Economic growth without welfare. The case of the impact of commodities on the Colombian economy

Abstract

Economic growth is not always related to social welfare. Therefore, this paper
takes the case of the Colombian economy that has a strong dependence on commodity
exploitation to identify the impacts of different commodities such as oil, coffee, coal, and
nickel over economic variables. The results show that the increase in prices of commodities
generates significant impacts on economic activity in variables such as GDP and investment.
Also, there are no significant impacts on variables that provide welfare to individuals as
total consumption or the unemployment rate.

JEL Classification: F14; F41; O54.