scholarly journals Short-term effects of national-level natural resource rents on life expectancy: A cross-country panel data analysis

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. e0252336
Author(s):  
Isaac Lyatuu ◽  
Georg Loss ◽  
Andrea Farnham ◽  
Mirko S. Winkler ◽  
Günther Fink

While a substantial amount of literature addresses the relationship between natural resources and economic growth, relatively little is known regarding the relationship between natural resource endowment and health at the population level. We construct a 5-year cross-country panel to assess the impact of natural resource rents on changes in life expectancy at birth as a proxy indicator for population health during the period 1970–2015. To estimate the causal effects of interest, we use global commodity prices as instrumental variables for natural resource rent incomes in two-stage-least squares regressions. Controlling for country and year fixed effects, we show that each standard deviation increase in resource rents results in life expectancy increase of 6.72% (CI: 2.01%, 11.44%). This corresponds to approximately one additional year of life expectancy gained over five years. We find a larger positive effect of rents on life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) compared to other world regions. We do not find short-term effects of rents on economic growth, but show that increases in resource rents result in sizeable increases in government revenues in the short run, which likely translate into increased spending across government sectors. This suggests that natural resources can help governments finance health and other development-oriented programs needed to improve population health.

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 1234-1255
Author(s):  
Mohammad Arzaghi ◽  
Andrew Balthrop

Rents from natural resources can alter the relationship between central and local governments by providing a new source of government financing. We develop a model to explore the relationship between fiscal decentralization and resource abundance. Our model indicates that natural resource rents can detach central government expenditures from the tax base so that the central government can spend more to persuade a fractious periphery to remain under central government control. Thus, other things being equal, higher natural resource rents can result in less decentralized government expenditures. We empirically explore the relationship between fiscal decentralization and natural resource rents using a panel of 60 countries over the past 40 years. Empirical results support our economic model: A 1% increase in natural resource rents as a fraction of gross domestic product results in government expenditures that are 0.53% less decentralized.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 575
Author(s):  
Rabah Arezki ◽  
Markus Brueckner

Military expenditures significantly affect the relationship between the risk of civil conflict outbreak and natural resources. We show that a significant positive effect of natural resource rents on the risk of civil conflict outbreak is limited to countries with low military expenditures. In countries with high military expenditures, there is no significant effect of natural resource rents on civil conflict onset. An important message is thus that a conflict resource curse is absent in countries with sufficiently large military expenditures.


2013 ◽  
Vol 734-737 ◽  
pp. 3337-3341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhin Bin Li ◽  
Hong Juan Deng ◽  
An Shun Cheng

The interrelationship between natural resource and economic development, hasn't reached an agreement. Some economists believe that rich natural resources promote economic growth. On the contrary, some economists think that rich natural resources hinder economic growth. Based on previous studies, this paper studies the relationship between natural resource and economic growth in our country. We try to explain the "Curse of Resources" through an example of Shanxi. Finally, we give some policy recommendations to avoid the "Curse of Resources".


Economies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 99
Author(s):  
Elwasila Saeed Elamin Mohamed

This study investigates the relationship between natural resource rents, human development and economic growth in Sudan using co-integration and vector error correction modelling (VECM) over the period 1970–2015. Institutions proved to play a role in determining a difference in whether a country is cured or blessed by resource abundance. In the case of Sudan, no time series data is available on institutional quality and is therefore excluded from the analysis. The role of institutions and macroeconomic policies is captured by other variables included in the empirical model. Co-integration tests confirm the existence of a long run equilibrium relationship between resource rents, human development and economic growth in Sudan. Empirical evidence from the estimated VECM shows that economic growth is positively affected by resource rents and development expenditure but surprisingly negatively affected by life expectancy at birth in the short run. In the long run, resource rents, school enrolment, life expectancy and financial development have negative significant effects on economic growth. Only development expenditure is found to affect economic growth positively. Resource rents are found to weaken education and health levels and this is indirectly channeled into negative effects of resource rents on economic growth. These results suggest that the government has been neglecting investments to build up human capital necessary for inclusive growth. Long run Granger causality tests show a unidirectional causal relationship running from resource rents to GDP growth as well as from development expenditure to GDP growth. School enrollment, life expectancy and financial development are found to be negatively Granger causing GDP growth. Long run causal relationships reconfirm that a resource curse exists indirectly mediated by weak human capital. The study recommends that the government should manage natural resource rents with a policy framework supporting creation of a virtuous economic circle between human development and economic growth. If pursued, this would promote sustained, inclusive and equitable growth in Sudan.


Author(s):  
Siming Zuo ◽  
Mingxia Zhu ◽  
Zhexiao Xu ◽  
Judit Oláh ◽  
Zoltan Lakner

Until recently, many countries’ policies were motivated by economic growth; however, few strategies were developed to prevent environmental deterioration including reducing the ecological footprint. In this context, the purpose of this study was to analyze the role of natural resource rents, technological innovation, and financial development on the ecological footprint in 90 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) economies. This research divided the BRI economies into high income, middle-income, and low-income levels to capture income differences. This research used the second-generation panel unit root, cointegration, and augmented mean group estimators to calculate the robust and reliable outcomes. Based on the annual data from 1991 to 2018, the findings show that natural resource rents drastically damage the quality of the environment, whereas technological innovations are helpful in reducing ecological footprint. Moreover, the outcome of the interaction term (natural resource rents and technological innovations) negatively impacts the ecological footprint. Interestingly, these findings were similar in the three income groups. In addition, financial development improved environmental quality in the middle-income BRI economies, but reduced it in high-income, low-income, and full sample countries. Furthermore, the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) concept has been validated across all BRI economies. Policymakers in BRI countries should move resources away from resource-rich sectors of industries/manufacturing sectors to enhance/promote economic growth and use these NRRs efficiently for a progressive, sustainable environment. Based on these findings, several efficient policy suggestions are proposed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazanin Behzadan

In this dissertation I analyze the effect of within-country income inequality on economic outcomes. I develop a new model of international trade with non-homothetic preferences whereby within-country income distribution affects the pattern of trade and economic growth. An appreciation of the real exchange rate inducing a production shift to the sector with less long-run growth potential is known as the Dutch disease and in this model the disease is triggered by within-country income differences. First, I show that the Dutch disease can arise solely from inequality in the distribution of natural resource rents where the country with the less equal distribution will have less production of manufacturing goods and less development of learning-by-doing in this sector. As opposed to conventional models, where income distribution has no effect on economic outcomes, an unequal distribution of the resource wealth can generate the Dutch disease. In addition, alternative forms of foreign transfers, such as foreign aid and remittances, interact with the income distribution in dissimilar manners and generate differences in spending patterns, the real exchange rate, production patterns, and the pattern of international trade. I show that while foreign aid can cause economic stagnation, remittances can in fact foster economic growth. I also provide a range of empirical tests of the theoretical model, including both difference and system GMM estimations in a dynamic panel setting and disentangle the effects of inequality and institutional quality. My empirical analyses support the hypothesis that inequality indeed plays a significant role in whether being resource-rich is a blessing or a curse for a country. The more unequal is the distribution of natural resource rents, the stronger is the disease. Moreover, I verify my hypothesis that foreign aid and remittances are not similar in generating the Dutch disease using data from a panel of countries and industries covering the years 1991-2009 while controlling for the issues of omitted variable bias and the endogeneity of the transfers. Finally, a similar method is used in order to draw empirical evidence that lends credence to the positive relation between more equal distribution of resource rents and higher manufacturing growth.


Author(s):  
Abdulfatai A Adedeji ◽  
Sherifat W Kogbodoku

The challenge of capital flight in the ECOWAS sub-region is worrisome. Huge revenue from natural resources also contributes to the relocation of available resources necessary for the development of the region. The study identifies the revenue from natural resources as a key driver of capital flight in the region. Hence, this study analyzed the effect of natural resource rents on capital flight in ECOWAS countries accounting for the role of asymmetry. Also, the study employed the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model to account for short-run and long-run asymmetries. The results revealed the presence of asymmetry in five countries, while two countries displayed symmetric effects. It also showed that the symmetric effect of natural resource rents on capital flight is weak for Guinea and Nigeria in the short-run while the long-run effect is not more pronounced for Nigeria. In the case of asymmetric effect, natural resource rents amplified capital flight in Cape Verde and Sierra Leone. Further evidence shows that the non-linearity of natural resource rents does not encourage capital flight in Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, and Ghana. Hence, the countries should promote transparency and accountability in the management of proceeds from natural resources to enhance development in the region.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-10
Author(s):  
William R. DiPietro

Innovation is crucial for economic growth, development, and progress. Using cross country regression analysis, this paper tests for two hypothesis regarding the determinants of innovation. The first is that state repression has a negative effect on innovation. The second is that lifestyles that devalue work, such as those obtaining their incomes from criminal activity or through natural resource rents, are detrimental to innovation. The findings from the empirical work of the paper provide evidence that tends to uphold both of these hypothesizes.


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