a concept within Marxist economics referring to unequal labour values; can be applied historically to the origins of international wage differentials. proponents of concept: Samir Amin; John Roemer; Immanuel Wallerstein; Ernest Mandel
there is a yawning gap between the 'real value' of the labour and goods that poor countries sell and the prices they are actually paid for them. This is what economists call 'unequal exchange'.