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Natural resources and the spread of HIV/AIDS: Curse or blessing?

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  • Sterck, Olivier

Abstract

This paper answers two questions: “What impact have natural resources had on the spread of the HIV epidemic so far?” and “What role can natural resource rents play in order to finance the long-run response to HIV/AIDS?” Using a panel dataset covering 137 countries from 1990 until 2008, de Soysa and Gizelis (2013) provided evidence in Social Science & Medicine that oil-rich countries are more deeply affected by the HIV and TB epidemics. They concluded that government of resource-rich countries failed to implement effective public policies for dealing with the epidemics. In this paper, I show that their results are (1) not robust, (2) based on an inappropriate choice of dependent variable and (3) spurious because series are non-stationary. After correcting for these issues, I find no robust relationship between resource rents and the spread of HIV and TB. The paper concludes by emphasizing the potential of natural resources rents for financing the long-term liability brought about by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa.

Suggested Citation

  • Sterck, Olivier, 2016. "Natural resources and the spread of HIV/AIDS: Curse or blessing?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 271-278.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:150:y:2016:i:c:p:271-278
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.09.023
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    Cited by:

    1. Keller, Michael, 2020. "Wasted windfalls: Inefficiencies in health care spending in oil rich countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    2. Alssadek, Marwan & Benhin, James, 2023. "Natural resource curse: A literature survey and comparative assessment of regional groupings of oil-rich countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    3. de Soysa, Indra & Gizelis, Ismene Theodora, 2016. "More heat, less light! The resource curse & HIV/AIDS: A reply to Olivier Sterck," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 268-270.
    4. Bildirici, Melike E. & Gokmenoglu, Seyit M., 2020. "Precious metal abundance and economic growth: Evidence from top precious metal producer countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    5. Makhlouf, Yousef & Kellard, Neil M. & Vinogradov, Dmitri, 2017. "Child mortality, commodity price volatility and the resource curse," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 144-156.
    6. Al-Shboul, Mohammad & Al Rawashdeh, Rami, 2022. "The impact of institutional quality and resources rent on health: The case of GCC," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    7. Dou, Shiquan & Yue, Chen & Xu, Deyi & Wei, Yi & Li, Hang, 2022. "Rethinking the “resource curse”: New evidence from nighttime light data," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    8. Ajide, Kazeem Bello & Ibrahim, Ridwan Lanre & Mohammed, Abubakar & Saleh Al-Faryan, Mamdouh Abdulaziz, 2023. "Infectious diseases and health outcomes’ implications of natural resource curse in Africa," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    HIV/AIDS; Natural resources; Resource curse; Epidemics; Spurious regression; Non-stationarity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • E6 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook
    • Q32 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Exhaustible Resources and Economic Development

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