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1
Hubner, Armin. "Ghana and the resource curse." Thesis, Webster University, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1525124.
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Ghana has experienced solid economic and social development during the years before the finding of oil. Now that oil has been found, one should not forget that there are many countries in Africa which are rather cursed than blessed with natural resources. This phenomenon is known as the resource curse or more specifically the oil curse. This paper attempts to uncover the most challenging areas for Ghana, when its government wants to lift the resource curse. It further shows that Ghana is well prepared to tackle the negative effects of being oil abundant, by using the well-established models and concepts, which build on empirical analysis. Literature provides a lot to describe the oil curse, including the so called Dutch disease as well as conflicts, corruption, violence and bad governance, to mention a few. This paper will - in a case study approach- apply the concepts on Ghana and -with a qualitative comparative research design- expose the best practices from which Ghana can learn most. It will also show that Ghana's relatively good institutions will be able to implement most of the suggested policies which oppose the resource curse.
The outcome will be that Ghana's political environment, although far from perfect, is well prepared to deal with windfall oil revenues. Furthermore Ghana due its good structure of institutions and its stabilizing macroeconomic policies in the last decades, Ghana will be able to engage in best practice policies.
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Jones, Yakama Manty. "Debt overhang and natural resources : revisiting the resource curse hypothesis." Thesis, Birkbeck (University of London), 2014. http://bbktheses.da.ulcc.ac.uk/95/.
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Growth literature presents evidence that resource abundant economies comparatively grow less than other economies, giving rise to the ‘Resource Curse Hypothesis’. Many researchers have developed several theories to explain the ‘Resource Curse’ but there are very few explicit considerations of ‘Debt Overhang’ in these explanations. This study concentrates on the ‘Debt Overhang –Resource Curse’ link given the significant relationships between debt sustainability and other resource spending. It also implicitly seeks to test key competing theories. The key contribution is the evaluation of the ‘Resource Curse’ and ‘Debt Overhang’ phenomena simultaneously using mixed methods analysis. This thesis consist of three complementary empirical studies organised in chapters under the ‘Debt Overhang-Resource Curse’ theme: A Panel Data Analysis of Debt Overhang, Natural Resources and Growth in 153 countries from 1970 to 2011; A Time Series Analysis of Sierra Leone’s Debt Overhang, Natural Resource and Growth Experience from 1970 to 2011 and A Perceptions and Documentary Analysis of Debt Overhang, Natural Resources and Growth in Sierra Leone. In Chapter Three, the ‘Debt Overhang –Resource Curse’ hypothesis was tested by estimating a system of simultaneous equations using the Generalised Method of Moments Three - Staged Least Squares estimator for the whole panel and carefully defined subsets. The results confirmed the ‘Debt Overhang –Resource Curse’ hypothesis in the case of least developed countries, mineral rich countries and petroleum rich countries although it failed to excel when the whole panel was examined. The ‘Debt Overhang –Resource Curse’ hypothesis was also confirmed in Chapter Four, when a Structural Vector Autoregressive Model was estimated for Sierra Leone : a resource rich, heavily indebted poor country at the bottom of the Human Development Index, has recently received large economic growth projections. The results for Sierra Leone were further confirmed using cointegration and Granger causality tests. The investigation continued with a perceptions and documentary analysis in Chapter Five. It investigated whether perceptions of Sierra Leoneans provide support for the Debt Overhang –Resource Curse hypothesis by estimating a structural equation model using Partial Least Squares, utilising data collected during a survey of mining communities. The results of the estimations were triangulated with findings from interviews, observations and documentary analysis. This analysis provided support for the hypothesis as well as some complementary theories within the Resource Curse debate. This simultaneous assessment of the impact of both debt overhang and natural resources on growth went beyond quantitative investigations to provide proof of the link shared by these elements. It also made a rationale for a ‘case-by-case’ analysis of economic growth and development phenomena, resulting in policy recommendations with a greater degree of alignment.
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Diallo, Thierno Amadou. "Beyond the resource curse : mineral resources and development in Guinea-Conakry." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/98930.
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Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2015.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 73-76).
Natural resource endowments are no guarantee of socioeconomic development. Many developing countries are rich in natural resources (minerals, oil, gas, hydropower), and yet many of their citizens remain in poverty and their economies have failed to grow; the "paradox of plenty". Despite its natural resources (bauxite, iron ore, diamond, gold and hydropower), Guinea has been unsuccessful in marshaling and leveraging these resources to produce socioeconomic development. The critical challenge for Guinea, just like many resource-rich countries, is governance failures- decades of military rule, corruption and resource mismanagement after centuries of French colonial rule. This thesis uses secondary sources and data to argue that the resource curse as a phenomenon in resource-rich countries has limitations as it does not offer these countries a path for how their resources could be used to propel social and economic development. To overcome the so-called resource curse, this thesis argues that the key to unlocking economic and social development in mineral-rich Guinea, is investing its resource-generated revenue to develop the country's infrastructure services. Infrastructures such as roads, telecommunications, water, power, education and health facilities are the foundation for socioeconomic development. The new hope for Guinea rests in the fact that after more than fifty two years of military and authoritarian rule, the country transitioned to "democracy" for the first time in 2010. This coupled with the emergence of new global players such as China and other emerging countries, with their quests to secure stable natural resources to fuel their industries, comes a new window of opportunity for resource-rich countries such as Guinea to leverage and link its extractive industries to develop key infrastructure services. Guinea could leverage its bauxite and iron ore industries to transition to onsite transformation of these materials, whose transformation is energy-intensive. Guinea could then leverage the demand for power from the onsite transformation to develop its untapped hydropower generation capacity to supply both mines and the rest of the country. However, this will not happen without governance reforms in Guinea's extractive industries and mining code.
by Thierno Amadou Diallo.
M.C.P.
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Anne, Clément. "Beyond the resource curse : Macroeconomic strategies in resource dependent economies." Thesis, Université Clermont Auvergne (2017-2020), 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019CLFAD024.
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En réponse à la littérature dense concernant les impacts directs et indirects des ressources naturelles sur le développement, cette thèse cherche à analyser les économies dépendantes en ressources naturelles au-delà de la malédiction des ressources naturelles, et analyse 3 problématiques macroéconomiques importantes auxquelles ces pays font face. A l'inverse de la tendance à se focaliser uniquement sur un échantillon de pays selon les ressources produites ou le niveau de développement, cette thèse ne discrimine pas selon ces facteurs afin d'inclure les pays partageant leur exposition à la volatilité des prix des matières premières comme menace importante, tout en analysant les pays ayant eu des fortunes diverses dans la gestion des richesses issues des ressources naturelles.Tout d'abord, elle fournit une analyse empirique des déterminants de la procyclicité de la politique budgétaire qui est une tendance des autorités budgétaires à fournir des réponses budgétaires dans la même direction que le cycle économique, soit restrictive en période de diminution de la croissance économique, et expansionniste en période de croissance soutenue. Basée sur 81 pays pour la période 1992-2012, l'étude évalue un large ensemble de déterminants potentiels et trouve une importance des facteurs de politique économique pour expliquer la limitation de la procyclicité budgétaire dans la partie croissante du cycle économique. Elle appuie également l'idée que les Fonds Souverains sont plus efficaces que les règles budgétaires pour limiter la procyclicité budgétaire, en particulier à travers la limitation de la hausse des dépenses dans les bonnes périodes économiques. Le chapitre suivant fournit une étude empirique sur la relation entre les prix des matières premières et la diversification des exportations, une problématique particulièrement importante afin d'évaluer si les pays dépendants en ressources naturelles ont utilisé les hausses de prix comme opportunité pour diversifier leur économie au-delà du secteur des ressources naturelles. A l'aide d'un panel de 78 pays pour la période 1970-2012, il en ressort une relation empirique positive entre les variations des prix des ressources naturelles et la concentration des exportations, en particulier à travers la concentration de l'ensemble des biens exportés auparavant (marge intensive) durant les périodes de hausse des prix des matières premières. Il met également en évidence une plus forte concentration des exportations à la suite de la hausse du prix des ressources naturelles dans les années 2000 que lors de l'épisode des années 1970, ce qui a pu compliquer la reprise économique dans ces pays depuis le retour des prix des matières premières à un niveau bas.Finalement, cette thèse inclut une analyse critique du concept de Fonds Souverains qui a été une recommandation en vogue pour les pays afin de gérer l'argent issue de leurs ressources naturelles. Après avoir fourni un résumé critique de ce que la notion recouvre, ce dernier chapitre fournit un cadre pour comprendre ces fonds dans un continuum de fonds publiques. Cela permet de déterminer des recommandations quant aux problématiques macroéconomiques pour lesquels ces fonds peuvent être utiles dans le contexte des pays dépendants en ressources naturelles, ainsi que les facteurs qui peuvent diminuer la pertinence ou l'efficacité de tels fonds. Cette thèse met en lumière la pertinence d'étudier les problématiques importantes auxquelles font faces les pays dépendants en ressources au lieu de rester dans le cadre du long débat de la malédiction des ressources naturelles, et incite à de futurs travaux visant à aider les décideurs politiques de ces pays pour mettre en œuvre des stratégies macroéconomiques adaptées à leurs économiesAs a response to the intensive literature regarding the direct or indirect impacts of natural resources on economic development, this thesis intends to analyze resource dependent economies beyond the scope of the resource curse and provide analyses on 3 key macroeconomic challenges faced by those countries. Unlike the trend to focus only on a set of countries depending on their resources produced or their level of economic development, this thesis does not discriminate according to these factors to include countries sharing their exposure to international commodity price volatility as a major threat, while analyzing countries which may have had various successes in their management of resource wealth.First, it empirically analyzes the determinants of fiscal procyclicality which is the tendency of fiscal authorities to give fiscal policy responses in the same direction as the economic cycle, restrictive in case of a decrease of economic growth and expansionary in the periods of sustained economic growth. Based on a sample of 81 countries over 1992-2012, this study assesses a variety of potential candidates and find an importance of political-economy determinants in limiting fiscal procyclicality especially in the higher part of the business cycle. It also provides some support to the idea that Sovereign Wealth Funds are more effective than Fiscal Rules to limit fiscal procyclicality especially through a limitation of expenditure growth in good economic periods.The next chapter provides an empirical study to the relationship between commodity prices and export diversification, a challenge especially important to assess whether resource dependent economies used commodity price booms as opportunities to diversify their economy away from the resource sector. Based on a panel of 78 countries over 1970-2012 it finds a strong empirical support to the impact of commodity price booms on export concentration especially through a concentration of the mix of already exported products (intensive margin) during periods of commodity price booms and an increase of export diversification during periods of commodity price busts. It also highlights the higher concentration of exports during the 2000s commodity price boom than following the 1970s boom, which may have complicated the recovery of those countries since the reversal of commodity prices to a low level.Finally, it provides a critical analysis to the concept of Sovereign Wealth Funds which has been a trendy recommendation for countries to manage their resource wealth. After providing a critical review to what this notion may cover, it provides a framework to understand funds labeled as Sovereign Wealth Funds in a continuum of public funds. This enables to give some recommendations regarding the macroeconomic challenges those funds may help managing in the context of resource dependent economies as well as the factors which could limit a fund's relevance or effectiveness.This thesis highlights the relevance of studying key challenges faced by resource dependent countries instead of focusing to the long-lasting debate of the resource curse and calls for future works to help policymakers in those countries to implement sound macroeconomic strategies for their economies
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Schubeis, Jonatan. "Can Good Institutions Avert the Resource Curse?" Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Nationalekonomiska institutionen, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-415515.
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To establish the economic impact of petroleum in the UK, this paper uses the synthetic control method. By constructing an artificial UK economy without oil, from the donor pool of OECD economies, it establishes the counterfactual time path of capital stock the UK would have had if it lacked the petroleum endowment. Comparing the observed time path of capital stock with its counterfactual, one can witness that the petroleum extraction has reduced the UK’s capital stock with an average of 17 % since 1970, despite the UK having arguably the best quality of institutions. Dose-response tests suggest that it is possible to attribute the impact to the petroleum production. Performed robustness and sensitivity tests together with several falsification tests show that the result is robust to alternations in the donor pool, the predictor variables and alternative explanations. The finding raises a question regarding the quality of institutions, advanced by Mehlum, Moene and Torvik and claimed that the resource curse only occurs in economies with low quality of institutions.
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Holland, Caroline M. "An oil curse? : resource conflict onset and duration /." Connect to title online (Scholars' Bank), 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/10175.
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Sharpe, Margie E. "Corruption the true cause of the resource curse? /." Connect to this title online, 2006. http://etd.lib.clemson.edu/documents/1171902147.
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Holland, Caroline M. 1986. "An Oil Curse? Resource Conflict Onset and Duration." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/10175.
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ix, 107 p. : maps. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.This study examines the effect oil has on the onset and duration of conflict. In the "resource curse" literature, researchers argue that a state's abundance in natural resources can raise the likelihood of civil war. Such findings are largely based on correlations from large-n statistical studies or are hypotheses from individual case studies. These approaches fail to check the causal validity of key variables in multiple cases. Using a data-set comprised of sixteen countries that have experienced both oil extraction and civil war, this study conducts a qualitative causal variable analysis within these cases, while also checking the causal significance of key variables across cases. This study of oil-related civil wars analyzes the cross-case validity and overall relevance of: rebel greed, citizen grievances, unemployment in oil-rich regions, state military spending, clientelistic patterns of oil rent distribution, and oil-sector nationalization schemes.
Committee in Charge: Dr. Jane K. Cramer, Chair; Dr. Shaul E. Cohen; Dr. Anita M. Weiss
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Roberts, Danielle M. "The Resource Curse and Economic Freedom: A Bayesian Perspective." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2015. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1132.
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The literature addressing the resource curse has been extensive. Many studies have put forth theories to explain the curse, but these theories are often refuted by new studies. Recently, there has been a theory that natural resource abundance leads to decreased economic freedom, which causes slower economic growth. Many of these studies have using frequentist testing to arrive at their conclusions. Although frequentist testing is widely used, there are several drawbacks. In particular, there is no way of addressing model uncertainty. Unless a study is able to incorporate every significant explanatory variable, the results will suffer from omitted variable bias. Recently, researchers have been applying Bayesian statistics to address the problem of model uncertainty. In this study, we apply Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) to build a growth model, and see if natural resources have a negative effect on growth. We take the implementation of BMA a step further to see if there is an indirect negative effect of natural resources on economic freedom. However, contrary to previous studies, we were not able to find a negative relationship between resource abundance and economic freedom.
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Al, Sabah Meshaal Jaber Al Ahmed. "Resource curse reduction through innovation : the case of Kuwait." Thesis, University of Portsmouth, 2011. https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/resource-curse-reduction-through-innovation(fce02ef6-569b-4de0-b69c-915efe81387d).html.
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The strategic issues surrounding the governance of oil resources and its simplication for the growth and development of Kuwait through innovation are considered in this study – Resource Curse Reduction through Innovation. Within the large and growing body of work in this area a negative relationship between resource abundance and poor economic performance has often been empirically established. Many of the third world countries are richly endowed with significant natural resources. A plethora of research findings shows that these countries are scoring lower on human development, they exhibit pervasive corruption, display conflicts and a large percentage of their population live in dire poverty. Moreover, an enormous amount of their gross domestic income is spent on defence spending and manifests an autocratic form of governance. For the most part this evidence appears to support the "resource curse" hypothesis. The question that arises is whether there is any prospect of the "resource curse" being converted into a "blessing". This study examines the role of innovation in this context as Kuwait considers moving away from its dependence on its natural resources which sustain the economy. Since, innovation is considered a result of numerous interactions between key organizations and groups in the economy including institutions of learning, government, firms and other organizations which together form an innovation system, it may be opportune to consider the reductive role of innovation related to the resource curse. There are many unique cultural issues that confront Kuwait, and make it a fundamentally different case from other countries endowed with natural resources. The culture of governance in Gulf countries, and the norms and values within each individual Gulf country, become key determinants of innovation that impact on the various economic, political and social phenomena. By reviewing the extensive literature in both the field of the resource curse and innovation and collecting primary data, this study offers an overview of the challenges of promoting and supporting innovation in Kuwait, and the effectiveness of dissemination of innovative practices throughout the various economic sectors. Numerous studies have considered whether a country's natural resources are a curse or a blessing. Emerging findings appear to suggest that at times, resource-based economic growth models have indeed inhibited growth rates. Development economics also presents numeric data to substantiate the view that the gifts of nature are non-renewable and cannot be replenished. The hypothesis that natural resources of a country might be more of an economic curse than a blessing needs to be tested at different stages of economic growth of a country. The rate at which natural resources are exploited has often been cause for concern. From an economic perspective, Kuwait should inevitably switch from dependence upon natural resources to the development of sectors based on knowledge, skills, capital and technology. A defining characteristic of many resource-rich countries is the discrepancy between the interest of the stewards of the resources and the owners of the resources. At times those in political office (the stewards) appear to work extremely hard to ensure that the rest of the population (the owners) receive little benefit from the resources with which their countries have been abundantly endowed, and so the governance of natural resources merits further research. The study shows that income accruing as a result of the discovery of oil in Kuwait rapidly changed Kuwait's economic priorities, bringing new opportunities and at the same time new challenges. The findings of the research highlight many important issues relating to innovation and the depletion of non-renewable resources indicating to what extent certain sectors of the economy are innovative. One of the unique challenges facing Kuwait is what collective action is necessary to safeguard time honoured traditions that combine economic prosperity with solidarity. Today Kuwait is in need of new commitments on the part of its citizens and decisive actions in political leadership. Instead of maintaining structures and organizations that have shown themselves unable to deal with the challenges that face Kuwait, Kuwait must be ready to support structural changes. This in particular requires a prioritisation of resources towards education, research and development. Kuwait can only become comprehensively innovative if all sectors support the development of innovative products and services. Strategic issues entailing innovation require the involvement of all parties. These include businesses, the public sector, producers and consumers. A wide-ranging partnership for innovation is necessary, particularly when a country‘s resources are in question. To establish an optimal framework and develop potential for innovation, the prospect of an innovation-friendly market must be widely accepted and a national innovation system where the flows of technology and information among people, enterprises, and institutions that are the key to the innovation process at the national level are required. In light of these issues this study recommends the reduction of a resource curse through targeted innovation initiatives. The exploitation of natural assets is a matter of grave concern. Exploration and exploitation are costly and risky exercises in terms of growth and profitability. Kuwait needs to cultivate a culture that fosters creative ideas associated with, among others, safety and security of its natural and human resources, morality, employment and health within the context of an increasingly global environment. A lack of a shared vision, purpose and strategy reduces the vital role that innovation can play. Investment in innovation is therefore critical and Kuwait needs to reinvent itself economically.
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Motlhabane, Kutlwano. "Mineral wealth versus resource curse - the stage is set." Master's thesis, Faculty of Commerce, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/30412.
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The debate regarding the impact of resource wealth being a curse rather than a benefit has been a subject of debate since the 1950’s. Only since Sachs and Warner, (1995) the ground-breaking study which confirmed a negative relationship between resource abundance and economic growth for a selected set of countries there has been a narrative termed the ‘natural resources hypothesis’. This hypothesis asserts that countries with natural resource abundance tend to grow at a slow economic rate than countries with less resource abundance. Africa, being the most resource abundant continent compared to all other continents should be the best illustrator of the hypothesis because of vast mineral wealth coupled with the high level of poverty on the continent. This study seeks to determine if African citizens are on average deemed better or worse off given the abundant natural resources endowed in most African countries in relation to quality of life and income inequality as a measurement tool. The study further examines the effect of resource abundance in African countries, using income inequality as an addition variable above the economic growth. Using a panel data fixed effect estimation model for African countries and Middle East countries from 1970 to 2016, the study finds the existence of a U-shaped relationship between resource rent and income inequality, which supports the literature regarding the Kuznets curve. The study also found that rising consumer price inflation significantly worsens average income inequality within an African country. In addition, a high degree of trade openness significantly reduces income inequality within an African country, if all else is held constant. It is thus concluded that for African countries based on the population level, inflation level, degree of trade openness, and GDP share of domestic savings, accumulation of more coal rents share is expected to worsen average income inequality, while more mineral resource rents share reduces income inequality. The study recommends that African countries should find ways to measure inequality in their respective countries which would better illustrate the general relationship between mineral wealth and income inequality. Equally valuable would be the investment in research such as studies and reports which that would track the distribution of income over time in countries undergoing a mineral boom.
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Guliyev, Rashad <1998>. "The resource curse trap: rentierism and diversification in Azerbaijan." Master's Degree Thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/20740.
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The concept of resource curse refers to the effects of the natural resource on the several spheres of a country. The main idea behind the resource curse theory is that, countries are resource rich develop less and slowly than those the resource deficit. Resource curse has been considered as an economic matter, but its affects other spheres equally. Decreasing institutional quality leads to corruption and strengthens authoritarian regimes. Dutch disease is separately investigated from the resource curse theory, indeed, real exchange rate appreciation and decline in non-abundant sectors are main indicators of Dutch disease problem. Therefore, Dutch disease examined as an economic symptom of resource curse. Azerbaijan is one of the resource abundant countries in pos-Soviet era. The longstanding dominance of the extractive industry in Azerbaijan has created a situation that can be understood with the help of the Dutch disease model. The oil boom period (2008–2011) brought high levels of mineral revenue. The chronic overvaluation of the national currency during the oil boom, coupled with an appreciation of real wages in the mining industry that outperformed other sectors—particularly the manufacturing sector—reflect the first two symptoms of the phenomenon. In Dutch disease economies, the increased share of the services sector in the output (the third symptom of the disease) during unrecovered manufacturing (the fourth symptom) leads to a major slowdown in industrial production—also known as de-industrialization. Azerbaijan has suffered from unregulated investments, untargeted policies, and opportunistic behavior that has meant that mineral revenue has been spent rather than saved or redirected toward rebuilding the country’s industrial heritage. This thesis evaluates the presence of Dutch disease in Azerbaijan using the available statistical data and through comparisons with other resource-rich countries.
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Hattendorff, Christian [Verfasser]. "The Resource Curse Revisited : Three Essays on Resource Abundance and Financial Development / Christian Hattendorff." Berlin : Freie Universität Berlin, 2014. http://d-nb.info/1061023869/34.
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Aldobashi, Hussein. "Qatar: the resource curse factor and prospects for economic diversification." reponame:Repositório Institucional do FGV, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10438/17980.
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Qatar’s rapid development and modernization offer great rewards as well as risks. The rapid development in Qatar has been fueled almost exclusively through wealth created from trade in petrochemicals. This source of wealth places Qatar at risk from what has been identified as the natural resource curse. The risk lays in dependency on one commodity for economic growth and its concomitant degradation of broader development of non-petrochemical sectors and human capital. This thesis explores the degree to which Qatar is subject to the resource curse and how the most commonly prescribed solution to the resource curse – economic diversification – will be successful in Qatar’s continued development.
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Mwansa, Mumamba Chitumwa. "Reviewing the definition of the natural resource curse and analysing its occurence post-1990." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013243.
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That countries with high natural resource abundance should experience slower economic growth than those with low resource abundance seems contrary to what would be expected, considering the developmental head-start such resources afford. Yet Sachs and Warner (1997) found that economies with a high share of natural resource exports in national income in 1970 tended to experience slower economic growth in the two decades that followed. This finding, that natural resources are a “curse” rather than a blessing, has become generally accepted. This thesis sought to test whether the conclusion drawn from their data – that higher natural resource abundance leads to slower economic growth – is still correct. It sought to test their findings first by correcting for their use of resource intensity (natural resources share of exports) as a proxy for abundance. Using measures of resource abundance for 1995 as a proxy for abundance in previous decades, it was found that higher resource abundance was not associated with lower economic growth in the 1970s and 1980s. This finding is contrary to that of Sachs and Warner (1997, 2001). Secondly, this thesis tested whether the natural resource curse effect was still present for the period 1995–2010. This was done by observing the effect of both resource abundance and resource intensity on economic growth during 1995–2010. In both cases no resource curse effect was found, for this more recent period. The resource curse had disappeared regardless of whether one uses Sachs and Warner’s (1997, 2001) measure of resource intensity or a measure of resource abundance. Natural resources should therefore no longer be considered a “curse”. In explaining the difference for the impact of resource intensity between the 1970-90 period measured by Sachs and Warner (1997, 2001) and the more recent period 1995-2010 it was found that the Dutch Disease effect has decreased significantly since the 1970s and 1980s. This could partly explain why the resource curse has disappeared when measured in terms of resource intensity. Thus it was concluded that the natural resource curse existed in the period 1970-90 only when measured in terms of resource intensity but not when measured relative to resource abundance. The negative effects of natural resources on economic growth have disappeared in terms of both resource intensity and resource abundance in the more recent time period.
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Johnston-Taylor, Nketti Hannah Adeyemi Nadine. "The resource curse and natural resource environmental governance in Sierra Leone : case study Kono District." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2015. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/9315/.
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The purpose of this research is to investigate how, to what extent and why Sierra Leone continues to struggle to turn its minerals into an engine for a sustained and inclusive economic growth and development. Consequently, the first aim of this research is to explore the evidence of two resource curse (RC) symptoms in Sierra Leone in the post-war era. Secondly, this research critically evaluates Sierra Leone’s natural resource environmental governance (NREG) agenda for the country’s mining sector, and its ability to resolve mining-induced problems. This research employed structural analysis. Consequently, it grounds Harvey’s notion of, ‘accumulation by dispossession’ in rich empirical data derived from Sierra Leone. Fieldwork was conducted in Sierra Leone: in Freetown and Kono a mining microcosm. This research employed qualitative methods. Findings from this research revealed that Sierra Leone continues to be a victim of the RC. Low taxes, tax concessions and exemptions and alleged tax evasion practices have deprived the economy of valuable development funds. Furthermore, an influx of mining companies into Kono, dislocated communities from their land. The consequences of this dislocation engendered and contributed towards the process of deagrarianisation and depeasantisation and exacerbated poverty. Findings also revealed that the NREG agenda is incapable of addressing mining-induced problems in Sierra Leone. This is because the provisions in the 2009, Mines and Minerals Act enable the dislocation of mining communities and fails to provide explicit and unambiguous guidelines for compensation and resettlement of affected communities. The subjective nature of the Environmental Impact Assessment process undermined the NREG agenda. Furthermore inadequate resources coupled with a constrained mandate undermined the effectiveness of the Agency. Although this research does not discount the importance of corruption and a lack of transparency, it argues that the prioritisation of a ‘neoliberal’ type of governance is central to the problems and issues identified.
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Teslyuk, Nataliya. "Natural resources: a curse or a blessing? Political incentives in the resource allocation (example of gazprom)." Thesis, Видавництво СумДУ, 2007. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/13105.
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In my presentation I will reflect on whether politicians (in particular Russian ones) tend to over-extract the natural resources, because of the boundaries to their short-term power and the willingness to satisfy the needs of the population during the period when they are in control; this strategy can contradict effective path in the medium, and long run. There is a model developed to answer to this questions by the scientists of Norwegian University of Science and Technology, James A. Robinson, Ragnar Torvik, and Thierry Verdier which can be applied to Russia as well, but interestingly there are major differences, and it seems to be that Russia’s situation is distinct, what does not surprise much taking into account its position on the market.
When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/13105
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Stenersen, Eirik Nøren. "On the Causes of the Conditional Resource Curse : En empirisk paneldatastudie." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Institutt for samfunnsøkonomi, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-15394.
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Gapa, Angela. "Escaping the Resource Curse: The Sources of Institutional Quality in Botswana." FIU Digital Commons, 2013. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1019.
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Botswana has recently garnered analytic attention as an anomaly of the “resource curse” phenomenon. Worldwide, countries whose economies are highly skewed towards a dependence on the export of non-renewable natural resources such as oil, diamonds and uranium, have been among the most troubled, authoritarian, poverty-stricken and conflict-prone; a phenomenon widely regarded as the “resource curse". The resource curse explains the varying fortunes of countries based on their resource wealth, with resource-rich countries faring much worse than their resource-poor counterparts. However, Botswana, with diamond exports accounting for 50percent of government revenues and 80percent of total exports, has achieved one of the fastest economic growth rates in the developing world in the last 50 years. Furthermore, the Freedom House ranks it as the safest, most stable, least corrupt and most democratic country on sub-Saharan Africa.
In attempting to answer why Botswana apparently escaped the “resource curse”, this research assumes that both formal and informal institutions within the state acted as intermediary variables in determining its fortune. This research thus addresses the deeper question of where Botswana obtained its unique institutional quality that facilitated its apparent escape of the resource curse. It traces Botswana’s history through four lenses: legitimacy and historical continuity, political culture, ethnicity and identity management, and external relations; as having explanatory value in understanding the Botswana exception.
The research finds most evidence of Botswana’s institutional quality emanating from the country’s political culture which it found more compatible with the institutions of development and democracy that facilitate both positive economic and political outcomes. It also found evidence of legitimacy and historical continuity facilitating the robustness of both formal and informal institutions in Botswana, and identity management through assimilation as having buffered against the effects of ethnically motivated resource plunder. It however, found the least support for the assertion that external relations contributed to institutional quality.
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Pettersson, Jan. "Three empirical studies on development : democracy, the resource curse and aid /." Stockholm : Department of Economics, Stockholm University, 2005. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-326.
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Gerard, Bryce. "A Natural Resource Curse: Does it Exist Within the United States?" Scholarship @ Claremont, 2011. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/158.
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In this paper, we examine data on U.S. GDP/Capita and natural resource share of GDP by state. We then run growth regressions and build on a previous model of dynamic equations to account for the spatial equilibrium that exists between U.S. states. Our results show that there exists evidence that overinvestment in oil and mining sectors has negative effects on state TFP growth, thus giving positive evidence for the existence of a natural resource curse between U.S. states.
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Pike, Jonathan R. "A Resource Curse for Institutions: Rent Dependency and Quality of Government." Thesis, Boston College, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/1338.
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Thesis advisor: Richard, S.J. McGowanThe Natural Resource Curse literature proposes to explain why and to what extent resource-wealthy countries have poor economic growth outcomes. Most research focuses on direct economic explanations, considering the role of governing institutions exogenously if at all. One emerging branch of explanations attempts to address this shortcoming, focusing on the indirect effects of institutional deterioration on economic outcomes in resource-rich countries. I add to this emerging literature by performing an econometric analysis of 16 oil-producing nations, examining the impact of national oil rent dependency on 12 dimensions of government quality from 1987-2008. I find that oil dependency has a significant negative impact on government quality in 11 of the 12 dimensions. I also find that controlling for preexisting levels of democracy does not significantly mitigate institutional resource curse effects. This runs counter to findings about economic effects, which tend to disappear when democracy levels are high
Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2010
Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Economics Honors Program
Discipline: College Honors Program
Discipline: Economics
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Thompson, Louise Frances. "The Royal Bafokeng nation, a Case Study for the resource Curse." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14726.
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Resource curse literature examines the causes and consequences of natural resources on economies. Within the literature, politico-economic theories provide insight into the relationship between institutional strength, the incentives facing the political elite due to the natural resource and the potential outcome for natural resource abundant economies. This paper argues that the Bafokeng Nation of South Africa provide an unusual case study for the resource curse. The Bafokeng's institutional strength is examined and the incentives facing the elite are analysed using Dunning's model. Dunning proposes three explanatory variables to explain the incentives facing the political elite (a) Volatility of Resource Revenues, (b) Societal Opposition to State Elites and (c) Prior Development of Non-resource Sectors. The Bafokeng are examined in light of Botswana to provide a comparative analysis. The analysis is supported by a Household survey of the Bafokeng, interviews with Bafokeng members as well as literature on both the Bafokeng and Botswana. The paper concludes that the institutional strength of the Bafokeng stems from their Tswana origins (similar to that of Botswana) and the current use of traditional governance structures, as well as the external constraints provided by the South African political system. Using Dunning's model this paper predicts that there would be diversification of the economy, political stability and mixed economic and fiscal stability. This however is strengthened by the unusual position of the Bafokeng as constrained by external factors as well as the internal strength provided by the traditional governance structures.
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Klisáková, Jiřina. "Hospodářskopolitické události Bolívie za vlády Evo Moralese." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2008. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-4359.
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Natural wealth can either be an advantage for a country's economy or its curse. This thesis applies theories, which explore relationship between natural resources abundance and economic development of the country on a recent situation in Bolivia. The relationship between local natural gas and continuous poverty is analyzed within the resource curse theory and its causes. The analysis concentrates mainly on the Dutch disease theory, government's economic policy, investment and social environment in the country. Finally, the aim of this work is to answer the question whether natural gas means a curse for Bolivia and to identify its main causes. In addition, consequences of the onset of president Morales and the new nationalization policy are analyzed in detail.
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Nsaikila, Melaine Nyuyfoni. "Poverty, resource endowment and conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa a reexamination of the resource curse hypothesis." Thesis, Western Illinois University, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1586512.
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Contrary to the logical conclusion that the more natural resources a country has or controls, the more prosperous, rich and happy will be its people, the evidence from many Sub-Saharan countries is pointing to a different direction with numerous conflicts occurring mostly near mineral deposits or in countries heavily endowed with natural resources of various sorts. This paper seeks to tackle the basic questions of a sub-Saharan African and any person interested in the region; why are there so many conflicts in the region? Why is there absolute poverty despite the presence of enormous natural resources? What are the factors contributing to the present problems facing the region? This paper establishes the relationship between poverty, resource endowments and conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa. The paper reviews literature, stressing on the different conditions under which resource abundance can and have been a primary cause of conflicts. It argues that poverty and conflicts have re-enforced each other and that natural resources have played a role. The paper also makes use of conflict, resource and poverty data among other variables to establish the probable cause for the numerous conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper suggests statistically that Political Stability and Absence of violent conflicts can only be altered by the lack of sustainable economic opportunity, failure to control corruption and rising levels of poverty. It is worth noting that the resource variables are not statistically significant. This however, do not dismiss the role of natural resources in the present conflicts of the region because the trend is observable that most conflict ridden countries in the Sub-Saharan African region are resource rich. It rather lays an emphasis on the fact that resource revenues could be used to avert the current situation by provision of basic needs like shelter, potable water, security, accountable institutions, education and the promotion of enterprise that will be a guarantor of sustainable economic opportunities. The paper employs Maslow's Human needs theory for some explanations and also multiple regression, using panel data for statistical analysis. Fixed and random effects estimation techniques are used, and other statistical testing to determine the validity of the different variable coefficients generated. The paper suggests concrete economic and policy recommendations to the problems enumerated that could leapfrog the region out of the current bad situation it has been in for decades.
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Petrovsky, Nicolai. "Does Natural Resource Wealth Spoil and Corrupt Governments? A New Test of the Resource Curse Thesis." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2004. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4582/.
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Countries with rich natural resource endowments suffer from lower economic growth and various other ills. This work tests whether the resource curse also extends to the quality of regulation and the level of corruption. A theoretical framework is developed that informs the specification of interactive random effects models. A cross-national panel data set is used to estimate these models. Due to multicollinearity, only an effect of metals and ores exports on corruption can be discerned. Marginal effects computations show that whether nature corrupts or not crucially depends on a country's institutions. A broad tax base and high levels of education appear to serve as inoculations for countries against the side-effects of mineral wealth.
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Hong, Anne Kim. "Examining Sachs and Warner's model of natural resource curse implications and lessons for natural-resource rich countries /." Connect to Electronic Thesis (CONTENTdm), 2009. http://worldcat.org/oclc/444602459/viewonline.
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Bellerud, Carl. "The Natural Resource Curse at the Regional Level? : The Case of Sweden." Thesis, Luleå tekniska universitet, Institutionen för ekonomi, teknik och samhälle, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-80073.
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The resource curse thesis states that countries with an abundance of natural resources tend to experience lower economic growth rates. However, does this theory apply also to the regional level? The purpose of this thesis is to both test the natural resources curse theory at the regional level in Sweden, as well to examine if different types of natural resource dependencies appear to have the same effect on regional income growth in the country. The methodological approach builds on an econometric (OLS) analysis using two different panel datasets over time intervals, 2000-2017 and 2007-2017, respectively. The results from one of the datasets suggest that the dependency on natural resources does not appear to affect Swedish counties' income growth, nor is there any difference in the impact on income growth from different types of natural resources. However, the corresponding results from the other dataset suggest a positive relationship, although these results are not robust across various model specifications.Teorin om naturresursernas förbannelse förutspår att länder med ett överflöd av naturresurser kommer att ha en lägre ekonomisk tillväxt. Stämmer även denna teori på regional nivå? Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om resursförbannelsen existerar på regional nivå i Sverige samt att undersöka om olika typer av naturresurser har olika påverkan på den regionala inkomstutvecklingen i landet. Metodiken för att besvara detta bygger på en ekonometrisk (OLS) analys med två olika paneldataset med skilda tidsintervaller, 2000–2017 och 2007–2017. De resultat som baseras på det ena datasetet visar att naturresurser inte har en påverkan på inkomstutvecklingen på svensk länsnivå, samt att olika typer av naturresurser inte heller har en påverkan på den regionala inkomstutvecklingen. Det andra datasetet påvisar dock att det finns ett positivt förhållande mellan regional inkomstutveckling och naturresurser, men detta resultat är inte robust.
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Malmström, Martin, and Jonas Poulsen. "Namibia’s Resource Curse? : How Namibia’s diamond dependency has affected their economic growth." Thesis, Uppsala University, Department of Economics, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-113695.
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Malkani, Anum. "From Riches to Rags: The Political Economy of the Natural Resource Curse." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2011. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/142.
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The natural resource curse paradox has given rise to a wide range of explanations, which look at the economic, social and political characteristics of resource-rich countries. This paper focuses on the political economy of natural resources and finds that controlling for sociopolitical factors eliminates the natural resource curse. The analysis then turns to these sociopolitical factors and examines the significant, complex and varied effects of democratization on economic growth in general, as well as in resource-rich countries in particular. I conclude that the type of institutions needed for economic development in resource-rich countries are not specific to either democratic or autocratic systems, but are equally likely to be adopted by either regime, so that no one ideology is more suitable than the other. A corollary to this, however, is the case of weak democracies or low democratization levels. Such states are unable to adopt the necessary strategies and institutions and, thus, pose the greatest threat to economic growth in resource-rich countries. On the other hand, highly autocratic systems in resource-rich countries, such as those in Bahrain and UAE, or perfectly democratic systems, such as those in Norway and Iceland, utilize resources more efficiently for economic development.
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Chultem, Nyamsuren. "The resource curse in Mongolia: mineral wealth, institutional quality, and economic performance." Thesis, Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10945/42598.
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Approved for public release; distribution is unlimitedMongolia is endowed with abundant natural resources from which it has generated a high level of economic growth over the past decade. Nevertheless, the country has already experienced some symptoms of the natural resource curse. This thesis argues that the quality of a country’s governance and institutions plays a crucial role in the management of resources, and therefore, it examines the political-economic environment of Mongolia’s resource sector. This study examines Mongolia’s performance on three steps of the natural resource management value chain: sector organization and the process of contract awards, the collection of taxes and royalties, and revenue distribution and public investment management. Furthermore, this thesis demonstrates that, while many resource-rich, developing countries experience civil war and conflict due to mismanagement of resources, Mongolia is not currently on this path. It concludes, however, that if the country does not effectively manage its resource sector, Mongolia’s young democracy may deteriorate.
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Harry, Priya. "Preventing the resource curse? : an examination of the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline Project." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10598.
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The resource curse is a theory which argues that rather than being a conduit for development natural resources can in fact lead to slow growth, civil war and hinder democracy. This thesis focuses specifically on the inverse relationship between dependence on the export of natural resources and slow economic growth, and how to prevent it.
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Ahmadov, Anar. "A conditional theory of the 'political resource curse' : oil, autocrats, and strategic contexts." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2011. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/618/.
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A burgeoning literature argues that the abundance of oil in developing countries strengthens autocratic rule and erodes democracy. However, extant studies either show the average cross-national correlation between oil and political regime or develop particularistic accounts that do not easily lend themselves to theorizing. Consequently, we know little of the causal mechanisms that potentially link oil wealth to undemocratic outcomes and the conditions that would help explain the ultimate, not average, effect of oil on political regime. This study develops a conditional theory of the “political resource curse.” It does so by undertaking a statistical reassessment of the relationship between oil wealth and political regime and a nuanced qualitative examination of a set of carefully selected cases in order to contribute to developing an adequate account of causal mechanisms that transmit and conditions that shape the relationship between oil abundance and autocracy. It draws on qualitative and quantitative evidence collected over eighteen months of fieldwork in oil-rich former Soviet countries of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, and the ‘counterfactual’ oil-poor Kyrgyzstan. Employing a theoretical framework that draws on insights from the rentier state theory, historical institutionalism, and rational choice institutionalism, I trace, compare, and contrast the processes that potentially link oil wealth to regime outcomes in these countries between 1989 and 2010. The findings strongly suggest that political regime differences can be better explained by the interaction of oil wealth with several structural and institutional variables rather than by oil abundance or another single factor alone. A thorough qualitative analysis of the post-Soviet cases shows that the causal mechanisms hypothesized in the ‘resource curse’ literature were neither necessarily present, nor uniform across these cases and throughout the post-Soviet period. This was because a particular interaction of exogenous variables and oil wealth affected the causal mechanisms differently, ultimately entailing different regime outcomes. The spread of alternative political elites, relative size of the ethnic minority with ties to a powerful kin state, and oil production geography were key exogenous factors that consistently interacted with oil in affecting the political regimes.
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Alhinai, Alkhatab. "Economic diversification obstacles in resource-dependent states through the lens of resource curse theory : Oman as a case study." Thesis, Durham University, 2017. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12446/.
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Rationally, it would be expected that the discovery of substantial and lucrative natural resources would provide a pre-industrial state with the opportunity to achieve industrial take-off. However, resource curse theory has challenged this assumption. Instead, oil-dependent states are not able to diversify their economies away from their reliance on natural resource revenues. The Sultanate of Oman has proved to be no exception. The discovery of oil in Oman in 1962 provided its government with the means to establish a massive socio-economic development programme with the aim to eventually reduce the country’s dependency on oil. Decades later, oil export revenues still represent more than 80% of government revenues. The main objective of this research is to try to understand the root cause of Oman’s inability to create a diversified economy, despite the fact that it was among the first countries in the region to adopt an economic diversification strategy. To explore the main reasons behind the unsuccessful economic diversification attempts in Oman, this study analyses in-depth the four aspects of the ‘resource curse’ identified in the literature: economic factors; human resource development; institutional quality; and political/social factors. The thesis is based on a single case study, that of Oman, using two methods of data collection: semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. The participants’ insights are triangulated with official documents and reports from international organisations. The analysis demonstrates that studying each of the four aspects of the resource curse separately does not provide sufficient explanation for the failure of diversification. As a result, this thesis argues that the interaction of these four factors provides a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon. Furthermore, the analysis highlights that economic factors and human resource development are negatively affected by the institutional quality and the political/social factors.
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Dietsche, Evelyn. "'Good governance' of the extractive resources sector : a critical analysis." Thesis, University of Dundee, 2014. https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/044143c9-8552-490d-a849-207c1df4583c.
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This doctoral thesis presents a critical analysis of the global debate on the ‘good governance’ of the extractive resources sectors. Its starting point is that over the past decade this debate has seen a remarkable elevation, while at the same time the governance concept itself has been subjected to critique. To understand how the sector-focused ‘good governance’ agenda compares against this critique, the thesis uses a conceptual framework that identifies the different uses of this concept. Against this background, it reviews the main scholarly debates on the opportunities and challenges of countries producing extractive resources and identifies four critical questions, which it then sets out to answer. The main argument is that the global debate on the ‘good governance’ of the extractive resources sectors has been built on the widely endorsed conclusion that ‘good institutions’ make for better outcomes and that therefore producer countries need to improve their sector institutions. However, this seemingly obvious conclusion has ignored the complexity and confusion around ‘governance’ and ‘institutions’ that prevails across the broader social science literature. This argument is based on the answers the thesis provides to four critical questions: what are institutions; how do institutions change; how are they enforced; and do existing institutions matter for the design of interventions aimed at improving institutions. The thesis lays open that the policy conclusions of the global debate are premised on the dominance of a particular reference point paired with a particular methodology where the emphasis has been on, first, identifying the types of institutions that have apparently led to desired results, and then to promote these as a means to steer towards these results. It concludes that this focus has premised the global agenda on a false sense of clarity on what producer countries ought to be improving.
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Ford, Daniel R. "Countering the resource curse: a comparative analysis of political economy for Chile and Australia." Thesis, Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10945/45854.
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Approved for public release; distribution is unlimitedThis thesis attempts to explain how advanced economies with large mining sectors, like those of Australia and Chile, have managed to avoid the resource curse. Minerals (iron ore and coal) account for over two-thirds of Australia’s exports, and minerals (copper) amount to over two-thirds of Chilean exports as well. Hence, Australia and Chile have been labeled as commodity-based economies in the past. There is some validity to this claim, as Chile has gained significant fiscal revenues from copper sales, and Australia has experienced a mining boom over the past two decades, coupled with the rise of China. This work examines the relationship that natural resource mining and governance has to the political economy landscape of both countries. Using a historical institutionalist lens, various trends in the political economies of both nations are examined in relation to resource curse factors, such as developmental indicators, mining-specific policy and rents therefrom, and Dutch Disease. This thesis argues that the governments of both countries developed very different means to manage commodity market boom and bust cycles. Specifically, Chile has innovated counter-cyclical fiscal policies and copper funds, while Australia has pursued a more neutral fiscal policy with little intervention into mining by the commonwealth (until recently). The strengths and weaknesses apparent to both governments’ management of their mining sectors is explained and compared against resource curse factors. Forecasting is also presented to include possible ramifications from recent changes to the political economy of both countries in light of large downward swings in commodity prices and a slowdown in China.
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Olayele, Bankole Fred. "Trade, fiscal transfers, diversity and the resource curse : evidence from Canada and the US." Thesis, Lancaster University, 2016. http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/82468/.
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This thesis examines various issues related to intranational and international trade, fiscal decentralization, trade openness, economic diversity, resource curse and economic growth – all within a Canada-US sub-national framework. Chapter 1 provides the motivation for the study and sets the stage for the various empirical-based policy trade-offs and insights arrived at in the subsequent chapters. In chapter 2, we examine the extent to which trade costs, modeled by distance and contiguity, influence the magnitude and direction of both east-west and north-south trade in Canada and the US .We provide an alternative framework which pays special attention to estimation issues related to unobserved heterogeneity, log-linearization in the presence of heteroscedasticity, and logarithmic transformation of zero bilateral trade flows. In all, this thesis provides updated results and garners further evidence in support of the home bias argument of McCallum (1995) and Obstfeld and Rogoff (2000b). Equally, our results uphold the Linder-hypothesis, but refute the Heckscher-Ohlin factor endowment proposition. Chapter 3 focuses on the relative importance of fiscal redistribution and trade openness in the economic growth analysis of Canada and the US. Using a dynamic panel of Canada-US data, we estimate the importance of redistributive flows based on personal income after federal taxes and transfers, and pretax personal income. We conclude that there is a clear incidence of “immiserising growth”. The coefficient of the interaction variable gives no evidence of fiscal transfer-induced growth across all four major estimators. Chapter 4 explores the diversity-resource-growth nexus. The first major conclusion is that the diversity measures employed are arbitrary because both the absolute and relative specialization measures, on which they are based, are arbitrary. We find evidence for a positive direct relationship for the diversity-growth nexus. Due to statistically insignificant coefficients, the GMM framework does not provide us with predictive power to test the resource curse proposition. However, through the fixed effects technique, we provide evidence for the role of economic diversity as a transmission channel of the resource curse.
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Courvisanos, Madeline. "BP in Papua: A chance for development or the return of the resource curse?" Thesis, Department of Government and International Relations, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/7915.
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This study focuses on explaining the absence of violent conflict, a symptom associated with the „resource curse‟, in resource extraction projects in volatile and resource dependent regions. An institutionalist approach is adopted in proposing that the agency of the resource extraction corporation is crucial in suppressing resource curse symptoms. This is illustrated in the case study of BP‟s Tangguh LNG Project in the separatist region of Papua, Indonesia. BP‟s undertaking of organisational learning, the evolution of institutions that influence company policies, and the governance role that BP has assumed in the region, are nominated as factors preventing the appearance of the resource curse in this case. The study concludes that by taking a greater institutional role in the region, BP has been instrumental in suppressing the resource curse, but that the threat of violent conflict will always linger in such precarious zones.
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Amundsen, Kaja Vollan. ""The Resource Curse in India" : Can the Resource Curse Literature Explain the Divergent Economic Growth Among the Indian States? A Time-Series Cross-Section Analysis of 15 Indian States from 1980 to 2009." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Institutt for sosiologi og statsvitenskap, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-25787.
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Kristiansen, Daniel Storholthe. "Economic and Institutional Performance in Mozambique: Implications for the Coming Resource Boom." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Institutt for sosiologi og statsvitenskap, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-23762.
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The resource curse literature predicts how both aid and natural resources leads to real appreciation, hurting competitiveness and disfavoring the producing sector, which is bad news for a nation at the outset of its industrial buildup. Furthermore, a resource boom might lead to undesired behavior undermining national institutions – bearing implications of a “double resource curse”. Mozambique is an aid-dependent nation now facing the outbreak of a resource boom, as recent natural gas discoveries bring potential for transforming one of the world’s poorest countries to one of the world’s largest natural gas exporters within decades. The literature provides us with expectations of such successful transformation being dependent on both sound economic and institutional development. This study aims to uncover whether there are symptoms of Dutch Disease in the Mozambican economy, by tracking real appreciation through calculating effective exchange rate indices for the time period of 2002-2012 as well as analyzing sectoral development over the same time span. In continuation, we track institutional development in Mozambique with time-series data of institutional indicators developed by the World Bank. We find that institutions are weak and we observe signs of deterioration coupled with massive gas discoveries in recent years. The national economy is growing, and we cannot find signs of large shifts in sector development. However, the real exchange rate has appreciated in recent years. While the cause of this is not explained by our deployed literature, we find it interesting that fluctuations in foreign direct investments shows signs of correlation with the real exchange rate. The impact of FDI on developing economies will serve a potent variable for further research within resource curse frameworks.
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Oge, Ibrahim Kerem. "Transparency Promotion in Resource-Rich Countries: External Remedies to Reverse the Curse in the Caspian." Thesis, Boston College, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/3711.
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Thesis advisor: David A. DeeseMy research builds upon the resource curse and external democracy promotion literatures to assess the prospects of transparency advocacy in non-democratic resource-rich countries. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan are all rich in hydrocarbons; however, in the last two decades, they have shown significant variation in terms of the transparency of oil revenues and expenditures. While Azerbaijan undertook substantial reforms to make its government revenues from oil almost completely transparent, Turkmenistan refrained from disclosing its revenues from natural gas exports. Finally, Kazakhstan, while undertaking some reforms, lagged behind Azerbaijan in pursuing a fully transparent revenue management policy. In authoritarian countries, transparency-related governance reforms are shaped by an interaction between international and domestic factors. Transparency in natural resource revenues is promoted by global actors including states, international financial institutions, and transnational networks as a measure to prevent or minimize corruption and mismanagement of revenues. In all three of my cases, the lack of public accountability and limited civil society activism prevented domestic agents from carrying out successful institutional reforms. In each case, the preferences of the elites have been important determinants of the degree of economic reform. I argue that transparency promotion from outside is expected to lead to institutional reform when it is matched with strong incentives for compliance. These incentives are created mostly by external actors, including states, international organizations, and international companies; yet they are also conditioned by the domestic economic and political landscape. Three cases from the Caspian region fully demonstrate the potential for different institutional outcomes among resource-dependent countries. A comparison of these countries' experiences will not only shed light on our understanding of the resource dependency and institutions, but also explain the institutional variance among the many non-democratic countries
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Political Science
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Pourmasoumi, Langarudi Saeed. "A System Dynamics Approach to the Political Economy of Resource-dependent Nations." Digital WPI, 2016. https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/etd-dissertations/432.
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"Development on the basis of extraction and export of natural resources is a dynamically complex problem. Empirical evidence shows that while some nations have been successful to translate natural resource wealth into long-term development but many have failed too. In this dissertation a system dynamics approach is taken to understand why this is happening and what strategies could facilitate a resource-based development process. In this regard, Mashayekhi’s model of oil-dependency of Iranian economy as one of the few relevant system dynamics examples is updated and revalidated. The results show that despite its capability in showing the dynamics of the problem from an economic perspective it lacks socio-political features that are necessary to address the most fundamental issues of resource-based development. It is shown that Katouzian’s theory of “arbitrary state and society” could fill this gap. The theory is, thus, translated into a system dynamics model so that it could be tested for internal consistency and used for policy analysis. The model is able to explain long-term socio-political-economic instability of a resource-dependent society. On the basis of Mashayekhi’s model, Katouzian’s theory, and other fundamental explanations of natural resource dependency that are available from the literature, a generic eclectic model is developed. The model has gone through a comprehensive list of confidence-building tests. Controlled experimentation through Monte Carlo simulations show that, on the contrary to the current belief, it is unlikely that natural resource wealth be harmful for social welfare. Results also revealed that rule of law is a crucial factor that affects trajectory of the socio-political-economic development. Other findings are as follow. Civil resistance (disobedience) can be harmful for the system in the long-run. While sanctions could affect the economy it has barely an impact on socio-political settings of a society. Finally, wage stabilization, facilitation of social mobility, and privatization of natural resource revenues within certain limits) could help the resource-based development to achieve better outcomes."
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Orihuela, José Carlos. "Institutions and institutional change: rethinking the ‘resource curse’ from the news institutionalisms and the Peruvian experience." Politai, 2013. http://repositorio.pucp.edu.pe/index/handle/123456789/92375.
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The "resource curse" is a term that refers to a heterogeneous set of theories about why natural resource abundance undermines the path of a political economy. For each type of "curse", we argue that moving from asking "why" to consider "how" and "when" it permits a more refined conceptual and empirical approach to the link between natural resources and social change, be it economic or political development. Specifically, the micro study of actors and institutions in historical context sheds light on areas where aggregate macro statistical study cannot provide. To do this, the critical use of the conceptual frameworks of the new institutionalism in the social sciences enhances the depth of empirical research. The contemporary Peruvian experience shows the variety and variability of economic and political challenges of development based in resources.La ‘maldición de los recursos’ es un término que refiere a un conjunto heterogéneo de teorías sobre el por qué la abundancia de recursos naturales perjudica la trayectoria de una economía política. Para cada tipo de ‘maldición’, argumentamos que pasar del preguntar ‘por qué’ a examinar ‘cómo’ y ‘cuándo’ permite una más afinada aproximación conceptual y empírica al vínculo entre recursos naturales y cambio social, sea este el desarrollo económico o el político. Concretamente, el microestudio de actores e instituciones en contexto histórico aporta luces en áreas donde el macroestudio de agregados estadísticos no puede aportar. Para ello, el uso crítico de los marcos conceptuales de los nuevos institucionalismos en las Ciencias Sociales potencia la profundidad de la investigación empírica. La experiencia peruana contemporánea muestra la variedad, y variabilidad, de los desafíos económico-políticos del desarrollo basado en recursos.
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Rantao, Khetha-Okuhle. "The role of MNCs as a channel of the resource ‘curse’ : insights from gas-rich Mozambique." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/74837.
Full textAbstract:
The resource ‘curse’ is premised on an inverse relationship between mineral wealth and economic growth. The declamation pertaining to the reasons for, and exceptions to, the resource ‘curse’ remains inconclusive. MNCs are cited amongst the reasons for the resource ‘curse’, particularly in developing economies. However, Africa (and the role of MNCs) remains underrepresented in resource ‘curse’ literature. In light of this, the study’s aim is to determine how MNCs in Mozambique’s gas sector could be considered a causal channel of the resource ‘curse’, as the contest for relatively untapped natural gas reserves in Mozambique is intensifying. An exploratory case study is provided, where Phase I consisted of 11 qualitative interviews with 14 oil and gas experts while Phase II analysed secondary data in the form of public documents and audio-visual materials, intended to supplement and verify the interview data. The results reveal that MNCs (i) promote and prioritize their CSR initiatives to mask their inability (or unwillingness) to adhere to local content directives and (ii) leverage the diplomatic relationships of their home country government to supersede the host country’s sovereignty. Moreover, the Mozambican government’s cultural practices exacerbated the prospects of a resource ‘curse’ outcome. The study concludes that the MNC, in the case of Africa, in particular Mozambique and Angola, is indeed a channel of the resource ‘curse’.Mini Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2019.
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
MPhil (International Business)
Unrestricted
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Parks, Jacob. "OIL, POLITICS OF THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT AND THE PERSIAN GULF." Master's thesis, University of Central Florida, 2008. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/4109.
Full textAbstract:
This study investigated the effect the price of oil has on enabling political establishments to maintain their presence within the business environment. The study consists of three different case studies with each of the states (Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates) being chosen based upon their level of state involvement within the business community. Each case study investigated whether the price of oil had any effect on influencing the amount of political involvement within the business community, property rights or trade freedom. The findings for all three case studies suggest that the price of oil has little to no effect on determining the amount of influence the state possesses within the business environment. Based on the results of this investigation, recommendations were made to improve the United States relationship with each country. Additional analysis and recommendations were made concerning the future economic impact of Iraq relying solely on oil as its revenue source.M.A.
Department of Political Science
Sciences
Political Science MA
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Svensson, Evelina. "Conflicting interests in natural resource management : - A case study on mining in northern Sweden." Thesis, Södertörns högskola, Miljövetenskap, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-33443.
Full textAbstract:
Sweden is the leading mining country in Europe and the Swedish government intends to retain this position by fostering innovation, investments and cooperation. However, mining is an extractive industry with massive consequences on the surrounding environment and the people living there. In resource abundant northern Sweden mineral extraction is a contested subject, not least in respect to the traditional land use by the Sami population. This study intends to increase the understanding of the current mining trial process in Sweden, the effects on sustainable regional development and the implications for local communities. To do so, this study aims to identify which aspects that are brought forward during the trial for exploitation concession and how different interests are evaluated. For the purpose of this study, the bureaucratic mining trial process is examined and 15 mining cases studied in detail considering the exploitation concession phase. The material indicates that conflicts over the bureaucratic process is based both in what aspects that should be included in the assessment, how these aspects are evaluated and at what stage in the formal process various aspects should be brought up. Guided by the concepts of extractivism and subnational resource curse, the main finding identified is that the mining trial process is state-centred. This is displayed in the limited influence of local actors on the decision and in the use of national interest as a policy tool to evaluate conflicting land use claims. These characteristics can in turn increase the risk of a subnational resource curse in northern Sweden.
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Andersen, Chinbuah Arturo Alfred. "The societal metabolism and resource curse of developing economies : a comparative study of Ghana and Ivory Coast." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2016. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/16901/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis proposes a new analytical framework to analyse the relationship between material and energy use with indicators of well-being and economic growth in developing countries, conducted in the context of debates around the resource curse and development theories. By combining the societal metabolism approach with a historic and political context, this methodology explores the social metabolism and resource curse over time, relying on biophysical indicators of resource abundance. The analytical framework developed in this thesis identifies different aspects that have shaped the development trajectories of currently developing countries. It demonstrates that in order to understand present and future development paths of developing countries, a holistic approach that can combine different sets of data is needed, as it can inform about possibilities and tradeoffs of development pathways such as those envisioned by the Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, the approach developed in this thesis provides the basis to carry out developmental research utilizing a metabolic approach in developing countries where data issues prevent societal metabolism research. In this thesis two case studies are presented to test the methodology, finding that: (1) socio-political stability plays an important role shaping the metabolism of an economy and avoiding the resource curse; (2) well-being can improve without growth in economic activity or resource consumption; (3) international governance has had major impacts shaping the present economic structure of the selected economies.
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Kwarteng-Antwi, Liza. "Dealing with resource curse syndrome in the Ghanaian oil sector through reforms of appropriate laws and policies." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/64618.
Full textAbstract:
Most resource-rich nations, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa are often unable to
properly utilize the revenues generated from their resources. The problem has always
been that, governments of these resource-rich states are unable to harness revenues and
efficiently utilize them towards growth and development.
This situation is mostly described as the “resource curse phenomenon or the “paradox
of plenty”. The issue of the so called curse bedeviling such resource-rich states seem to
emanate from over dependence on these resources and failure by governments to
diversify various sectors of their economies.
The fear that emanates from the culture of dependence on these natural resources is
that, they are exhaustible in nature. Therefore any prudent government tasked with the
management of these resources in trust for its people must take necessary steps to use
the revenues generated from these resources to diversify other sectors of the economy.
The need to invest wisely and diversify the economy is also important for sustainable
development. This is because the resources belong to the present and the future
generations.
Ghana discovered oil in commercial quantities in July 2007 and started production in
2010. This discovery and subsequent production has moved the nation from a lowincome
status to a middle-income status. Whether the move to a middle- income status
has translated positively in the lives of Ghanaians is a question that remains
unanswered. For over a century, Ghana mined gold, bauxite, diamonds and other
minerals just to mention a few, but the nation did not benefit much from these
resources due to poor management and persistent corruption. For over seven years
now, the country has been producing oil but it seems the revenues generated from the
sale of these petroleum resources have not been used equitably and efficiently. To
avoid the mistakes of the past, Ghana needs proper management systems and sound
legislation in order to utilize efficiently, its resources and possibly avert the “resource
curse” syndrome.
This paper examines whether Ghana is experiencing the “resource curse”, the type of
management systems in place and the gaps that are in the industry specific legislations.
It is hoped that, the findings, conclusions and recommendations therein will serve as a
guide to resource-rich sub-Saharan African states in general and Ghana in particular.Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2017.
Centre for Human Rights
LLM
Unrestricted
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Hilldén, Joakim, and Johan Mesterton. "Diamonds and sustainable growth : The success story of Botswana." Thesis, Uppsala University, Department of Economics, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-6353.
Full textAbstract:
Numerous studies have confirmed a statistically significant negative relationship between natural resource abundance and economic growth. This has been labeled “The Resource Curse”. In this paper we try to explain why Botswana, a country heavily dependent on its diamond industry, has managed to generate sustainable growth. Economists have advanced several explanations for the negative impact of natural resources on long-term growth. This paper focuses on the following important problems: First, a boom in a natural resource can pull resources away from other sectors of the economy, thus harming their international competitiveness, a phenomenon called the Dutch disease. Second, abundance in natural resources may lead to poor institutional quality in many countries. Thanks to conservative fiscal policies and accumulation of foreign reserves the local currency did not appreciate during the boom, and Botswana avoided the most severe symptoms of the Dutch disease. Historical tradition of democratic procedures and sound institutions at the time of diamond discovery has contributed to a high institutional quality in Botswana.
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Matheis, Michael Roy. "Mining Booms and Busts: New Evidence on the Consequences of Mining in the U.S." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/556593.
Full textAbstract:
The extraction of natural resources can lead to higher incomes and standards of living for local areas, but resource exploitation, a lack of broad economic development, and an excess amount of environmental pollution can come with this activity. This dissertation analyzes the short and long run economic, public health, and demographic consequences of economic development via natural resources. It expands upon the current non-renewable resource extraction, "resource curse," and local community health literatures by using county data for the entire U.S. spanning over a century, capturing both short and long run impacts over various time periods, on net-migration, mortality, natality, local economic activity, and environmental impacts. What drove coal production in the U.S. during the twentieth century? How effective were the operators at predicting and responding to changes in price? Did coal mining industries provide broad economic benefits to local communities in non-mining sectors? Did the impacts differ over time? Has natural resource extraction activity caused mortality in the area to increase? To answer these questions I collected, compiled, and digitized a long run panel database of county level mining activity, mortality, natality, and pollution spanning the entire U.S. The dissertation identifies the short and long run net effects of natural resource extraction activity with time-varying measures, and an IV approach that isolates changes in local mining activity independent of local conditions and outcomes. The dissertation shows that coal producers responded to variation in prices, and were aware and responded to past price behavior. Chapter 3 shows increased levels of coal production had positive net impacts on county population and manufacturing employment over an initial ten year span, then became negative over the subsequent decade. This provides evidence that the existence of a "resource curse" on local manufacturing is a long run phenomena. Chapter 4 shows that extraction activity increased infant and total mortality, had no impact on contemporaneous total cancer mortality, and may be driven by areas where coal mining was historically prevalent. Past and present mining activity is strongly related to local pollution, supporting the idea that increasing local environmental pollution increases mortality.