Types of commodities, exchange rate and economic growth: evidences from natural resource curse for Brazil

Abstract

The natural resource curse literature argues that commodities exports promote lower economic growth rates. This paper suggests that this result depends on the type of commodity analyzed. This paper uses Vector Autoregressive and Impulse Response Functions to investigate the existence of negative effects between food, raw materials, minerals and energy exports on Brazilian economic growth and real exchange rate, based in period 2000-2011. The results indicate some evidence of the natural resources curse in Brazil, since food, raw materials and minerals contribute to explain the lower rates of economic growth and exchange rate appreciation. However, such evidence is weak because they occur with some lag and have short duration.