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This bachelor's thesis deals with the subject of oil industry and its impact on economic but also political situation in the country. This issue is inherently connected with the theory of resource curse, which is analyzed from both political and economic points of view. The next part focuses on the history of Venezuela, which is closely interconnected with and influenced by the oil industry in the last century. The concluding section inquires into the significant decline of oil industry during the regime of Nicolás Maduro and contains the data, which are used as a base for an analysis of political and economic situation in Venezuela.

This thesis compares Norway, Botswana and Venezuela and their sovereign wealth funds. The first two countries are referred to as exceptions to the theory of the resource curse, which explains the phenomenon that shows that countries with a high dependence on income from the export of natural resources have a slower rate of economic, political and institutional development. On the contrary, Venezuela (although it was considered an exception in the past) is severely affected by this phenomenon and thus serves as a negative example in this thesis. The thesis focuses on state sovereign wealth funds and examines whether and under what conditions these funds have an effect on reversing the resource curse. Based on the theoretical part, five key characteristics are identified that the fund must meet in order to function against the negative manifestations of the curse of natural resources - (1) offsetting the effects of volatility, (2) diversifying the economy, (3) budgetary policy, (4) controlling the allocation of expenditure, (5) transparency of funds. Based on these characteristics, it is possible to observe that the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund works best from selected funds as a defense against the resource curse, followed by the Botswana fund and third by the Venezuelan fund. Norway and Botswana...

The work focuses on the analysis of impacts and benefits of mining activities on a regional development of the main mining regions of Colombia. The socio-economic benefits of mining and its positive and negative impacts on individual actors, especially on the population, will be explored on a sample of selected mining regions. The work is based mainly upon the research of Academic Articles, Internet and Local Media News reports. The theoretical framing of the work is based mainly upon the hypothesis of the natural resources curse and the theory of Dutch disease. The analysis is based on available statistical data related to individual mining regions. key words: Colombia, Natural Resource Curse, Mining, Natural Resources, Regional Development

This master's thesis deals with the potential impact of natural resources on intrastate conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa. The major aim is to investigate the general validity of the resource curse theory and of Ross's hypothesis about selling booty futures in civil wars. The presumed negative influence of both theories is tested on the cases of recent intrastate conflicts in the region, namely in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone. However, the main contribution of the thesis is probably the analysis of another case, namely Botswana, which, unlike other countries, appears to be out of the generally valid standards of the resource curse theory, as the only one experiencing long-term positive economic growth. The partial aim of the thesis is also to analyze the Botswana's success in managing natural resources and then to suggest some possible recommendations for other states in the region. The thesis is written in the qualitative approach, particularly in the form of thorough work with academic literature. The research method is the Method of Difference by John Stuart Mill, in its revised form of the Most Similar Systems Design.

This bachelor thesis focuses on the presence of Dutch Disease in the Azerbaijani economy. The substance of the thesis is the determination of, whether the Azerbaijani economy is showing the signs of the Dutch Disease and if necessary, to outline measures to mitigate the negative consequences of this disease. This thesis focuses on the symptoms of Dutch Disease, which include real exchange rate appreciation, slower manufacturing growth, faster service sector growth and higher overall wages. The largest part is dedicated to the evaluation whether above mentioned symptoms have direct context with extreme dependence of Azerbaijani economy on oil exports.

This thesis seeks to verify the concept of so-called resource curse at the beginning of the new millennium. The theoretical part defines the symptoms of the alleged curse, curse transmission channels and criticism of the concept. Compared to other studies dealing with the theme of the resource curse this work is not focused on just one transmission channel. The practical part verifies several hypotheses established by comparing research papers on impacts of natural resources. The validity of the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis, Dutch disease symptoms and a negative impact on political institutions (inclination toward authoritarianism, high level of corruption, high government spending, low efficiency of economic and political decision-making and low investment in education) is verified. For the analysis have been selected two African countries (Nigeria and Botswana) and two advanced countries (Canada and Norway). The last part of this thesis provides policy implications. The results confirm the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis for selected commodities in the long term and some of the symptoms of Dutch disease at the beginning of the new millennium. Hypotheses regarding the impact on the political institutions have not been confirmed, since the results varied across the countries. The high vulnerability of the countries to movements in commodity prices was found.

The thesis deals with the existence or absence of a curse of mineral resource (more closely specified in the form of so-called curse of natural resources) namely on the most important mining regions of the selected group of developing countries with significant mining sector. The aim is to capture the regional benefits of mining, or its negative impact with the help of indicator of the relative position of the quality of life of the mining region (relativized to the other regions of watched country). You can see the greatest benefits of the work in this approach of monitoring the impacts of a possible curse (or benefit) of mineral resources at the regional level, as the majority of similar thesis is devoted to the comparison of countries, or the individual studies. The reader finds an overview of the basic mechanisms and factors affecting the use, benefit or a curse of mineral resources, as well as partial specifically aimed analyzes watched mining countries, including the determination of mining regions and finally a summary of reclaimed pieces of knowledgee, including the attempt of interpretation. The thesis also specifies the factors and mechanisms that underlie the curse, or the benefits of mineral resources among the group of countries and their mining regions. Key Words: Nature Resource...

Diplom thesis discusses a question of influence of mineral resources on politics and economics in chosen countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. The paradox of low economic development of many resource rich countries significantly engaged in international trade is often discussed by economic experts. I decided to focus on Sub-Saharan Africa because I consider this region to be unable to fully use its potential for economic development despite being very rich in natural resources.Target of this thesis is to find out which natural resources exist in chosen countires, how the countries manage them, how successfull their economic development is, which problems they currently handle and how their current situation is related to their historic, cultural and politic background. For the purpose of my thesis I have chosen Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Botswana.

This bachelor thesis considers institutional environment. From current literature it summarizes causes of outlasting poverty and together with comparison of 3 countries it proves, that institutional environment is the key factor for economic growth. Botswana, as a successful country, is compared to Zimbabwe in view of distinct behaving to white farmers; and to Sierra Leone in view of resource curse exposure. On the base of historical development the thesis explains why Botswana was able to set quality institutions and developed in quite opposite way, despite very similar starting conditions.

Natural wealth can either be an advantage for a country's economy or its curse. This thesis applies theories, which explore relationship between natural resources abundance and economic development of the country on a recent situation in Bolivia. The relationship between local natural gas and continuous poverty is analyzed within the resource curse theory and its causes. The analysis concentrates mainly on the Dutch disease theory, government's economic policy, investment and social environment in the country. Finally, the aim of this work is to answer the question whether natural gas means a curse for Bolivia and to identify its main causes. In addition, consequences of the onset of president Morales and the new nationalization policy are analyzed in detail.