Commodity terms of trade volatility and industry growth

Abstract

The rising volatility of commodity terms of trade (CTOT) is associated with a high cost of capital and a low credit supply for producers in commodity-dependent countries. In this paper, we examine how volatile CTOT influences various industries’ growth performance based on sector-level panel data for countries specializing in commodity exports. We find robust evidence that CTOT volatility causes a more significant growth loss in manufacturing sectors facing tighter credit constraints. The adverse growth effects operate through lower total factor productivity in industries heavily reliant on external finance for long-term investments and through lower capital accumulation in industries with high liquidity needs for short-term working capital. Our findings offer a complementary explanation for the “resource curse” through the credit constraint channel.