The Resource Curse Revisited and Revised: A Tale of Paradoxes and Red Herrings
Abstract
We critically evaluate the empirical basis for the so-called resource curse and find that, despite the topic's popularity in economics and political science research, this apparent paradox is a red herring. The most commonly used measure of 'resource abundance' can be more usefully interpreted as a proxy for 'resource dependence'—endogenous to underlying institutional factors. In multiple estimations that combine resource abundance and dependence, institutional and constitutional variables, we find that (i) resource abundance, constitutions and institutions determine resource dependence, (ii) resource dependence does not affect growth, and (iii) resource abundance positively affects growth and institutional quality.
Citations
We have found one citation for you at OpenAlex.
We have found citations for you at OpenAlex.
References
We have found one reference for you at OpenAlex.
We have found references for you at OpenAlex.
Subjects
Languages
English
Publisher
Zurich: ETH Zurich, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research
DOI
Report Issue