An ecological view of New Developmentalism: a proposal of integration

ABSTRACT Article aims to integrate New Developmentalism with Ecological View by means of the concepts of Ecological Structural Change (ESC) and Eco-Developmental Class-Coalition (EDCC). ESC means to increase the share of green manufacturing sector in GDP and employment for increasing the environmental efficiency of the economy. Exchange rate overvaluation caused by Dutch disease and growth with foreign savings can harm green manufacturing industries even more than brown manufacturing industries. ESC needs the existence of an EDCC that can be made difficult to occur if exchange rate over-valuation is not removed through taxes over commodities exports, capital controls and a dual mandate for the Central Bank.

Stimulating Non-Energy Exports in Trinidad and Tobago: Evidence from a Small Petroleum-Exporting Economy Experiencing the Dutch Disease

The motivation for this study hinges around the fact that Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) is suffering from the Dutch disease which inadvertently hinders the growth of non-energy exports. This paper examines measures that can be adopted for a small petroleum-exporting economy to dampen the effect of Dutch disease by promoting non-energy trade. This paper is novel and contributes to the literature in using panel data for the T&T case, as it investigates the effect of a devaluation of the TT dollar in order to stimulate non-energy exports (a combination of agriculture and manufacturing trade). Note that previous studies would have examined the Marshall–Lerner condition on the aggregate trade balance which is heavily influenced by energy revenues. The panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method is used for ten of T&T’s main trading partners for the period 1991 to 2019 to establish findings. The results show that the Marshall–Lerner condition does not hold for aggregate trade in the long run, as expected. However, when non-energy trade is isolated, it is found that a devaluation of the TT dollar does have a positive impact on non-energy trade and the Marshall–Lerner condition holds. Other measures are also recommended to stimulate non-energy exports in the long run.

A Small-Town Economic Revitalisation Conundrum: Focus on Tourism, Manufacturing, or Both?

The decline in small towns is a concern in many countries. The manufacturing and tourism sectors are considered to be important in the revitalisation of towns but could be subject to ‘Dutch disease’. This is a malady in which success in one sector leads to a decline in the other. The importance of, and relationships between, the manufacturing and tourism sectors of more than 500 United States micropolitan statistical areas (micropolitans) were extensively investigated by following settlement scaling theory. Publicly available 2016 datasets were used to test a hypothesis that Dutch disease between the two sectors is important. Both sectors are present and important in virtually all of the micropolitans. Regression analyses, including log–log (power-law) analyses, were used to examine the population-based and enterprise-based orderliness in the micropolitan demographic–socioeconomic–entrepreneurial nexus. There is much orderliness, and non-linear relationships are prevalent. No evidence of the presence of Dutch disease was recorded except in one case. When the strengths of the two sectors (as a percentage of their enterprise numbers in relation to total enterprise numbers) are compared, a weak negative relationship is observed. The hypothesis that Dutch disease is important was rejected. A focus on both sectors is recommended to build resilience and to contribute to the revitalisation/development of small towns.

Dutch Disease Syndrome: The Nigeria’s Resource Trap Sickness, Easy to Catch, Harmful to the System and Difficult to Cure

This study examines the economy of Dutch disease syndrome in Nigeria from 1970 – 1985. The paper argues that the discovery of oil in 1970 opened-up windows of opportunities for the country, as a result of high inflow of petrodollar surpluses. The paradoxical effect is this, after reaching its peak period, the surpluses decline steadily and the revenue it generated when prices were high tends to cause “Dutch Disease”. The result of this study establishes the existence of resource curse in the Nigeria’s economy system. Findings of this study shows that the non-support of tradable sector, corruption, mismanagement, lack of diversification of export base and the non-oil sectors like agriculture, industries and mining, affected the country’s economic base. Thus, it was easy for Nigerians to catch the high oil prices, the decline in the oil boom transformed into a harmful poverty disease and it has now become very difficult to cure despite so many efforts. This shows that, there is a paradox of scarcity amidst plenty. This paper adopts the historical research method which relies on qualitative approach of data analysis. The paper draws conclusion to the fact that, oil discovery in Nigeria is a curse rather than a blessing.

Does Human Capital Mitigate Resource Curse? Evidence in the Short- and Long-Run

This paper examines the short-term and long-term relationships among natural resources, human capital, and growth in Mali in an Autoregressive Distributed Lag-Error Correction Model framework. In the presence of natural resources, we find that human capital has a positive impact on growth over time. Results show a long-term, stable and positive relationship between economic growth, natural resources, and human capital. Furthermore, the results do not show evidence of Dutch disease or the presence of any natural resource curse in Mali.

Does crude oil output aid economy boom or curse in Nigeria? An inference from “Dutch disease”

PurposeA reflection on some supposed oil exporting states constantly reminds of the (in) validity of the resource curse hypothesis and environmental consequences of oil exploration. In Africa, especially the case of Nigeria, the argument has remained whether the country's voluminous deposit of crude oil has positively affected the livelihood of the people. The study aims to examine the impact of oil production on the income level in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachIn this context, the study first examined validity of Dutch disease in Nigeria, thus providing a foundation to further establish the resource curse hypothesis. As such, the impact of crude oil production (CRUDE), square of crude oil production (CRUDESQ), crude oil reserves (RESERVES) and population (POP) on economic growth over the period of 1980–2018 is examined through the combination of autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL), fully-modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) and canonical cointegration regression (CCR) methods.FindingsWhile the study revealed the existence of Dutch disease in Nigeria, the resource curse hypothesis is also valid. However, the study found that the resource curse hypothesis in Nigeria can be over-turned when the CRUDE attains a certain maximum threshold, i.e. when crude oil output is doubled over time. In addition, either of crude RESERVES or oil rent (RENT) is seen as a limiting factor to economic growth while POP poses a positive and desirable impact on the country's economic development.Originality/valueThus, the implication of a U-shaped relationship between oil production and income level is that Nigeria's natural resources exploration could be employed to over-turn the potential of resource curse hypothesis by increasing exploration while the sources of leakages and misappropriation of the oil revenues are deliberately mitigated. Other useful socio-economic policies were proposed for the Government.

Econometric Analysis of Dutch Disease Implication of China-Africa Trade

This study revisits the analysis of the Dutch disease implication of China-Africa trade for Africa’s non-mineral resources sectors; specifically, manufacturing and agricultural sectors, while focusing on the trade relationship between China and 27 African countries for the period of 19years, 2001 to 2019. This prompted an econometric analysis with the use of two-step dynamic (difference and system) panel Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) models, which was also complemented with dynamic least squares panel econometric regression. The preliminary analysis revealed that Ethiopia is the largest African trading partner with China, with an average of about 21percent China-Ethiopia trade ratio, while Botswana has the least trade relation with China, with 1.5percent Botswana-China trade ratio. The result of our econometric analyses suggests that higher China-Africa trade has the potential to reduce Africa’s manufacturing value-added. In other words, China-Africa trade is not causing Dutch disease in Africa but has the potential to cause Dutch disease in the future. Furthermore, the result suggests that higher China-Africa trade has the potential to increase Africa’s agricultural sector productivity. This implies that China-Africa trade has no tendency of causing Dutch disease in the agricultural sector. Our results are robust to different data structures for the dynamic GMM model.