The Transfer Problem and the Intertemporal Terms of Trade

In this paper, the effects of a transfer on the intertemporal terms of trade are examined in the context of a simple two-country, two-period model. When intertemporal trade occurs because the two economies have different rates of time preference, a transfer improves the terms of trade of the paying country. Alternatively, when trade occurs owing to international differences in the endowments of goods over the two periods, the effect of a transfer depends on (1) the relationship between the interest rate and the rates of time preference of the two countries and (2) the relationship between their elasticities of intertemporal consumption substitution.