Ciclos económicos, inversión y rentabilidad del capital en Colombia: un análisis de series de tiempo[Economic cycles, investment and profits in Colombia: a time-series analysis]

The objective of this paper is to identify the average cycles of the Colombian economy between 1967-2019 and to evaluate, through a time series analysis, investment, average rate of profit and mass of profits as their determinants. Our analytical framework is based on Marx's economic theory where the profitability of capital determines investment and, consequently, the dynamics of output. From the cyclical deviations of real GDP, estimated with the Hodrick-Prescott filter, six cycles with an average duration of 8.3 years were identified. Employing a Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model, and Granger causality tests, evidence was found in favor of Marx's hypothesis: both the rate of profit and the mass of profits determine investment while this, in turn, is co-determined by the business cycle. On the contrary, no evidence was found that investment determines either the rate of profit or the mass of profits. Thus, for the Colombian economy, the dynamics of the profitability of capital is the key to the business cycle.