This book summarizes the proceedings of and contains the papers presented during the 13th Pacific Trade and Development Conference (PAFTAD), held in Manila last January 24-28, 1983. Twenty-one papers are presented in this conference dealing with the following topics: the relationships among energy prices, economic growth and comparative advantage, the economics of energy resources, the country case studies and the international energy and financing issues.
Since the quadrupling of oil prices administered by the OPEC in 1973-1974, energy issues have become an important, if not a dominant, concern of policymakers in both developed and less developed countries. This would seem attributable in part to government perception of the intensity and pervasiveness of the effects of increased oil prices on the national economy and in part to the recognition that structural adjustments need to be undertaken to cope with the new circumstances. The second oil price shock of 1978-1980, triggered by the Iranian Revolution, only served to give added urgency to the required structural changes and the adoption of policies to bring these changes into action.
