scholarly journals Can More Be Less? An Experimental Test of the Resource Curse

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar Al-Ubaydli ◽  
Kevin McCabe ◽  
Peter Twieg
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Experimental Test ◽  
Economic Performance ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Resource Wealth ◽  
Randomized Control ◽  
Natural Resource Wealth

AbstractSeveral scholars have argued that abundant natural resources can be harmful to economic performance under bad institutions and helpful when institutions are good. These arguments have either been theoretical or based on naturally occurring variation in natural resource wealth. We test this theory by using a laboratory experiment to reap the benefits of randomized control. We conduct this experiment in a virtual world (Second Life™) to make institutions more visceral. We find support for the theory.

scholarly journals Using Natural Resources for Development: Why Has It Proven So Difficult?

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony J. Venables
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Economic Performance ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Investment Decisions ◽  
Private Investment ◽  
Adverse Impacts ◽  
Political Problem ◽  
Fiscal Regimes ◽  
Resource Wealth ◽  
Natural Resource Wealth

Developing economies have found it hard to use natural resource wealth to improve their economic performance. Utilizing resource endowments is a multistage economic and political problem that requires private investment to discover and extract the resource, fiscal regimes to capture revenue, judicious spending and investment decisions, and policies to manage volatility and mitigate adverse impacts on the rest of the economy. Experience is mixed, with some successes (such as Botswana and Malaysia) and more failures. This paper reviews the challenges that are faced in successfully managing resource wealth, the evidence on country performance, and the reasons for disappointing results.

scholarly journals A meta-analysis of natural resources and conflict

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 205316801881823 ◽  
Author(s):  
William O’Brochta
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Aggregate Effect ◽  
Resource Wealth ◽  
Natural Resource Wealth ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Variable Measurement

The relationship between natural resource wealth and civil conflict remains unclear, despite prolonged scholarly attention. Conducting a meta-analysis—a quantitative literature review—can help synthesize this broad and disparate field to provide clearer directions for future research. Meta-analysis tools determine both the aggregate effect of natural resources on conflict and whether any particular ways in which variables are measured systematically bias the estimated effect. I conduct a meta-analysis using sixty-nine studies from sixty-two authors. I find that there is no aggregate relationship between natural resources and conflict. Most variation in variable measurement does not alter the estimated effect. However, measuring natural resource wealth using Primary Commodity Exports and including controls for mountainous terrain and ethnic fractionalization all do significantly impact the results. These findings suggest that it may be worth exploring more nuanced connections between natural resources and conflict instead of continuing to study the overall relationship.

Sovereign Wealth Funds and the Resource Curse

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jędrzej George Frynas
Keyword(s):  
Resource Curse ◽  
Policy Instrument ◽  
Fiscal Rules ◽  
Sovereign Wealth Funds ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
Resource Wealth ◽  
Natural Resource Wealth ◽  
The Relationship

Historically, a key purpose of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) has been to help manage and minimize a range of negative economic and political consequences of natural resource wealth, often lumped together as the “resource curse.” This chapter asks to what extent SWFs—specifically “resource funds”—can mitigate the resource curse. It discusses the available empirical evidence for the effectiveness of resource funds as well as the relationship between societal governance and the effectiveness of resource funds. The available findings suggest that wider societal governance is of significantly greater importance for tackling the resource curse than the existence of a resource fund. Bad governance in a country prevents even the most transparent and robust resource funds from becoming an effective policy instrument. Conversely, resource funds can be successful in countries with effective societal institutions such as sound fiscal rules, good quality of government budget documentation, free civil society and independent media.

Political Risk, Reputation, and the Resource Curse

2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 662-688 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan M. Jensen ◽  
Noel P. Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resource ◽  
Insurance Industry ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
Political Risk ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
The Political ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Resource Wealth ◽  
Risk Insurance ◽  
Natural Resource Wealth

There is a growing literature on how natural resources affect both economic performance and political regimes. In this article the authors add to this literature by focusing on how natural resource wealth affects the incentives of governments to uphold contracts with foreign investors across all sectors. They argue that although all states suffer reputation costs from reneging on contracts, governments in natural-resource-dependent economies are less sensitive to these costs, leading to a greater probability of expropriation and contract disputes. Specifically, leaders weigh the benefits of reneging on contracts with investors against the reputation costs of openly violating agreements with firms. The authors’ theoretical model predicts a positive association between resource wealth and expropriation. Using a data set from the political risk insurance industry, the authors show that resource dependent economies have much higher levels of political risk.

Conditioning the “Resource Curse”: Globalization, Human Capital, and Growth in Oil-Rich Nations

2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 747-770 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus J. Kurtz ◽  
Sarah M. Brooks
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
Capital Formation ◽  
Human Capital Formation ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Resource Wealth ◽  
Oil Wealth ◽  
Natural Resource Wealth

Since the 1990s it has become conventional wisdom that an abundance of natural resources, most notably oil, is very likely to become a developmental “curse.” Recent scholarship, however, has begun to call into question this apparent consensus, drawing attention to the situations in which quite the opposite result appears to hold, namely, where resources become a developmental “blessing.” Research in this vein focuses predominantly on the domestic political and economic institutions that condition the growth effects of natural resource wealth. Less attention, however, has been paid to whether or how the context of economic integration has conditioned the domestic political economy of natural resource development. This article specifically addresses this theoretical disjuncture by arguing first that the developmental consequences of oil wealth are strongly conditioned by domestic human capital resources, which, where sizeable, make possible the management of resources in ways that encourage the absorption of technology and development of valuable new economic sectors. In the absence of robust human capital formation, however, the archetypal “resource curse” is likely to result. The authors argue moreover that international economic integration further amplifies the divergence between these outcomes by simultaneously raising the growth-enhancing effects of large stocks of human capital and by directly facilitating economic growth. Analysis of global data on growth and oil abundance (1979-2007) supports their main hypotheses that natural resource wealth can be either a “curse” or a “blessing” and that the distinction is conditioned by domestic and international factors, both amenable to change through public policy, namely, human capital formation and economic openness.

An Institutional Resource Curse in Argentina and Brazil

Dragonomics ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 153-190
Author(s):  
Carol Wise
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Economic Performance ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
Resource Abundance ◽  
The Third ◽  
Rise Of China ◽  
The Rise Of China

This chapter details the incorporation of Argentina and Brazil into China’s internationalized development strategy as its demand for natural resources skyrocketed. In doing so, it considers the effects of institutional weakness and natural resource abundance on economic performance and the ways effective institutions deteriorate during a commodity boom. It proceeds in three sections: the first analyzing the rise of China in Argentina and Brazil post-2000, the second reviewing the developmentalist model both countries implemented during that time, and the third analyzing the resulting institutional erosion.

The Political Economy of the Resource Curse

1999 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Ross
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Problems ◽  
The Past ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Resource Wealth ◽  
New Research ◽  
Natural Resource Wealth

How does a state's natural resource wealth influence its economic development? For the past fifty years, versions of this question have been explored by both economists and political scientists. New research suggests that resource wealth tends to harm economic growth, yet there is little agreement on why this occurs. This article reviews a wide range of recent attempts in both economics and political science to explain the “resource curse.” It suggests that much has been learned about the economic problems of resource exporters but less is known about their political problems. The disparity between strong findings on economic matters and weak findings on political ones partly reflects the failure of political scientists to carefully test their own theories.

scholarly journals Penjatuhan Sanksi Pidana Dalam Kasus Penambangan Batu Cinnabar di Maluku

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 151
Author(s):  
Erwin Ubwarin ◽  
Wilshen Leatemia
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
District Court ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Normative Approach ◽  
The People ◽  
Criminal Charges ◽  
Mining Law ◽  
Resource Wealth ◽  
Natural Resource Wealth

AbstractAll natural resource wealth in the land, sea, and in the bowels of the land of Indonesia are controlled by the State and used as much as possible for the welfare of the people. However, the processing of cinnabar stone natural resources that does not queue up the permit in Luhu Village, West Seram Regency, Maluku Province has resulted in environmental pollution and has an impact on humans. Overcoming this criminal violation, law enforcement has been carried out which resulted in 8 (eight) decisions at the Ambon District Court. This research was conducted with a juridical normative approach, with a statutory approach and a conceptual approach to the imposition of crimes and criminal acts that place statutory regulations as objects of research sourced from primary, secondary and tertiary law. The results of the research conclude that criminal charges against miners without a permit are still low, less than half of the maximum threat of 10 (ten) years in the mineral and coal mining law, this is very unfortunate because the damage to the environment due to processing of cinnabar stone without permission will have a long impact.Keywords: Criminal, Cinnabar, Mining AbstrakSemua kekayaan sumber daya alam yang ada di darat, laut, dan di dalam perut bumi Indonesia dikuasai oleh Negara dan digunakan sebesarnya untuk kesejahteraan rakyat. Namun pengelolaan sumber daya alam batu cinnabar yang tidak mengantongi izin pada Desa Luhu Kabupaten Seram Barat, Provinsi Maluku berakibat pada pencemaran lingkungan dan berdampak pada manusia. Menanggulangi pelanggaran pidana ini telah dilakukan penegakan hukum yang menghasilkan 8 (delapan) putusan pada Pengadilan Negeri Ambon. Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan pendekatan yuridis normatif, dengan pendekatan peraturan perundang-undangan dan pendekatan konsep tentang penjatuhan pidana dan tindak pidana yang menempatkan peraturan perundang-undangan sebagai objek penelitian yang bersumber dari hukum primer, sekunder, dan tersier. Hasil penelitian menyimpulkan penjatuhan pidana kepada pelaku penambang tanpa izin masih rendah tidak sampai setengah dari ancaman maksimum 10 (sepuluh) tahun dalam undang-undang pertambangan mineral dan batu bara, hal ini sangat disayangkan karena rusaknya lingkungan akibat pengelolaan batu cinnabar tanpa izin akan berdampak panjang.Kata Kunci: Pidana, Cinnabar, Pertambangan

scholarly journals The Role of Governance and International Norms in Managing Natural Resources

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Cust
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Commodity Prices ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Checks And Balances ◽  
Resource Wealth ◽  
Causal Impact ◽  
Rich Countries ◽  
Natural Resource Wealth

The governance of natural resource wealth is considered to constitute a key determinant in whether the extraction of natural resources proves to be a blessing or a curse. In response to this challenge, a variety of international initiatives have emerged to codify successful policies pursued by countries, and promote global norms and best practices to guide decision-makers. These initiatives, such as the Extractives Industry Transparency Initiative, have seen success in spreading and embedding governance norms, ranging across revenue transparency, contract disclosure, and the creation of instruments such as resource funds and building institutions for checks and balances. However, evidence for causal impact remains weak and sometimes limited to anecdotal cases. The end of the super-cycle of commodity prices, and the prospect of permanently lower prices for fossil fuels, creates new challenges for resource-rich countries but may also allow space and time for reflection, lesson-learning and improvements in governance.

‘Resource Misery’ and the Politics of Resource Governance in the Petro-States of Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Jingu
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
Actual Condition ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Alternative Concept ◽  
Resource Governance ◽  
Petroleum Resources ◽  
Resource Wealth

The discovery and exploitation of petroleum resources in a number of African countries has thrown into prominence the ‘resource curse’ thesis which suggests that resource wealth causes problems for a country. This article argues that petroleum resources, like all natural resources, are not a curse; instead, it is the actions and decisions of various actors involved in the struggle for such resources that lead to misery, particularly for the victims. The inappropriateness of the concept ‘resource curse’ in the context of Africa has moved this writer to propose an alternative concept – ‘resource misery’ – to reflect the actual condition that tends to befall a country and the victims owing to the often irresponsible actions and decisions of powerful actors involved in the abuse of natural resources. The article expands on seven maxims that, if embraced and implemented, should enable the new petro-states of Africa to escape resource misery.

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