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The resource curse revisited and revised: A tale of paradoxes and red herrings

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Author Info
Brunnschweiler, Christa N.
Bulte, Erwin H.

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Abstract

We critically evaluate the empirical basis for the so-called resource curse and find that, despite the topic's popularity in economics and political science research, this apparent paradox may be a red herring. The most commonly used measure of "resource abundance" can be more usefully interpreted as a proxy for "resource dependence"--endogenous to underlying structural factors. In multiple estimations that combine resource abundance and dependence, institutional, and constitutional variables, we find that (i) resource abundance, constitutions, and institutions determine resource dependence, (ii) resource dependence does not affect growth, and (iii) resource abundance positively affects growth and institutional quality.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Journal of Environmental Economics and Management.

Volume (Year): 55 (2008)
Issue (Month): 3 (May)
Pages: 248-264
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Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:55:y:2008:i:3:p:248-264

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Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622870

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Simone Valente, 2007. "International Status Seeking, Trade, and Growth Leadership," Economics working paper series 07/75, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich. [Downloadable!]
  2. Urs von Arx & Andreas Schäfer, 2007. "The Influence of Pension Funds on Corporate Governance," Economics working paper series 07/63, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich. [Downloadable!]
  3. Damian S. Damianov & Johannes Gerd Becker, 2008. "Auctions with Variable Supply: Uniform Price versus Discriminatory," Economics working paper series 08/80, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich. [Downloadable!]
  4. Hans Gersbach & Maik T. Schneider & Olivier Schneller, 2008. "On the Design of Basic-Research Policy," Economics working paper series 08/79, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich. [Downloadable!]
  5. Sambit Bhattacharyya & Roland Hodler, 2008. "Natural Resources, Democracy and Corruption," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 1047, The University of Melbourne. [Downloadable!]
  6. Theresa Fahrenberger & Hans Gersbach, 2007. "Minority Voting and Long-term Decisions," Economics working paper series 07/70, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich. [Downloadable!]
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  7. Hans Gersbach & Volker Hahn, 2008. "Forward Guidance for Monetary Policy: Is It Desirable?," Economics working paper series 08/84, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich. [Downloadable!]
  8. Edward J. Balistreri & Russell H. Hillberry & Thomas F. Rutherford, 2008. "Structural Estimation and Solution of International Trade Models with Heterogeneous Firms," Economics working paper series 08/89, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Majah-Leah Ravago & James Roumasset, 2009. "Economic Policy for Sustainable Growth and Development vs. Greedy Growth and Preservationism," Working Papers 200909, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  12. Ralph Winkler, 2007. "Why do ICDPs fail? The relationship between subsistence farming, poaching and eco- tourism in wildlife and habitat conservation," Economics working paper series 07/76, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Julien Daubanes, 2009. "Taxation of Oil Products and GDP Dynamics of Oil-rich Countries," Economics working paper series 09/102, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich. [Downloadable!]
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  15. Christoph Heinzel & Ralph Winkler, 2007. "The role of environmental and technology policies in the transition to a low-carbon energy industry," Economics working paper series 07/71, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich. [Downloadable!]
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  17. Ian A. MacKenzie,, 2008. "On the Sequential Choice of Tradable Permit Allocations," Economics working paper series 08/83, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich. [Downloadable!]
  18. Volker Hahn, 2007. "Information Acquisition by Price-Setters and Monetary Policy," Economics working paper series 07/73, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich. [Downloadable!]
  19. Desire Avom & Fabrizio Carmignani, . "Is Mother Nature a Curse for Social Development?," MRG Discussion Paper Series 2709, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia. [Downloadable!]
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