Testing the Neocon Agenda: Democracy in Resource-Rich Societies.
Resource-rich countries have tended to be autocratic and also have tended to use their resource wealth badly. The neoconservative agenda of promoting democratization in resource-rich countries thus offers the hopeful prospect of a better use of their economic opportunities. This paper examines wheth...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2009
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| _version_ | 1797096145248321536 |
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| author | Collier, P Hoeffler, A |
| author_facet | Collier, P Hoeffler, A |
| author_sort | Collier, P |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Resource-rich countries have tended to be autocratic and also have tended to use their resource wealth badly. The neoconservative agenda of promoting democratization in resource-rich countries thus offers the hopeful prospect of a better use of their economic opportunities. This paper examines whether the effect of democracy on economic performance is distinctive in resource-rich societies. We show that a priori the sign of the effect is ambiguous: Resource rents could either enhance or undermine the economic consequences of democracy. We therefore investigate the issue empirically. We first build a new dataset on country-specific resource rents, annually for the period 1970–2001. Using a global panel dataset, we find that in developing countries the combination of high natural resource rents and open democratic systems has been growth-reducing. Checks and balances offset this adverse effect. Thus, resource-rich economies need a distinctive form of democracy with particularly strong checks and balances. Unfortunately, this is rare: Checks and balances are public goods and so are liable to be undersupplied in new democracies. Over time they are eroded by resource rents. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T04:37:52Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:d097a9ee-fb4f-470b-8e24-9ee58f24140a |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T04:37:52Z |
| publishDate | 2009 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:d097a9ee-fb4f-470b-8e24-9ee58f24140a2022-03-27T07:51:01ZTesting the Neocon Agenda: Democracy in Resource-Rich Societies.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:d097a9ee-fb4f-470b-8e24-9ee58f24140aEnglishDepartment of Economics - ePrintsElsevier2009Collier, PHoeffler, AResource-rich countries have tended to be autocratic and also have tended to use their resource wealth badly. The neoconservative agenda of promoting democratization in resource-rich countries thus offers the hopeful prospect of a better use of their economic opportunities. This paper examines whether the effect of democracy on economic performance is distinctive in resource-rich societies. We show that a priori the sign of the effect is ambiguous: Resource rents could either enhance or undermine the economic consequences of democracy. We therefore investigate the issue empirically. We first build a new dataset on country-specific resource rents, annually for the period 1970–2001. Using a global panel dataset, we find that in developing countries the combination of high natural resource rents and open democratic systems has been growth-reducing. Checks and balances offset this adverse effect. Thus, resource-rich economies need a distinctive form of democracy with particularly strong checks and balances. Unfortunately, this is rare: Checks and balances are public goods and so are liable to be undersupplied in new democracies. Over time they are eroded by resource rents. |
| spellingShingle | Collier, P Hoeffler, A Testing the Neocon Agenda: Democracy in Resource-Rich Societies. |
| title | Testing the Neocon Agenda: Democracy in Resource-Rich Societies. |
| title_full | Testing the Neocon Agenda: Democracy in Resource-Rich Societies. |
| title_fullStr | Testing the Neocon Agenda: Democracy in Resource-Rich Societies. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Testing the Neocon Agenda: Democracy in Resource-Rich Societies. |
| title_short | Testing the Neocon Agenda: Democracy in Resource-Rich Societies. |
| title_sort | testing the neocon agenda democracy in resource rich societies |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT collierp testingtheneoconagendademocracyinresourcerichsocieties AT hoefflera testingtheneoconagendademocracyinresourcerichsocieties |