Natural resources: curse or blessing?
Are natural resources a "curse" or a "blessing"? The empirical evidence suggests either outcome is possible. The paper surveys a variety of hypotheses and supporting evidence for why some countries benefit and others lose from the presence of natural resources. These include that...
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| Format: | Working paper |
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University of Oxford
2008
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| _version_ | 1826275042910011392 |
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| author | Van der Ploeg, R |
| author_facet | Van der Ploeg, R |
| author_sort | Van der Ploeg, R |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Are natural resources a "curse" or a "blessing"? The empirical evidence suggests either outcome is possible. The paper surveys a variety of hypotheses and supporting evidence for why some countries benefit and others lose from the presence of natural resources. These include that a resource bonanza induces appreciation of the real exchange rate, de-industrialization and bad growth prospects, and that these adverse effects are more severe in volatile countries with bad institutions and lack of rule of law, corruption, presidential democracies, and underdeveloped financial systems. Another hypothesis is that a resource boom reinforces rent grabbing and civil conflict especially if institutions are bad, induces corruption especially in non-democratic countries, and keeps in place bad policies. Finally, resource rich developing economies seem unable to successfully convert their depleting exhaustible resources into other productive assets. The survey also offers some welfare-based fiscal rules for harnessing resource windfalls in developed and developing economies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T22:52:41Z |
| format | Working paper |
| id | oxford-uuid:5f5201c6-481a-40b8-9e50-1e720b6eb803 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T22:52:41Z |
| publishDate | 2008 |
| publisher | University of Oxford |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:5f5201c6-481a-40b8-9e50-1e720b6eb8032022-03-26T17:46:12ZNatural resources: curse or blessing?Working paperhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_8042uuid:5f5201c6-481a-40b8-9e50-1e720b6eb803Bulk import via SwordSymplectic ElementsUniversity of Oxford2008Van der Ploeg, RAre natural resources a "curse" or a "blessing"? The empirical evidence suggests either outcome is possible. The paper surveys a variety of hypotheses and supporting evidence for why some countries benefit and others lose from the presence of natural resources. These include that a resource bonanza induces appreciation of the real exchange rate, de-industrialization and bad growth prospects, and that these adverse effects are more severe in volatile countries with bad institutions and lack of rule of law, corruption, presidential democracies, and underdeveloped financial systems. Another hypothesis is that a resource boom reinforces rent grabbing and civil conflict especially if institutions are bad, induces corruption especially in non-democratic countries, and keeps in place bad policies. Finally, resource rich developing economies seem unable to successfully convert their depleting exhaustible resources into other productive assets. The survey also offers some welfare-based fiscal rules for harnessing resource windfalls in developed and developing economies. |
| spellingShingle | Van der Ploeg, R Natural resources: curse or blessing? |
| title | Natural resources: curse or blessing? |
| title_full | Natural resources: curse or blessing? |
| title_fullStr | Natural resources: curse or blessing? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Natural resources: curse or blessing? |
| title_short | Natural resources: curse or blessing? |
| title_sort | natural resources curse or blessing |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT vanderploegr naturalresourcescurseorblessing |