Search

Resource-rich developing nations continue to grapple with the paradox of abundant natural wealth failing to translate into sustainable growth—a phenomenon often dubbed the ‘resource curse.’ As global initiatives strive to harness natural resources for development, this paper evaluates the ‘treatment effect’ of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) membership on tax revenue mobilization in resource-rich developing countries. We hypothesize that EITI implementation enhances governance quality in these nations, thereby improving tax revenue mobilization. Analyzing a sample of 83 resource-rich developing countries from 2001–2017 and employing propensity score matching (PSM) and difference-in-differences (DID) with multiple treatment groups and periods, our findings reveal that EITI membership significantly boosts tax revenue mobilization compared to non-EITI countries, with a dynamic causal impact since the commitment year. Additionally, EITI compliance generates a substantial surplus in tax revenues. Our results remain robust when examining disaggregated tax revenues, such as corporate income tax non-resource tax and resource tax revenues. While the EITI is not a panacea, its rigorous implementation, driven by enhanced governance, appears to significantly bolster tax revenue mobilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Despite the huge financial resources associated with oil, Nigeria has consistently recorded poor growth performance. Therefore, this study aims to examine how corruption and oil rent influence Nigeria's economic performance during the 1996–2021 period. Design/methodology/approach: Various estimation techniques were used. These include the bootstrap autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds-testing, dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), the fully modified OLS (FMOLS) and the canonical cointegration regression (CCR) estimators and the Toda–Yamamoto causality. Findings: The bounds testing results provide evidence of a cointegrating relationship between the variables. In addition, the results of the ARDL, DOLS, CCR and FMOLS estimators demonstrate that oil rent and corruption have a significant positive impact on growth. Further, the results indicate that human capital and financial development enhance economic growth, whereas domestic investment and unemployment rates slow down long-term growth. Additionally, the causality test results illustrate the presence of a one-way causality from oil rent to economic growth and a bi-directional causal relationship between corruption and economic growth. Originality/value: Existing studies focused on the effects of either oil rent or corruption on growth in Nigeria. Little attention has been paid to the exploration of how the rent from oil and the pervasiveness of corruption contribute to the performance of the Nigerian economy. Based on the outcome of this study, strategies and policies geared towards reducing oil dependence and the pervasiveness of corruption, enhancing human capital and financial development and reducing unemployment are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological footprints play a crucial role in assessing how human activities impact the environment, serving as key indicators. This study investigates the influence of urbanization and human development controlling for GDP and industrialization on ecological footprints, focusing on both OECD and non-OECD countries during the period from 1990 to 2018. The investigation employs an open-access solution framework and utilizes the Generalized Method of Moments approach for analysis. The findings highlight distinct patterns between OECD and non-OECD countries. In OECD countries, ecological footprints are increasing with urbanization and GDP growth while showcasing a negative impact of the Human Development Index (HDI) and industrialization on ecological footprint. Conversely, non-OECD countries demonstrate a positive impact of GDP and HDI on ecological footprints, while there is a negative impact of industrialization and urbanization on ecological footprints. These disparities underscore the need for tailored environmental strategies based on a country's economic and developmental status. The results underscore the importance of investing in the renewable energy sector and implementing stringent environmental policies to mitigate the environmental impact of human activities. This evidence reinforces the urgency for countries, irrespective of their OECD status, to take proactive measures to safeguard the planet from further environmental hazards.

The primary motivation of this paper is the lack of consensus on the impact of renewable energy (RE) and research and development (R&D) expenditure on CO2 emissions in the literature. Current literature has mostly ignored the spillover effect of R&D on CO2 emissions by increasing the intensity effect of technology, leading to biased results. Further, little is known about the impact of previous epidemics on CO2 emissions. This study fills these gaps by evaluating the spillover effects of RE and R&D on CO2 emissions in a global panel of 54 countries from 2003 to 2017. Using a two-way time- and spatial-fixed-effects panel analysis, we find both income-induced and scale effects of economic growth are present in our panel, though the scale effect is the dominant one. Our findings indicate that economic growth increases CO2 emissions at a decreasing rate, validating the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis, and that urbanization and foreign trade worsen the environment. We also find that epidemic episodes before COVID-19 had a nonsignificant impact on CO2 emissions internationally. More importantly, our results confirm the presence of both the intensity and scale effects of R&D, with the intensity effect being the dominant one. We find overwhelming evidence that global R&D investment led to an overall (direct plus spillover) reduction of CO2 emissions, driven by its spillover effect, through two channels: RE and economic growth. Finally, we find that RE installations assist with reducing CO2 emissions internationally, though RE composition and state of R&D can lead to different findings. Our findings have significant policy implications for sustainable development. Our RE and R&D-spillover results support the policy recommendation of shifting to high-tech clean energy sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a panel analysis for 28 African countries that focusses on investigating the mediating effect of economic complexity via resource-growth model in Africa between 1995 and 2019. We utilise the pool mean group (PMG) framework to analyse the panel series. Empirical result reveals that natural resources positively but insignificantly impact short- and long-run growth. For economic complexity, it exerts a significantly negative effect on growth in the short term but has a long-term favourable effect that is significant on growth. More so, the conditional impact of economic complexity and resource rent on economic growth is positive in both short- and long-run but only significant in the long run. Lastly, the study employs the economic complexity index plus to confirm the robustness of the empirical results. We therefore conclude that economic complexity is an important channel for promoting long-term resource blessing in Africa. The study then makes policies to improve the resource-growth link via the economic complexity channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how the gold mining sector has adapted and evolved in developing countries since the onset of the global pandemic. A major criticism of capital-intensive gold mines has been that they occur as enclaves which fail to catalyze local economic development. Pre-pandemic, the pressure applied by NGOs and donors on gold mining companies to 'de-enclave' was steadily building. It has since dissipated, however, because many governments have declared mining an 'essential' industry. This decision has further entrenched the sector's enclavity by justifying companies' moves to continue operating in isolation and abandon their traditional Corporate Social Responsibility strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effect of urbanization, institutional quality and other variables on environmental sustainability risk among economies in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Environmental sustainability risk is examined from three main perspectives – emission of gases inimical to the environment (CO2 emissions), exploitation of land and water resources (ecological footprint) and exploitation of resources devoid of the requisite savings and education expenditure (genuine sustainability risk). Empirical analyses were performed using the Limited Information Maximum Likelihood (LIML) Instrumental Variable estimation technique. Estimated results suggest that urbanization, population growth and increase commodity prices on the global market (for key export commodities) worsen CO2 emissions among economies in the sub-region. The results further suggest that urbanization, population growth, governance and institutional structures increase resource exploitation. Additional results suggest that institutional quality lessens adverse effect urbanization has on environmental sustainability risk (CO2 emissions) and genuine sustainability risk; but exacerbates the impact urbanization has on ecological footprint. Given these findings, this study recommends conscious efforts at improving governance and institutional structures among governments in the sub-region to lessen adverse effect of urbanization and population growth on environmental sustainability risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy is one of the most important resources needed for growth, and consumption is an indicator to measure the development of a country. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is among the sub-regions in the world with the lowest energy use per capita and one of the reasons for this is the energy price dynamics that have affected energy policy that can engender sustainable economic growth. The main objective of the study is to assess the nature and determinants of energy price dynamics in SSA using 21 countries with a complete dataset between 1980 and 2017 on variables such as energy consumption, exchange rate, and inflation rate, while energy price index and federal fund rate are also included as exogenous variables. EGARCH is used to derive the nature of energy dynamics, while panel-ARDL is used to investigate the determinants of energy price dynamics. The results show that energy price dynamics are asymmetric in nature, while the federal fund rate and exchange rate remain the most important factors influencing energy price dynamics in the sub-region. The finding is contrary to the symmetric energy price obtained by some previous authors who used oil price to proxy energy price. This study used aggregated values of energy prices, which include renewable and non-renewable energy. The implication of the findings is that currency devaluation and rise in federal fund rate aggravate the dynamics in energy piece and this causes much more macroeconomic instabilities in SSA. It is recommended that SSA countries should be cautious to embrace currency devaluation policy, and should reduce dependency on the importation of renewable energy products.

This study pinpoints three current factors that could be momentous in a possible transition to marine mining, namely reserve-dependent capital efficiency (accessibility and grade-dependent output per unit capital), cross-sector competition (competition between two separate mining sectors), and asymmetric mineral security considerations (e.g., the resource owner(s) and government(s) tied to a sector desires production for profit and security reasons). Moreover, four conceptual optimization problems are explored to specify the potential roles of said factors in a possible transition. The first problem considers a principal agent, who make decisions on behalf of resource owner(s), government(s) and producer(s), and invests and extracts to maximize the net present value of extraction from onshore and offshore reserves while facing reserve-independent capital efficiency. The second problem considers the same as the first, except here, the principal meets reserve-dependent capital efficiency. The third problem considers two principals, each representing resource owner(s), government(s), and producer(s) tied to a sector, who invest and extract to maximize the net present value of extraction from the respective reserves subject to the decisions of the other principal. Finally, the last problem considers a duopoly setting in which the marine principal values both financial gain and mineral security. The results illustrate that reserve-dependent capital efficiency, cross-sector competition, and mineral security considerations can, in different ways, drive a possible transition to marine mining. Possible counter effective factors are highlighted and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal mining has a deep history in the Appalachian region, where some local economies have heavily relied on coal production. While coal employment in the region has generally been in a long-term decline, there is variation across counties, with coal employment still representing a large share of total employment for some counties. This paper explores how coal activity—measured by coal employment, coal employment as a share of total employment, coal production, and the number of coal mines—impacts locally provided funding for K-12 education. Using county-level data that spans from 1995 to 2016, results indicate that increases in coal activity have a positive and significant impact on local revenues per student though effects are modest. The findings are robust across different specifications. The implication is that declines in coal activity can hamper school funding, in turn affecting adequate investments in education that are essential for economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We employ an ARDL bounds testing approach to cointegration and Unrestricted Error Correction Models to estimate the relationship between income and CO2 emissions per capita in 21 Latin American Countries (LACs) over 1960–2017. Using time series, we estimate six different specifications of the model to take into account the independent effect on CO2 emissions per capita of different factors considered as drivers of different dynamics of CO2 emissions along the development path. This approach allows to address two concerns. First, the estimation of the model controlling for different variables serves to assess if the EKC hypothesis is supported by evidence in any of the LACs considered and to evaluate if this evidence is robust to different model specifications. Second, the inclusion of control variables accounting for the effect on CO2 emissions is directed at increasing our understanding of CO2 emissions drivers in different countries. The EKC hypothesis effectively describes the long-term income-emissions relationship only in a minority of LACs and, in many cases, the effect on CO2 emissions of different factors depends on the individual country experience and on the type and quantity of environmental policies adopted. Overall, these results call for increased environmental action in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effects of genetic improvement policies on dairy production, with a particular emphasis on Artificial Insemination projects. Furthermore, we evaluate the major barriers and challenges of Artificial Insemination projects including water scarcity. Using the data-driven synthetic control method, we found evidence that the Artificial Insemination projects caused milk production to increase by 59 thousand tons on average from 2008 to 2018. This could be correlated with food security (i.e., synergies), but increased dairy production may also place strain on Senegal's water resources (i.e. trade-offs). To achieve a more efficient outcome, Senegalese dairy policies should consider the negative externalities of these projects on water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given its tremendous natural resources, on the one hand, and its poor economic performance, on the other hand, the role of mining resources in the Guinean economy is often seen as a paradox. Guinea is one of the world's major bauxite producers for several decades. Based on this fact, this study aims to investigate the relationship between bauxite mining and economic growth in Guinea. We address this issue using both autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) and nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) models on annual data from Guinea over the period 1986–2020. Our results reveal that bauxite production has a positive impact on economic performance in Guinea. More precisely, the results indicate that, overall, bauxite production has a positive impact on both GDP and GDP per capita both in the short and long run. However, overall, this impact is statistically significant only in the short run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advocated across the international community for more than 15 years, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is now widely recognised as a hallmark anti-corruption scheme in the extractive sector. This study presents an assessment of the relationship between EITI membership and countries' progress in tackling corruption. It provides the first study that looks at this issue using a 'state-of-the-art' indicator called the Bayesian Corruption Indicator. It also introduces an innovative estimation strategy combining entropy balancing with a difference-in-difference framework to address the baseline inequalities that exist between member and non-member countries. Contrary to the findings of many leading studies, this analysis finds corruption scores have improved significantly among EITI member countries. In particular, the evidence is strongest when we examine a sub-group of EITI members designated fully compliant with the initiative's transparency standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El objetivo de este artículo es analizar el debate sobre la maldición de los recursos o la paradoja de la abundancia (la idea de que la dependencia y la abundancia de recursos naturales son un obstáculo para el desarrollo), con el foco puesto en América Latina desde una perspectiva de larga duración. Para ello, se recurre al metaanálisis interpretativo de conceptos de tres cuerpos diferentes de la literatura: 1) la relación entre recursos naturales y desarrollo en la historia del pensamiento económico; 2) la teoría del crecimiento basado en productos básicos -o de la industrialización por diversificación-, y 3) el debate sobre la maldición de los recursos con énfasis en los trabajos seminales latinoamericanos o sobre América Latina. La conclusión del trabajo es doble: las instituciones, entendidas como restricciones de economía política nacional e internacional, han impedido hasta ahora que en América Latina se reproduzca el círculo virtuoso de la industrialización por diversificación a partir de la exportación de productos básicos, y los diseños institucionales son una condición que puede y debe ser modificada por la agencia colectiva del Estado con el fin de que la gobernanza soberana sobre los recursos naturales cumpla sus fines de transformación distributiva y productiva, y sea posible escapar así de la trampa de la especialización empobrecedora.