in foreign economic development while minimizing the negative impact that international capital may bring. Make arduous efforts to improve the existing international economic order. ?

Due to the widening gap between the economic development levels of the North and the South,[8] we have every reason to believe that although the unprecedented expansion of contemporary international capital has made the world economy more integrated, it has not brought about the economic integration of various countries. In fact, there is even an opposite tendency to the homogenization of development. ?

In fact, the unprecedented international development in the fields of production and circulation has caused some economies that originally acted within capitalist countries to affect the entire world to a certain extent. The original capitalist class structure has also affected the world. Expand. Although the contradiction between the working class and the bourgeoisie has been greatly alleviated in developed countries, this contradiction has not been alleviated in underdeveloped countries. The inequality of international economic relations has caused the original internal contradictions of a country to merge into the contradictions between rich and poor countries. Subsequently, the relative impoverishment or even absolute impoverishment of the working class has occurred on a larger scale in developing countries. . ?

As the largest developing country in the world, China's global economic integration and regionalization have brought more opportunities to our country to strengthen economic and political relations with other countries in the world, especially neighboring countries. There will be It is conducive to the development of foreign economy and the further improvement of the environment. However, it should not be ignored that after the end of the Cold War, the Asia-Pacific region has become the focus of attention in international relations. Some even believe that the main battlefield of world economic and political struggles has shifted from Europe to the Asia-Pacific. Under such circumstances, China, as the largest developing country, faces peripheral situations and international environments that have become more complex. On the one hand, integration and regionalization provide our country with opportunities to develop economic relations with neighboring countries and other countries. On the other hand, they pose more powerful challenges to the healthy development of our country's economy. We need to accurately grasp the above and take corresponding and powerful measures. Countermeasures.

Notes: ?

[1] World Bank "World Report 1991". There are many other statistics that confirm this trend.

[2]M.Bye, G de Bernis, Relations economipues internationales,DALLOZ, 1987?

[3]World Bank "World Development Report 1991"?

[4]S. Dkhissi, La specific problem of matieres premieres minerals dans l`economie internatinale and l`avenirdes relations entre les pays sous-developpes et les pays developpes ,se de L`Universite de Grenoble II?

[5]Rapport de la Commission Sud, Defis au sud, Economica, 1991

[6]M. Bye, G de Bernis, Relations economiques internationales, DALLOZ, 1987

[7] According to data provided by the 1995 issue of the US Foreign Affairs magazine, there are more than 20 rich countries in the world, more than 10 countries are narrowing their gap with rich countries, and there are more than 140 countries whose gap with rich countries is narrowing. The gap continues to widen. This basically reflects the development of the world over a period of time. ? [8]Samir Amin, La Deconnection, La Decouverte, Paris, 1986 edition.