Commodities-Driven Growth, 2001–2018: The Colombian Miracle

Abstract

Between 2002 and 2015, Colombia entered into a stage of accelerated economic growth. The driver behind such economic expansion was the improvement in security, which paved the way for investment. The high growth rates for that period were caused by an increase in the input factors rather than by the productivity. In fact, productivity has consistently declined throughout the twenty-first century, which is associated with the informal economy.

The high proportion of informal companies observed in Colombia is a result of the heavy tax burden, which means to take part in the formal economy. Firms’ maturity process is significantly affected in a way that they remain small, and without access to financial services, which prevents them from fully exploiting the possibilities that ICTs offer.