The Role of Relative Price Volatility in the Efficiency of Investment Allocation

Eduardo Cavallo, Arturo Galindo, Alejandro Izquierdo and John León-Díaz

No 4682, Research Department Publications from Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department

Abstract: This paper estimates the impact of relative price volatility on sector-level investment allocation using a panel of 65 countries with data for 26 manufacturing industries over the period 1985-2003. Results indicate that volatility distorts efficient investment allocation in that investment is not necessarily devoted to relatively more productive sectors, especially in emerging market economies that are highly exposed and may lack the necessary institutions to deal with it successfully. This is evidence in support of theories suggesting that relative price volatility provides incentives for entrepreneurs to adopt more “malleable” but less productive production technologies, enabling them to accommodate more easily abrupt and frequent changes in relative prices, but at the cost of using less productive technologies.

Keywords: Sector-level TFP; Relative price volatility; Investment allocation; Financial crises; Emerging markets; Malleable technologies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D24 E22 L60 O31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-08
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The role of relative price volatility in the efficiency of investment allocation (2013)
Working Paper: The Role of Relative Price Volatility in the Efficiency of Investment Allocation (2010)
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