scholarly journals When Disasters Hit Civil Wars: Natural Resource Exploitation and Rebel Group Resilience

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasutaka Tominaga ◽  
Chia-yi Lee
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
Rapid Onset ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Funding Source ◽  
Resource Exploitation ◽  
Rebel Groups ◽  
Rebel Group

Abstract Existing literature on the relationship between natural disasters and conflicts provides mixed findings. In this article, we argue that whether natural disasters hurt rebel group resilience depends on their funding source and the mode of resource extraction. Rebel groups that obtain their funding from natural resources are more susceptible to natural disasters because this funding source could be easily disrupted by rapid-onset disasters. How rebel groups exploit natural resource wealth also conditions the effect of natural disasters on rebel group resilience. Rebel groups that depend on extorting resource production, despite having a seemingly stable revenue stream, are more likely to face funding cuts after a severe natural disaster. In contrast, rebel groups that rely on smuggling natural resources, due to a higher level of flexibility and mobility, are more likely to survive natural disasters. We test our arguments using data on armed groups, natural disasters, and rebel contraband, and the results of the logit models with interaction terms support our hypotheses. Our findings bridge the environmental conflict literature and the resource curse literature, and offer important policy implications.

Funding rebellion

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 699-707 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Igoe Walsh ◽  
Justin M Conrad ◽  
Beth Elise Whitaker ◽  
Katelin M Hudak
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Resource Exploitation ◽  
Civil Conflicts ◽  
Rebel Groups ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Natural Resource Exploitation ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Natural Resource Wealth

We introduce a new dataset measuring if and how rebel groups earn income from the exploitation of natural resources or criminal activities. The Rebel Contraband Dataset makes three contributions to data in this area. First, it covers a wide range of natural resources and types of crime. Second, it measures rebel engagement in these activities over time. Third, it distinguishes among different strategies that rebel groups employ, such as extortion and smuggling. Theory suggests that reliance on natural resource wealth should lead rebels to mistreat civilians, but cross-group research using existing data does not find support for this relationship. We replicate an earlier study using data from the Rebel Contraband Dataset and conclude that there is a consistent relationship between natural resource exploitation and civilian victimization. Future research can use the dataset to explore questions about the onset, location, severity, and outcomes of civil conflicts.

scholarly journals A Multivariate VAR Model for Evaluating Sustainable Finance and Natural Resource Curse in West Africa: Evidence from Nigeria and Ghana

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2847
Author(s):  
Olatunji Abdul Shobande ◽  
Joseph Onuche Enemona
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resource ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Vector Autoregressive ◽  
Natural Resource Curse ◽  
Cointegration Tests ◽  
Sustainable Finance ◽  
Private Investors ◽  
Sustainable Financing

The financial sector plays a critical role in society by mediating resources and assets within the economy between surplus and deficit units. Therefore, they have a great responsibility for the sustainability and prosperity of natural endowments. This study aimed to determine whether sustainable finance matters for the natural resource curse in Nigeria and Ghana. The empirical evidence is based on the Bayer and Hanck combined cointegration tests and Vector Autoregressive/Vector Error Correction Granger causality tests. The study highlights the importance of sustainable financing in natural resources management. Our findings also confirmed the existence of the financial resource curse in Nigeria and Ghana. Likewise, the medium through which sustainable finance affects the natural resource curse has been identified as the human development index (economic welfare). This current study has critical policy implications that suggest the need to establish a vibrant, sustainable financing strategy to assist domestic private investors with a strong interest in natural resource exploration and development, taking into account macroeconomic sustainability. Additionally, it also important to build a strong financial market which allows for policies designed to promote natural resource management.

scholarly journals Weakened by the storm

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 336-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Walch
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Organizational Structure ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Opportunity Cost ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Tropical Storms ◽  
Rebel Groups ◽  
Group Recruitment ◽  
Rebel Group

How do natural disasters affect rebel group recruitment? Some influential research to date suggests that natural disasters – by lowering the opportunity cost of joining an armed movement – are likely to facilitate rebel group recruitment. In contrast, this study argues that natural disasters can negatively affect rebel organization and their recruitment efforts. It posits that natural disasters may weaken rebel groups in two main interrelated ways: (1) by leading to acute scarcity for rebel combatants and supporters, weakening the rebel group’s organizational structure and supply lines, and (2) by increasing government and international presence in areas where the insurgents operate. Empirically, this article explores these suggested mechanisms in two cases of natural disasters in the Philippines (typhoons Bopha in 2012 and Haiyan in 2013), which affected regions partially controlled by the communist rebel group, the New People’s Army (NPA). Based on data from extensive fieldwork, there is no evidence suggesting a boom in rebel recruitment in the wake of the typhoons. Rather, the NPA was temporarily weakened following the tropical storms, significantly impacting the civil war dynamics in the Philippines.

Disappearing natural resources: what flowers tell us about new value chains

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Carton ◽  
Julia Parigot
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Resource Depletion ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Cut Flower ◽  
Resource Exploitation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Natural Resource Exploitation ◽  
Natural Resource Depletion

Purpose This paper aims to question the capacity of firms embedded in global value chains to manage their natural resources in a sustainable way. Thus, it offers guidelines for more sustainable value chains. Design/methodology/approach While business strategies have focused on optimizing natural resource exploitation and on constructing global value chains to face sustainability issues, this study first explains why these strategies are not effective in preventing natural resource depletion. Second, it offers a model for anticipating resource depletion. The cut flower industry constitutes a central case to explain the model. Two other industry cases complement the demonstration. Findings To anticipate natural resource depletion and thus improve industry sustainability, firms must shift from the exploitation of endangered natural resources to the use of alternative local ones. This shift, however, encourages firms to reconstruct value chains and rethink how they create value within these new value chains. It also has an impact on firms’ growth strategy: they must replicate value chains on a local scale instead of taking part in global value chains. Research limitations/implications The findings rely on illustrations from the cut flower, fishing and textile fiber industries. Generalization to other industries may strengthen the argument. Originality/value This study offers a model of sustainable growth for firms willing to anticipate natural resource depletion by offering a shift in value chains. It consists of exploiting alternative natural resources and of rethinking the value offered to consumers. Thus, it goes against current models that merely focus on optimizing natural resource exploitation within global value chains.

Natural Resource Exploitation and Sexual Violence by Rebel Groups

2019 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 702-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth Elise Whitaker ◽  
James Igoe Walsh ◽  
Justin Conrad
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Resource Exploitation ◽  
Rebel Groups ◽  
Natural Resource Exploitation

In the Eye of the Storm: Rebel Taxation of Artisanal Mines and Strategies of Violence

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (10) ◽  
pp. 1968-1993
Author(s):  
Mario Krauser
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resource ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
Fundamental Question ◽  
Mining Areas ◽  
Rebel Groups ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
Persistent Violence ◽  
Mining Population

According to the resource curse theory, persistent violence in developing areas results from rebels’ ability to finance warfare with natural resource revenues. Surprisingly, this overlooks the complexities of raising revenue from a mobile mining population that values security as well as income. The literature thus neglects a fundamental question: what are the incentives of rebel groups to prevent or perpetuate conflict in mining areas? This paper delineates a rational to both increase and decrease violence. Protecting a mine should allow rebels to extract taxes in return. Simultaneously, to maintain this demand for security, rebels may need to destabilize the wider area. The hypotheses are tested with novel data on rebel taxation at over 3’000 artisanal mines in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Supporting the hypotheses, the results show that rebel-taxed mines appear exempt from violence nearby but imperiled at the perimeter.

scholarly journals Vulnerability and policy responses in the face of natural resource discoveries and climate change: introduction

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 517-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Cockburn ◽  
Martin Henseler ◽  
Hélène Maisonnave ◽  
Luca Tiberti
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Computable General Equilibrium ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Natural Resource Economics ◽  
Computable General Equilibrium Models ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

AbstractThis special issue contributes to the natural resource economics literature by shining a light on the specific challenges and opportunities faced by developing countries that have recently become dependent on natural resources or are particularly exposed to climate change. It is composed of five studies on countries from all regions of the developing world, involving a variety of natural resources and policy issues. Four of the five studies illustrate how computable general equilibrium models are particularly well-suited, despite their relatively limited past use, to the analysis of natural resources. All five studies are led by researchers based in these countries, providing unique insights into the specific local context. The studies underscore the extreme vulnerability that the introduction of significant natural resource revenues and climate change can create in developing countries. They also show how the choice of appropriate policies to avoid the resource curse varies according to country-specific economic conditions.

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.

Corruption and banking soundness: Does natural resource dependency matter?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid Kordbacheh ◽  
Seyedeh Zahra Sadati
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
Banking System ◽  
Destructive Effect ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Resource Rents ◽  
Almost All

Purpose The natural resources curse theory argues the higher dependency on natural resources leads to many socio-economic problems. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between corruption and banking soundness and also to compare the extent of this effect between the two groups of rich and poor in natural resources countries. Design/methodology/approach To this aim, the authors apply a panel data set comprised of 98 countries from 2012 to 2015. Findings The results show that nations with a higher level of corruption have poorer banking soundness. The authors also find that by considering the resource curse theory and the effect of natural resource rents in the model, the adverse impact of corruption on banking soundness is more substantial in countries with a higher natural dependency level (rich in natural resources). Originality/value Though studies have been conducted on corruption and banking soundness, this paper, by using resources curse theory, articulates that corruption is one of the most critical factors affecting banking soundness and has a destructive effect on the health of the banking system and the economy of almost all countries, especially in natural resource-based economies. This study will appeal to banks authorities, governments, policymakers, oversight financial institutions and those who have a vested interest in regulating financial crimes globally. They can prevent financial and banking crises by cooperating in the fight against corruption worldwide.

Equality and Its Critics

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Global Justice ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
Resource Endowments ◽  
Egalitarian Theory

What constraints does justice impose on our appropriation, or our holdings, of natural resources? This chapter examines several competing answers to that question. It rejects right-libertarian and minimalist views on resource justice, and instead argues in favour of an egalitarian approach. It then moves on to address some important challenges to an egalitarian theory of resource justice. For instance, it is sometimes argued that the ‘resource curse’ shows that natural resource endowments make little difference to economic growth. If so, egalitarian interest in their distribution is misplaced. The chapter shows how egalitarians should respond to this challenge. It also addresses objections from relationist scholars of global justice, and from those who believe that individual nations or states might have special claims over the resources they control.

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