The question of how prices are set is fundamental to business history. For natural resources there has been four major different pricing systems: producer price lists, commodity exchanges, through the medium of a reputable, independent source such as trade journals which make market surveys to discover actual transaction prices and then publish them at regular time intervals, or through prices negotiated directly between seller and buyer. Historically these have often functioned at different times in different markets, but often two of the systems function for a commodity at the same time. In extreme cases, even all four of them might have been in action at the same time.
According to economic thought, the choice of pricing mechanisms for a commodity depends on structural factors within an industry. However, the existing theories of structural factors is challenged by the existence of several pricing mechanisms for similar natural resources at the same time. Neither can the structural theories explain why the structure of an industry can change without that being automatically connected to changes in pricing systems.
This paper analyses the development of pricing systems for natural resources from the start of the second global economy to today. The main research question is why have different natural resources been priced according to different systems? How have these pricing systems changed over time, and which actors have been instrumental in changing them? The paper will be based on extensive analysis of existing research, as well as primary research into a selection of natural resources. The paper will deal with both soft and hard commodities.