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ABSTRACT: Section 1502 of the Dodd–Frank Act requires SEC‐registered issuers to conduct supply chain due diligence and submit conflict minerals disclosures (CMDs) that indicate whether their products contain tantalum, tin, tungsten, or gold (3TG) sourced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or its neighboring countries (“covered countries”). Consistent with the reputational cost hypothesis, we find that heightened public attention to CMDs increases responsible sourcing. After Section 1502 takes effect, we find higher demand for 3TG products processed in certified smelters, decreased conflicts in covered countries’ mining regions relative to other regions, and reduced sensitivity of conflict risk to conflict minerals’ price spikes. Finally, we find that conflicts decrease in Eastern DRC territories with prevalent 3T (tantalum, tin, and tungsten) mines but increase in territories with prevalent gold mines. Overall, our findings highlight the real effects of enhanced supply chain transparency regulation.

This paper aims to explore whether the over-reliance on political resources hampers corporate technological innovation and the role of environmental regulation in mitigating the adverse effect. A simplified theoretical framework is proposed to combine political ties, environmental regulations, and corporate innovation. Then, based on the data for listed private companies in China's heavy pollution industry, our empirical results show that political relations have negative impacts on both patent licensing and R&D investment, indicating the existence of a political resource curse in listed private companies in China's heavy pollution industry. The transmission mechanisms include mitigating market competition and inducing overinvestment, but increasing the rent-seeking motivation is not a channel through which political connections negatively affect corporate innovation. Further empirical analysis demonstrates that environmental regulations help eliminate the curse effect of political ties on technological innovation at the firm level in China, through increasing market competition and reducing overinvestment. The findings of this paper provide insights for optimizing environmental regulation policies, which are conducive to inducing technical innovation in politically connected enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indonesian government, including local governments, has spent large sums of money and many programs to reduce poverty. However, in several regions in Indonesia, the number of poor people has increased, as in Central Kalimantan, where the poverty rate has increased in the last three years. The number of poor people in Central Kalimantan in 2020 is 132 thousand people; this number increased to 140 thousand people in 2021, then increased again to 145 thousand in 2022. Research on poverty has been carried out in Indonesia. However, research analyzing poverty caused by natural factors and mismanaged government policies has not been carried out. This research was conducted to analyze poverty in Central Kalimantan between state policy governance factors and natural factors. The research uses analytical qualitative methods and case study designs. The analysis uses the new institutional theory and the natural resource curse theory. The research finds that mistakes in managing government policies (structural dimension) and nature (natural dimension) are factors that both play a role in increasing poverty in Central Kalimantan. As a practical suggestion, the government needs to make more intense and detailed efforts to alleviate poverty in Central Kalimantan that are adapted to natural conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource-based cities (RBCs) in China are at a historic juncture in their transformative development. Observing and assessing the role of the resource curse in urban expansion and greening is crucial for the sustainable development of these cities. This study proposes a new framework to extract urban boundary data from 2000 to 2020 in China. Utilizing these data, we analyzed differences in urban expansion intensity and urban vegetation cover between 125 RBCs and 223 non-RBCs. We found the following: (1) While urban areas in China experienced steady growth from 2000 to 2020, the urban area expansion rates of RBCs lagged behind those non-RBCs located in the same geographical areas except in South China, with the lowest annual expansion rate of 1.18% occurring in the Northeast. (2) Although the existing urban areas in some cities show a greening trend, both existing and new urban areas in China are predominantly characterized overall by browning. Surprisingly, RBCs exhibit a stronger greening trend than non-RBCs, particularly in Northwestern China. (3) There is a nuanced interplay and coexistence between resource dependency and urban expansion, with a specific negative correlation when resource dependency is very high or very low. This study provides a novel method and approach for urban boundary delineation. It offers new insights into the developmental characteristics of RBCs, enriching the theoretical framework of resource curse research and supporting the green development of RBCs with robust data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how governance and infrastructure moderate the effect of natural resource rents on economic growth using a sample of 110 countries from 2000 to 2018. The empirical evidence is based on panel smooth transition regressions (PSTR). The nexus between economic growth and natural resources is not linear and the underlying non‐linearity is contingent on existing infrastructural and governance levels. Evidence of a "natural resource curse" is apparent in countries with extremely low levels of governance and infrastructural development. The favorable effect of natural resources on economic growth requires a governance threshold of −1.210 and an infrastructure threshold of 2.583, indicating that countries with governance and infrastructure levels higher than these values tend to benefit much more from the wealth of natural resources. Countries identified below the established thresholds are mainly from Africa. Policy implications are discussed with specific emphasis on African countries. Related Articles: Ali, Hamid E., and Shahjahan Bhuiyan. 2022. "Governance, Natural Resources Rent, and Infrastructure Development: Evidence from the Middle East and North Africa." Politics & Policy 50(2): 408–40. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12451. Asiegbu, Martin F., Okey Marcellus Ikeanyibe, Pius Otu Abang, Okwudili Chukwuma Nwosu, and Chuka Eugene Ugwu. 2024. "Natural Resource Fund Governance and the Institutionalization of Rent Seeking in Nigeria's Oil Sector." Politics & Policy 52(1): 169–95. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12579. Ikeanyibe, Okechukwu M. 2018. "Bureaucratic Politics and the Implementation of Liberalization Reforms in Nigeria: A Study of the Unbundling and Reorganization of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation." Politics & Policy 46(2): 263–94. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12249. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and its successor, the African Union (AU), upholding the inviolability of colonial borders, South Sudan successfully seceded from Sudan in 2011. In contrast, Katanga's earlier attempt to secede from Congo during the 1960s failed. Both cases highlight the complex relationship between secession attempts, the exploitation of natural resources, and the fragmentation of states. Using archival primary and secondary sources, this study unpacks the dynamics of secession with a focus on natural resources. The research question is, to what extent does the strategic management and contention over natural resources catalyze secessionist movements, leading to the phenomenon of state fragmentation? The key finding of the paper is that although the narratives of secessionist movements gravitate around historical grievances, economic exclusion, and identity, the presence of natural resources and the aspirations to control them are key driving factors to secession and subsequent state fragmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resource curse hypothesis supposes that rents generated by resource booms create opportunities for rent-seeking activities, which weaken innovation and economic development due to the potentially adverse effects in competitive markets. The quality of institutions is an important channel to transform society from a rent-seeking economy to an entrepreneurial economy. We address in this paper these channels by examining necessity, opportunity, productive and innovative measures of entrepreneurship. Using annual data from 2002 to 2017, we estimate the relationship between entrepreneurship and natural resource rents for 60 countries. Allowing for measures of institutions (corruption, government policies, and cultural and social norms) and real GDP growth, we find that natural resource rents have negative effects on productive and innovative entrepreneurship, especially in high-income countries. In threshold dynamic panels, entrepreneurial activities grow with higher levels of corruption (weaker institutions), with an interpretation provided based on the higher corruption in developing economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the factors that contribute to the size of governments in different countries. It discusses Wagner's law and the resource curse as explanations for large government size and categorizes countries based on their government size. The article explores the relationship between government size and economic performance, political institutions, and natural resources. It concludes that most countries with large governments can be explained by Wagner's law or the resource curse, while the remaining countries are ruled by autocratic governments with left-wing or incoherent political ideologies. The article also provides a table with characteristics of countries with large governments, but does not offer a roadmap for reducing government size. The author acknowledges uncertainties in reducing government size and provides rough estimates for figures. [Extracted from the article]

The flaring of gas is a double jeopardy of wasting valuable energy resource and environmental degradation. That had been the experience with the Niger Delta area since 1956 when oil was discovered in commercial quantity in the region. Gas flaring is an active contributor of Green House Gases (GHG) emissions, global warming, climate change crisis and the consequent acid rain, rising temperature and sea level, flooding, agricultural and aquatic food chain disruption. The Niger Delta area as a global spot rich in oil, gas, aquatic and agricultural foods had remained a paradox of plenty, poverty and hunger. In view of this stack reality, it is the concern of this study to determine if zero hunger can be achieved in the area by 2030 and make recommendations that will serve as blue print for national and global actualization SDG 2. The study adopted documentary research method, leveraged on Public–Private Partnership (PPP) and Win–Win Concept as frameworks of interpretation and unveiled that ending gas flaring is associated with inherent economic growth, environmental preservation and sustainable livelihood in and beyond Niger Delta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of renewable energy has become an important means for the world to cope with climate change, ensure energy security, and protect the ecological environment. Using the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2013 to 2021, this study used the mediating effect model and the spatial Durbin model (SDM) to explore the mechanism and spatial effects of renewable energy development on China's regional carbon emission reduction. The results show that: (1) Renewable energy development can help to reduce carbon emission intensity. (2) The results of mechanism analysis show that renewable energy development reduces carbon intensity by improving energy structure, promoting industrial structure optimization, and industrial structure upgrading. (3) The development of renewable energy can not only reduce the local carbon intensity but also have a positive spillover effect on the carbon intensity of neighboring regions. (4) Further analysis shows that the long-term effect of renewable energy development on carbon emissions is greater than the short-term effect. At the same time, the heterogeneity analysis shows that compared with the Yellow River basin, the development of renewable energy has a significant carbon emission reduction effect in the Yangtze River Economic Belt region. Energy-rich areas fall into the "resource curse", which makes the carbon emission reduction effect of renewable energy development not significant. This paper has certain reference significance for promoting reasonable decomposition between regions and formulating renewable energy development policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between natural resource development and sustainable development has long been a focus in academia. In the context of a new global economic cooperation system, many scholars argue that such cooperation can lead to a "resource curse" effect in partner countries, hindering their sustainable development. This study analyzed panel data from 64 countries from 2008 to 2020, using the Belt and Road Initiative as a representative of multilateral economic cooperation (MEC) policies. The aim was to examine the actual impact of multilateral economic cooperation on the sustainable development levels of partner countries and to explore the underlying mechanisms influencing these outcomes. First, we measured and identified the sustainable development index (SDI) under natural resource development schemes and the "resource curse" effect in these countries. Then, we employed a double machine learning approach to evaluate the policy effects of MEC on sustainable resource development. We constructed an interactive double machine learning model to examine and validate the specific mechanisms of resource development effects. The results indicate that the level of sustainable resource development in MEC countries is relatively low, and a "resource curse" effect already exists. However, participating in MEC suppresses this "curse" effect. By promoting innovation cooperation, institutional improvement, structural optimization, trade openness, and pollution reduction, MEC effectively enhances the sustainable development levels of partner countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The paper assesses the role of natural resource rents in Nigeria's economy through the channel of institutional quality. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is done with the use of autoregressive-distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to cointegration, vector error correction model (VECM), Granger causality test and cointegrating regression over the period 1996–2019. Findings – Findings support the notion that overreliance on natural resources could exacerbate the growing number of dysfunctional economic outcomes in the country. The study confirms that a mix of weak governance quality and natural resource rents could have a negligible effect on economic growth and possible retardation impact on the economy in the long run as well as in the short run. The evidence further reveals that there is unidirectional causality running from the interaction term to growth, suggesting that growth trajectory could be jointly determined by natural resource rents and the quality of institutions. Originality/value – The divergent arguments associated with the mechanisms of resource curse in each of the resource-rich countries offer ample support for the contention that economic outcomes in resource-abundant states may not be a product of resource windfalls per se, but rather the quality of governance or ownership structure. Hence, the ultimate aim of the analysis is to further understanding on the link between resource rents and growth in Nigeria via governance channel.

This study tried to understand how economic complexity can unravel economic growth, resisting resource curse phenomena within the dynamics of governance factors in the BRICS countries. We used the panel GMM model for the period 1996 to 2022. We employed Arellano and Bover’s (1995) GMM method for dynamic panel data estimation. Further, we used the Wald test to identify endogeneity. The results show that natural resources are a robust driver of economic growth, while the economic complexity index is pivotal in enhancing economic growth in the BRICS countries. Governance quality encompassing political stability, regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruption, exerts substantial influence on economic growth. While resource rents can determine economic growth, robust outcomes depend on economic complexity and the quality of governance of an economy in the context of the BRICS economies.

Economic shocks, including shocks to commodity export prices, have often been related to civil conflict. However, the literature usually assumes that commodity prices have linear effects. In this paper, we hypothesize that negative and positive commodity export price shocks can have asymmetric effects: while negative shocks are likely to increase conflict, positive shocks can have a smaller conflict-reducing effect or even increase conflict. We test this hypothesis in a dataset for battle deaths during ongoing civil wars. Consistent with the hypothesis, negative price shocks increase battle deaths, but positive price shocks also have a positive effect. The positive effect is concentrated and becomes significant in countries with weak pre-conflict institutions that experience positive price shocks to fossil fuels. We conclude that a combination of institutional reforms, economic diversification, and price stabilization might reduce battle deaths in fuel-dependent countries with weak institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As conflicts between emissions reductions and economic growth intensify, an increasing number of countries and regions are focusing on green total factor productivity (GTFP). Financial agglomeration (QWS), resource endowment (SE), and innovation-driven (ID) are the main factors that cause regional differences in GTFP. However, few scholars have comprehensively considered the impact of the interaction between SE, ID, and QWS on GTFP. This article uses the Global Malmquist-Luenberger (GML) index to calculate the GTFP of 30 Chinese provinces from 2003 to 2020 and constructs a dynamic panel model to present the first comprehensive study of the interactions between SE, ID, and QWS and their relationship with GTFP. The conclusions are as follows. (1) SE is positively correlated with GTFP, which is different from the "resource curse" theory proposed by existing research. (2) There is a crowding-out effect between SE and ID, and their interaction will restrain the growth of GTFP. (3) QWS promotes ID, and the interaction between the two promotes the growth of GTFP. (4) There is a restraining effect between QWS and SE, and their interaction will hinder the growth of GTFP. (5) The key policy directions to improve China's GTFP are to undertake strategic planning from a comprehensive perspective, including encouraging innovation, guiding financial development reasonably, and avoiding excessive consumption of resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural resources are vital resources given by nature and are responsible for promoting a nation's economic development. However, with the existence of two opposing theories, it is essential to provide state‐of‐the‐art research that ascertains the association between natural resources and economic growth. The Rostow hypothesis presents the importance of natural resources in promoting economic growth, while the resources curse hypothesis alludes that natural resources, in the developing countries, reduce economic growth. The present research uses the contemporary Methods of Moments Quantile Regression method to explore on this relationship in the fifteen natural resources‐rich African countries. The data used are annual data for the period 1990 to 2021. The major results presented in this research show that natural resources rent significantly promotes economic growth in this region, supporting the postulations of Rostow's hypothesis. Renewable energy is also observed to play a significant role in raising economic growth of this region. However, labor force participation rate is determined to reduce economic growth and this can be explained by high levels of unemployment in this region. Capital provides a positive but insignificant effect on economic growth of the natural resources‐rich African countries. The study results also show that economic growth, capital, trade openness, and labor force enhance natural resources rent. The study calls for the improvement in the use of renewable energy and natural resources in order to attain sustainable economic development in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study constructs an economic growth model that includes natural resource endowments to theoretically explore the paradox of “resource gospel” and “resource curse.” Based on the theoretical analysis, the influence of natural resources on green total factor productivity is analyzed empirically through an econometric model using Chinese urban panel data from 2010 to 2019. The theoretical analysis shows that the impact of natural resource endowment on green total factor productivity is indecisive. The empirical results show that natural resource endowments significantly lessen urban green total factor efficiency, and the results remain robust after addressing for endogeneity issues and robustness tests. However, this effect is significantly heterogeneous depending on the city level and science and education level; for example, the “resource curse” effect is more pronounced in non‐central cities and cities with average education and science level. Simultaneously, the mechanism analysis shows that natural resource endowment reduces urban total factor productivity by inhibiting innovation and introducing choices in the technological progress approach. Therefore, the research findings bring empirical evidence to promote reforms in natural resource allocation and provide theoretical support for encouraging green total factor productivity in resource‐based cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is an editorial foreword from the journal "Comparative Studies in Society & History." It discusses various topics related to extractive economies and their impact on different countries, including Venezuela, Trinidad, Sudan, Nigeria, India, and the United States. The essays included in the journal address the socio-economic and spectral interfaces of extractive regimes, exploring themes such as petro-populism, risk in petroleum geology and Afro-Caribbean religion, energy protests, and class stratifications within the energy sector. The document also includes papers on Neolithic architecture, ancestral origins in Korea, material semiotics and governance in postwar Japan, French public psychiatry, taxation in Sudan, and the Dalit public sphere in late colonial North India. [Extracted from the article]

Scholarship on the political economy of natural resources in the Global South has often relied on the concept of the "resource curse" to explain the negative features of extractive economies and their alleged tendency to promote rent capture at the expense of national sovereignty and development. Such theories link the behavior of social actors to an excess of "unearned income," with little reference to the concrete forms of political and cultural mediation that reproduce this structure of growth. This article explores the role of the devil symbol in populist discourse in Venezuela and how this spectral figure comes to mediate subaltern consciousness. Tracing the origins of this image to colonialism and efforts to grasp the dynamics of the modern petrostate, the analysis shows how use of this symbol to mediate the forecast transition from a rentier to a productive economy has given workers in a state enterprise a potent set of signs to articulate opposition to unjust labor conditions. Venezuelan leaders have deployed figures drawn from local folklore to divide society into two competing power blocs. Yet, while these discourses are effective at forging coalitions and justifying specific reallocations of oil wealth, they do not obviate the tensions of this transition, and a counternarrative using these same figures has arisen in response. The article concludes with an analysis of parallels between global theories of the resource curse and local Venezuelan iterations of this discourse as well as a discussion of the role of translation in theories of culture and modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource-rich economies, especially those in Africa, are plagued with the resource curse and Dutch Disease syndromes, which undermine the quest for effectively mobilizing domestic resources toward sustainable and inclusive development. Empirical evidence on the role illicit financial flow (IFF) plays in this regard is relatively scarce. Thus, this study evaluates the volume of IFF and its effect on tax revenue in seven resource-rich African countries. Panel data, sourced for the 2009-2021 period, were analysed using the fixed effect and random effect models while the Instrumental Variable Generalised Method of Moment (IV-GMM), a dynamic estimator, was used for robustness check. Findings revealed that IFF has been on the rise and has detrimental effects on the tax revenue of the sampled countries’ national governments. This is inimical to sustainable development. Thus, the governments and policymakers in these countries must develop pragmatic policy and institutional approaches toward tackling the IFF menace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though empirical evidence has shown that naturally endowed countries grow slower than their less naturally endowed counterparts, the scenario tagged as "resource curse hypothesis," but it seems there are exceptions. Therefore, this study examines the confirmation or disputation of resource curse hypothesis among the West African Institutes for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM) member countries during the period 1986-2016. The study applied seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) and unraveled the strengthened effect of natural resources on output growth in Gambia, Ghana, and Sierra Leone. But, the study revealed a negative and statistically significant effect on economic growth in Liberia and Nigeria, thereby upholding the presence of resource curse hypothesis only in Liberia and Nigeria. Therefore, an overall "umbrella" policy recommendation inappropriate, but individually designed strategy that would help in managing the resource rents effectively in order to boost economic growth particularly in Liberia and Nigeria where their resource endowment serves as a curse rather than a blessing is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effect of resource endowment and corruption on countries' inbound foreign tourism. Specifically, we examine whether growing resource endowment crowds out tourism industry and role of corruption in this process. For this purpose, we utilize panel data of 140 countries from 1995 through 2018. We utilize estimation technique in analysis that takes care of possible endogeneity in the models. Our results show that resource endowment and corruption lead to a reduction in tourism demand. However, the prevailing high level of corruption with resource richness may provide life-blood to the tourism sector. On the basis of these results, we argue that the 'Dutch disease' hypothesis for tourism is valid for the tourism sector across the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the turbulent landscape of Sudan, conflicts have erupted due to the power struggle between General Mohammed Fattah al Burhan's Sudanese Armed Forces and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo's Rapid Support Forces. This has provided an opening for external actors, including private military companies like Wagner Group, to exert influence, exploit resources and manipulate the political dynamics in Sudan for their strategic interests. Since its initial involvement in the conflict to seemingly protect the ousted President Omar al Bashir, Wagner's persistence in Sudan has been due to a number of factors: a web of gold mining and smuggling activities and Russia's aspiration for Red Sea access. This paper delves into the complex web of geopolitical ambitions, resource exploitation and power dynamics in Sudan, exploring the phenomenon of 'resource curse', which has affected many African nations. The study presents a nuanced analysis of how external interventions shape and are shaped by natural resources and the potential consequences this embodies for the respective nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate policy will inevitably lead to the stranding of fossil energy assets such as production and transport assets for coal, oil, and natural gas. Resource- rich developing countries are particularly affected, as they have a higher risk of asset stranding due to strong fossil dependencies and wider societal consequences beyond revenue disruption. However, there is only little academic and political awareness of the challenge to manage the asset stranding in these countries, as research on transition risk like asset stranding is still in its infancy. We provide a research framework to identify wider societal consequences of fossil asset stranding. We apply it to a case study of Nigeria. Analyzing different policy measures, we argue that compensation payments come with implementation challenges. Instead of one policy alone to address asset stranding, a problem-oriented mix of policies is needed. Renewable hydrogen and just energy transition partnerships can be a contribution to economic development and SDGs. However, they can only unfold their potential if fair benefit sharing and an improvement to the typical institutional problems in resource-rich countries, such as the lack of rule of law, are achieved. We conclude with presenting a future research agenda for the global community and academia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study introduces a novel fourier-augmented ARDL approach to explore how agricultural commodity prices and geopolitical risk affect trade integration in South and Central Asia, re-examining conventional views on the resource curse and international trade. Findings shows that in the long-run, these factors contribute to a resource curse in South Asia by hindering trade integration, while in Central Asia, they promote trade integration, indicating a resource blessing. Additionally, short-run commodity price volatility triggers a resource curse in both regions. These insights suggest strategies for policymakers to counteract geopolitical risks and optimize natural resource use, potentially transforming the "curse" into a "blessing" for the economic future of these Asian regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper gives thought to the exploitation of Niger's natural resources by France, the European Union (EU), and the United States (US), among other countries. The objective of this paper is to deconstruct the exploitation of Niger's uranium, gold, and coal, among other natural resources, and the surge in terrorism. This paper adopts qualitative secondary research as its methodology and resource curse theory as its theoretical framework. The gap that the paper bridges is that most research about the exploitation of Niger's natural resources and the rise in terrorism ignores the involvement of France among other Western countries. Findings that develop from this paper reveal that France has exploited Niger's natural resources since colonisation. Similarly, the EU and the US, among other countries, have been accomplices in the exploitation of Niger's natural resources. Additionally, Western countries, namely France, the EU, and the US, including Britain and Russia, have been involved in supporting administrations or terrorists that advance their interests in Niger, among other issues. Further results show that successive administrations in Niger and those that took control through the coup in July 2023 enjoy the support of the major global powers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can international organizations improve natural resource governance? The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is most noted for its role in crisis lending, where it can wield the "teeth" of loan suspensions to push for reforms. But IMF officials also spend a large amount of time conducting routine surveillance through Article IV consultations, which assess a country's economic developments and provide non-binding recommendations. Do governments follow this "toothless" advice? To answer this question, we examine the content of all Article IV staff appraisals published between 2004 and 2019. Using text analysis and a difference-in-differences estimator, we find that resource-rich developing countries are more likely to adopt legislation reforming the oil, gas, and mining sectors in the wake of an Article IV appraisal that extensively discusses the natural resource sector and recommends natural resource governance reforms. Our results suggest that technocratic advice—a tool often overlooked in international organization scholarship—can lead to the adoption of policies that help ameliorate the resource curse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resource curse hypothesis postulates that countries endowed with and dependent on abundant natural resources tend to underperform in socioeconomic and development outcomes than those with fewer natural resources. Recently, a few studies argued that this curse also manifests in lower life satisfaction or happiness. Focusing on 31 net oil-exporting countries over the 2006–2019 period, we find no evidence that oil rents (and aggregate and disaggregate resource rents) have an adverse effect on happiness or subjective well-being. This contrasts with recent studies using a global sample. We further contribute to this debate by examining the channels of resource curse or blessing along with income, unemployment, inflation, levels of human development, and governance. We show that oil rent enhances the positive marginal effects of income on happiness. We find no evidence of this conditional effect through other channels. Being rich in oil or natural resources is not necessarily a curse on happiness, but, if any, it is a blessing through income-generating well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fossil-based natural resources are carbon-intensive, and over-reliance on them often leads to persistent high carbon emissions at national or regional levels, resulting in the carbon curse. Based on the panel data of 114 resource-based cities in China from 2007 to 2020, this paper examines the carbon curse and solutions for these cities from the perspectives of total and intensity of carbon emissions. The results show that: Firstly, due to the different stages of urban development, resource endowment, degree of resource dependence, and policy background, there is a heterogeneity of carbon curse in China's resource-based cities. Secondly, the carbon emission trading policy can effectively mitigate the carbon curse in China's resource-based cities, and the robustness tests demonstrate the validity of this finding. Thirdly, under the carbon emission trading policy, industrial structure upgrading and digital transformation can play a secondary moderating role in resolving the carbon curse in resource-based cities, further strengthening the inhibitory effect of the carbon emission trading scheme on the carbon curse. In contrast, green technology innovation exhibits no enhancement in the impact of the policy. These findings contribute to the existing research on the carbon curse, offering valuable insights and policy implications for effectively addressing this challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital economy (DE) is emerging as a crucial driver of economic growth and an effective tool for alleviating resource and environmental pressures, thereby evolving into a significant force in facilitating green transformation. This study elaborates on the theoretical mechanism of the impact of DE on green total factor productivity (GTFP), and conducts multidimensional empirical tests using panel data from 284 cities in China. The main findings are as follows: (1) DE exerts significant positive direct, indirect, and spatial spillover effects on GTFP, signifying its growing role as a robust driver of GTFP. Notably, technological innovation emerges as a key mediator of DE’s impact on GTFP. (2) The impact of DE on GTFP exhibits a distinct pattern: initially pronounced, gradually diminishing, and then rebounding as DE progresses. (3) DE tends to exacerbate, rather than alleviate, the development divide and resource curse, especially in underdeveloped and resource-rich cities where its benefits are constrained. (4) Government behavior is pivotal in influencing DE’s impact on GTFP. Supportive policies and strict environmental regulations are critical in harnessing DE’s positive contributions to GTFP. This study lays a scientific foundation for leveraging the “green attributes” of DE and offers insights into bridging the developmental disparities among cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term 'paradox of the plenty' was coined to describe an often-found inverse relationship between royalty revenue and economic development. The main causal mechanism is thought to be a substitution effect whereby governments use royalty revenue to lower taxes instead of investing in activities that promote long-term economic growth. However, the occurrence of a 'natural resource curse' differs widely both for countries and subnational jurisdictions. Based on a dataset that traces 1,078 municipalities in Colombia from 2006 to 2017 and utilising a policy reform in 2012 that reduced royalty revenue for producer municipalities, we argue and find that municipal fiscal effort is higher when producer municipalities have more-efficient administrations. Our findings have important implications for the design of policy that allocates royalty revenue across subnational jurisdictions, in particular for developing countries where administrative efficiency tends to vary widely between local governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource abundance characterizes economies within the MENA region from North Africa to the Middle East. As such, to improve financial development (FD) for regional economic sustainability, this study provides a comprehensive analysis of the roles of natural resources abundance and institutional quality indicators on the region's FD while underscoring the inflationary levels and general economic growth trends amidst rising globalization. The adopted empirical strategy (CS‐ARDL and AMG) is employed for potential cross‐sectional dependency (CD) and slope homogeneity in the regional data spanning over two decades (2000–2020). Unlike the extant literature, two separate regional FD indicators were considered for an insightful analysis namely, banking financial services via domestic credit to private sector, and financial stability via the Z‐score values showing the tendencies of default in a country's banking structure. Regardless of the FD indicator, the results reveal that natural resources, growth trends, and inflationary levels significantly spur long‐run regional FD thereby invalidating the financial resource curse hypothesis in the region. Furthermore, both institutional quality levels and globalization produced detrimental impacts on FD levels. However, the interaction between institutional quality levels and natural resources shows a desirable FD‐stimulating effect in the region, noticeably when FD is proxied by the Z‐score. Thus, implying that stronger institutions are crucial for MENA's overall financial stability vis‐à‐vis reduction in the risk of default in the banking system. Hence, policy recommendations including the strengthening of institutional capacities among others, were suggested to regional authorities toward harnessing resources for sustainable regional FD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study delves into the paradox of the financial resource curse, exploring how the abundance of natural resources in a country paradoxically constrains firms' accessibility to financing. Despite the potential economic boon natural resources represent, evidence suggests that they can lead to less diversified economies, making it challenging for firms outside the resource sector to access financing. Our research aims to dissect this phenomenon by analyzing microeconomic statistics on the financial accessibility of enterprises, juxtaposed with macroeconomic statistics across 170 countries, encompassing over 10,000 firms surveyed from 1990 to 2022. The panel regression analysis allows us to control for both time-invariant country characteristics and global economic trends, providing insights into the causal relationship between resource dependence and financial access for firms. The results are striking, revealing that, indeed, countries with significant natural resource wealth tend to exhibit reduced financial accessibility for firms outside the resource extraction sector. The panel regression models indicate a robust negative correlation between the extent of a country's resource wealth and the ease with which non-resource firms can access financial capital. This suggests that the financial resource curse is not only a real phenomenon but also one that has significant implications for economic diversification and sustainable development. Moreover, findings underscore the need for targeted policy interventions. Countries with abundant natural resources should implement strategies that foster economic diversification, enhance the financial infrastructure to support a broader range of industries, and encourage the development of financial instruments tailored to the needs of non-resource sectors.

In the present study, the causality between resource rents, openness, and economic growth was investigated using the quantile causality method and quarterly data (2006–2021) in Iran. The advantage of this method is that it makes it possible to investigate the relationships of variables in the conditional distribution tail and all quantiles by using quantile‐based conditional regressions. The results showed a bi‐direction causality between resource rents and growth in the tail of the distribution. Therefore, in the upper median quantiles, the causality is from the resources rent to growth, and in the lower quantiles, the causality is in the opposite direction. The results confirmed, in general, the presence of bi‐direction causality between economic growth and openness in quantiles. In the middle quantile, there is a uni‐direction causality relationship from growth to the trade openness, and in the upper quantile, there is causality from openness to economic growth. In addition, the results showed evidence of a tail dependency between resource rents and trade openness, in some quantiles, the causal relationship is from openness to the resources rent, and in the median quantiles, the causality is from rent to openness. These results show that the rent effect of natural resources can be considered as an opportunity for economic growth by adopting appropriate and flexible policies by governments. We recommend the implementation of more trade liberalization policies to maximize the benefits from trade openness, especially in the countries where the resource curse phenomenon reported. Important policy implications can be learned from the empirical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of natural resource rent and other forms of rent on the economic growth of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries within the framework of the rent curse theory. Rent curse theory suggests that while certain types of rent, such as geopolitical, regulatory, and labour rent, can hinder growth, others may act as incentives. Employing the partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM), this study examines the impact of rent and financial development on economic growth in the region. The empirical findings reveal that forms of rent derived from natural resources and regulatory rent have a negative effect on financial development and economic growth, but labour rent and geopolitical rent do not have any contribution to economic growth, so the rent curse theory cannot be confirmed by these two sources of rent. Furthermore. The result indicates that financial development is a crucial factor for economic progress. Moreover, the study suggests that globalization can enhance financial development in MENA countries and stimulate growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource curse and environmental regulation are the key bottlenecks that hinder the sustainable development of the resource industry. A reasonable assessment of the decoupling relationship between resource supply, environment regulation and resource industry transformation is helpful to promote the decision-making of industrial restructuring in post-development regions. Taking Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China as the research object, panel data related to resources, environment and industry from 2010 to 2021 are selected to evaluate the spatial and temporal evolution of regional resource supply security, environmental regulatory pressure and resource industry transformation efficiency, measure the decoupling index among the factors, and use geographic detector technology to identify the constraints affecting factor decoupling. The results show the following: (1) the resource curse effect of Inner Mongolia is not significant, and some resource industries have prominent advantages; (2) the security of resource supply and the transformation efficiency of the resource industry show overall upward trend, the pressure of environmental regulation is basically balanced, and the development level of factors in resource-endowed regions and central cities is relatively high; (3) the spatial and temporal evolution of the decoupling relationship between resource supply, environmental regulation and resource industry transformation is uncertain, and the resilience of regional economic and social governance is poor; (4) resource endowment and resource industry advantages are the key that restricts the decoupling of factors, and the cumulative effect of ecological governance is likely to lead to the randomness of the decoupling of environmental regulation and resource industry transformation. In addition, this study suggests that the post-development areas should pay attention to the classification of resource industry relief, trans-regional economic and social collaborative governance and special resources exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper estimates the impact of internal factors, such as governance institutions and financial development, versus external, such as capital flows uncertainty, on the excess savings of large emerging market economies (EMEs), identified as a major factor behind their trade surpluses. Using instrumental variables regression to control for endogeneity from institutions, we study eight major EMEs over 1995–2018 as well as a larger panel including both AEs and EMEs over 2001–2018 for robustness. Baseline estimates show that, along with financial development, democratic accountability and judiciary influence CA surpluses in both EMEs and AEs. Anti-corruption measures and government stability are influential specifically in AEs and EMEs respectively. For both EMEs and AEs, surpluses decrease with greater dependence on primary commodity exports supporting the "resource curse" thesis. That EME surpluses move negatively with better institutions and positively with capital flows uncertainty supports the precautionary motive. Sources of EME surpluses changed substantially from the pre- to the post-GFC years. During 2001–2008, higher growth, initial wealth, uncertainty in net capital flows increased surpluses. After 2008, reduced growth, lower CB intervention and better institutions rebalanced surpluses, particularly for Asia–Pacific nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a notable scarcity of literature addressing the complex affiliation amidst natural resources, water productivity (WPROD), and the food production index (FPI). Existing research focuses on emerging and developing countries, primarily centering on the initial objectives of sustainable development. To bridge this literature gap, our research delves into the nexus of WPROD, FPI, and total land resources (TLRS). Additionally, the study explores the persuasive roles of income (GDP) and renewable energy consumption (REC). Employing time series methodologies, we utilize the DF‐GLS unit root assessment to assess the variable static method and the Bayer‐Hanck test to scrutinize long‐term equilibrium. The primary analysis employs the least squares approach with breakpoints, supplemented by the Robust least squares method for validation. For causal relationships between variables, we deployed the Granger causality approach. Our outcomes disclose that variables are static at the first difference, indicating long‐run equilibrium among all variables. Empirical outcomes suggest a resource curse associated with TLRS, as it negatively influences both WPROD and FPI, regardless of breaks. The increase in coefficients of land resources by 1% causes decrease in water productivity and food production by −0.35% and −0.185%. In contrast, GDP and renewable energy positively impact water productivity and food production index, even in the presence of structural breaks. Robustness checks yield‐mixed outcomes, though the overall results remain significant and consistent with the main methods. Causality analysis indicates a bi‐directional linkage between natural resources, renewable energy, and water productivity, and food production, while GDP demonstrates a uni‐directional linkage in the study. We provide relevant policies under the targets of COP 27 to manage land resources in the USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a fundamental factor driving economic growth, natural capital plays a key role in sustainable development. This paper incorporates various economic growth proxy variables into the MRW model and uses the BMA method to tackle the uncertainty issue of the model. Based on China's provincial-level panel data, this paper examines the impact of renewable natural capital and non-renewable natural capital on the country's economic growth and then carries out multiple mechanism analysis with the CART algorithm. The main findings are: 1 Natural capital has a significant deep impact on China's economic growth in models incorporating proximate and fundamental theories, and the direction of natural capital's impact varies with proxy indicators, which shows a significant 'Curse' effect of dependence and a 'Blessing' effect of abundance. This panoramic perspective can reconcile the serious disagreement on 'Resource Curse' among the literature. 2 The effects of renewable natural capital are in line with the 'Resource neutral' hypothesis, while nonrenewable natural capital has a stronger impact on economic growth in terms of both the 'Curse' effect of dependence and the 'Blessing' effect of abundance, and the overall effect on economic growth depends on patterns of resource use. 3 Under high physical capital accumulation, natural capital has a more fundamental impact on economic growth, and the 'Blessing' effect of abundance has been significantly enhanced. Based on their resource endowments and economic development levels, all provinces should reinvest natural resource rents in national wealth to mitigate the 'Resource Curse' through effective protection of natural capital and compensation from reinvestment. This is a reasonable way to embark on a win-win sustainable development path of economic development and ecological civilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rational construction of the central-local distribution mechanism of natural resource assets income has a positive effect on rationalizing the relationship between the central and local natural resource assets income bodies, realizing the rights and interests of natural resource owners, enhancing the ecological compensation capacity of the natural resource development regions, and contributing to the growth in the scale and scientific utilization of natural resource assets income at the central and local levels. In the current system, the implementation of the central-local distribution mechanism of natural resource assets income is based on the central-local decentralized natural resource asset management framework and presents a regulatory structure in which local income is dominant. Under this regulatory structure, on the one hand, the natural resource governance authority and natural resource management responsibilities after the central-local decentralization cannot be connected with the central-local income distribution results, resulting in an imbalance of central-local natural resource asset management rights, responsibilities, and benefits. On the other hand, it also restricts the national macroeconomic regulation ability of natural resource assets income, leads to a lack of national ownership income, and increases the risk of regional 'resource curse' economic growth and uneven allocation of resource returns among regions. The income central-local allocation mechanism needs to be constructed in a standardized manner, aiming to achieve a balance of power, responsibility, and interests in the management of central-local natural resource assets through income distribution. In terms of pathways, we should start with the optimization and adjustment of the relationship between the central and local authorities in the management of natural resource assets, establish a mechanism for the central government to dominate and control the natural resource assets income, and set up a mechanism for the flexible income management of the central and local authorities based on the division of authorities. We should also ensure that the natural resource assets income is distributed between central and local authorities in an orderly and efficient manner, and this should be achieved by implementing a mechanism for the integration of central and local authorities and responsibilities, a mechanism for flexible division of authorities and responsibilities, a mechanism for flexible retention of the income by localities, a mechanism for horizontal and vertical flow of income between the central and local authorities, and a mechanism for scientific management of locally retained income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political leaders value public demonstrations of support from foreign leaders and frequently make concessions in order to obtain them. We model the bargaining dynamics surrounding these exchanges and their impact on the recipient leader's political survival, with a focus on top-level diplomatic visits as a means of signaling international support. Our model addresses two interrelated questions; first, we consider how symbolic displays of support from one leader to another can be informative even when they are "purchased" with concessions, and second, we derive the equilibrium price and political impact of a visit under different bargaining protocols. The incentive to make a concession in exchange for a visit generally undermines a visit's signaling value. We identify a diplomatic resource curse, where the existence of opportunities for diplomatic exchange can force leaders into accepting visit-for-concession deals that leave them worse off than if they were diplomatically isolated. Visits never occur when negotiations are fully transparent. Mutually beneficial quid pro quo diplomacy requires opacity in negotiations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]