Resources, conflict, and economic development in Africa
Evidence suggests that natural resources have driven conflict and underdevelopment in modern Africa. We show that this relationship exists primarily when neighboring regions are resource-rich. When neighbors are resource-poor, own resources instead drive economic growth. To motivate the empirical st...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2020
|
| _version_ | 1824458588752445440 |
|---|---|
| author | Adhvaryu, A Fenske, J Khanna, G Nyshadham, A |
| author_facet | Adhvaryu, A Fenske, J Khanna, G Nyshadham, A |
| author_sort | Adhvaryu, A |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Evidence suggests that natural resources have driven conflict and underdevelopment in modern Africa. We show that this relationship exists primarily when neighboring regions are resource-rich. When neighbors are resource-poor, own resources instead drive economic growth. To motivate the empirical study of this set of facts, we present a simple model of parties engaged in potential conflict over resources, revealing that economic prosperity is a function of equilibrium conflict prevalence, determined not just by a region's own resources but also by the resources of its neighbors. Structural estimates confirm the model's predictions, and reveal that conflict equilibria are more prevalent where institutional quality is worse. |
| first_indexed | 2025-02-19T04:28:17Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:62f52de5-674c-4564-8fca-e55df14623b9 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-19T04:28:17Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:62f52de5-674c-4564-8fca-e55df14623b92024-12-12T16:16:20ZResources, conflict, and economic development in AfricaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:62f52de5-674c-4564-8fca-e55df14623b9EnglishSymplectic ElementsElsevier2020Adhvaryu, AFenske, JKhanna, GNyshadham, AEvidence suggests that natural resources have driven conflict and underdevelopment in modern Africa. We show that this relationship exists primarily when neighboring regions are resource-rich. When neighbors are resource-poor, own resources instead drive economic growth. To motivate the empirical study of this set of facts, we present a simple model of parties engaged in potential conflict over resources, revealing that economic prosperity is a function of equilibrium conflict prevalence, determined not just by a region's own resources but also by the resources of its neighbors. Structural estimates confirm the model's predictions, and reveal that conflict equilibria are more prevalent where institutional quality is worse. |
| spellingShingle | Adhvaryu, A Fenske, J Khanna, G Nyshadham, A Resources, conflict, and economic development in Africa |
| title | Resources, conflict, and economic development in Africa |
| title_full | Resources, conflict, and economic development in Africa |
| title_fullStr | Resources, conflict, and economic development in Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Resources, conflict, and economic development in Africa |
| title_short | Resources, conflict, and economic development in Africa |
| title_sort | resources conflict and economic development in africa |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT adhvaryua resourcesconflictandeconomicdevelopmentinafrica AT fenskej resourcesconflictandeconomicdevelopmentinafrica AT khannag resourcesconflictandeconomicdevelopmentinafrica AT nyshadhama resourcesconflictandeconomicdevelopmentinafrica |