Economists have long debated whether the real exchange rate (RER) has a significant impact on export performance and output growth. Some claim that export performance depends only on nonprice competition and the RER is irrelevant to long-run growth, whereas others argue that the RER is a key...

This paper discusses how A. P. Thirlwall's model of balance-of-payments-constrained growth can be adapted to analyze the idea of a “fallacy of composition” in the export-led growth strategy of many developing countries. The Deaton-Muellbauer model of the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) is...