Comercio, sobreexplotación laboral y ciclos en la periferia: Una propuesta teórica y el caso ecuatoriano desde un modelo PVAR

This paper theoretically interprets how international real capitalist competition pressures trade balances of the peripheral countries to depend on absolute cost advantages based on the super-exploitation of labor power and nature; dependence which creates cyclical dynamics within those countries. To reinforce such an interpretation, the paper takes as a study case the Ecuadorian peripheral capitalism, about which some historical-cyclical trends are presented as well as some examples of economic activities that seem to obtain their trade surplus through super-exploitation. Also, the paper estimates a PVAR model over a panel data of 43 economic activities observed during the period 2007-2016; from that estimation, it is found evidence of short-run cyclical dynamics among Ecuadorian economic activities. All the empirical results evidence the importance of the absolute cost advantages gained through super-exploitation of labor power and nature on the determination of trade balances and on the rise of cycles that reinforce the dependent condition of Ecuadorian capitalism.