IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/palcom/v11y2024i1d10.1057_s41599-024-04228-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Escaping the resource curse: does resource dependence reduction mitigate income inequality?

Author

Listed:
  • Zhijiu Yang

    (Jiangnan University)

  • Mengxu Li

    (China University of Geosciences)

Abstract

This paper quantifies the impact of resource dependence reduction on income inequality. Using an exogenous shock triggered by China’s sustainable program for resource-based regions and prefecture-level data during 2004–2020, we perform a difference-in-differences estimation and find that reducing resource dependence has a sizable narrowing effect on urban-rural income gap. On average, the sustainable program reduces the gap (as measured by a ratio indicator) by 4.11%, with the effect being more pronounced in regions with initial low institutional quality. Further evidence suggests that the rise of labor-intensive industries and the increased rural investment, which benefit the poor more, help explain the narrowing effect. This paper sheds light on the sustainable development of resource-dependent regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhijiu Yang & Mengxu Li, 2024. "Escaping the resource curse: does resource dependence reduction mitigate income inequality?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:11:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-024-04228-2
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-024-04228-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-024-04228-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41599-024-04228-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dennis Tao Yang, 1999. "Urban-Biased Policies and Rising Income Inequality in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 306-310, May.
    2. Brunnschweiler, Christa N. & Bulte, Erwin H., 2008. "The resource curse revisited and revised: A tale of paradoxes and red herrings," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 248-264, May.
    3. Li, Qiangyi & Zeng, Fu'e & Liu, Shaohui & Yang, Mian & Xu, Fei, 2021. "The effects of China's sustainable development policy for resource-based cities on local industrial transformation," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    4. Nicolas Berman & Mathieu Couttenier & Victoire Girard, 2023. "Mineral Resources and the Salience of Ethnic Identities," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(653), pages 1705-1737.
    5. Halvor Mehlum & Karl Moene & Ragnar Torvik, 2006. "Institutions and the Resource Curse," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(508), pages 1-20, January.
    6. Fernanda Brollo & Tommaso Nannicini & Roberto Perotti & Guido Tabellini, 2013. "The Political Resource Curse," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(5), pages 1759-1796, August.
    7. Sun, Yajie & Liao, Wen-Chi, 2021. "Resource-Exhausted City Transition to continue industrial development," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    8. Alvarado, Rafael & Tillaguango, Brayan & López-Sánchez, Michelle & Ponce, Pablo & Işık, Cem, 2021. "Heterogeneous impact of natural resources on income inequality: The role of the shadow economy and human capital index," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 690-704.
    9. Huhua Cao, 2010. "Urban-Rural Income Disparity and Urbanization: What Is the Role of Spatial Distribution of Ethnic Groups? A Case Study of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Western China," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(8), pages 965-982.
    10. Loayza, Norman V. & Raddatz, Claudio, 2010. "The composition of growth matters for poverty alleviation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 137-151, September.
    11. Wu, Mingqin & Yu, Linhui & Zhang, Junsen, 2023. "Road expansion, allocative efficiency, and pro-competitive effect of transport infrastructure: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    12. Sam Asher & Paul Novosad, 2020. "Rural Roads and Local Economic Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(3), pages 797-823, March.
    13. Jeffrey D. Sachs & Andrew M. Warner, 1995. "Natural Resource Abundance and Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 5398, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Volpe Martincus, Christian & Blyde, Juan, 2013. "Shaky roads and trembling exports: Assessing the trade effects of domestic infrastructure using a natural experiment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 148-161.
    15. Brunnschweiler, Christa N., 2008. "Cursing the Blessings? Natural Resource Abundance, Institutions, and Economic Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 399-419, March.
    16. Halvor Mehlum & Karl Moene & Ragnar Torvik, 2006. "Cursed by Resources or Institutions?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 1117-1131, August.
    17. James S. Ang & Yingmei Cheng & Chaopeng Wu, 2014. "Does Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Matter in China? Evidence from Financing and Investment Choices in the High-Tech Industry," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(2), pages 332-348, May.
    18. Wiig, Arne & Kolstad, Ivar, 2012. "If diversification is good, why don't countries diversify more? The political economy of diversification in resource-rich countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 196-203.
    19. Vicente, Pedro C., 2010. "Does oil corrupt? Evidence from a natural experiment in West Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 28-38, May.
    20. Shao, Shuai & Zhang, Yan & Tian, Zhihua & Li, Ding & Yang, Lili, 2020. "The regional Dutch disease effect within China: A spatial econometric investigation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    21. Ning Ding & Barry C. Field, 2005. "Natural Resource Abundance and Economic Growths," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 81(4).
    22. Meng, Meng & Zhang, Wuke & Zhu, Xi & Shi, Qinghua, 2024. "Agricultural mechanization and rural worker mobility: Evidence from the Agricultural Machinery Purchase Subsidies programme in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    23. Goodman-Bacon, Andrew, 2021. "Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 254-277.
    24. Banerjee, Abhijit & Duflo, Esther & Qian, Nancy, 2020. "On the road: Access to transportation infrastructure and economic growth in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    25. Francisco Alvarez-Cuadrado & Markus Poschke, 2011. "Structural Change Out of Agriculture: Labor Push versus Labor Pull," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 127-158, July.
    26. Dongmin Kong & Ni Qin, 2021. "Does Environmental Regulation Shape Entrepreneurship?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 80(1), pages 169-196, September.
    27. James, Alex & Aadland, David, 2011. "The curse of natural resources: An empirical investigation of U.S. counties," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 440-453, May.
    28. Kirill Borusyak & Xavier Jaravel & Jann Spiess, 2024. "Revisiting Event-Study Designs: Robust and Efficient Estimation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 91(6), pages 3253-3285.
    29. Colin A. Carter, 1997. "The Urban-Rural Income Gap in China: Implications for Global Food Markets," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(5), pages 1410-1418.
    30. Fan, Meiting & Li, Mengxu & Liu, Jianghua & Shao, Shuai, 2022. "Is high natural resource dependence doomed to low carbon emission efficiency? Evidence from 283 cities in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    31. Zhuan Xie & Xiaobo Zhang, 2015. "The patterns of patents in China," China Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 122-142, May.
    32. Brückner, Markus, 2010. "Natural resource dependence, non-tradables, and economic growth," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 461-471, December.
    33. Jia, Junxue & Ma, Guangrong & Qin, Cong & Wang, Liyan, 2020. "Place-based policies, state-led industrialisation, and regional development: Evidence from China's Great Western Development Programme," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    34. Huang, Yasheng & Ma, Yue & Yang, Zhi & Zhang, Yifan, 2016. "A fire sale without fire: An explanation of labor-intensive FDI in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 884-901.
    35. Anne D. Boschini & Jan Pettersson & Jesper Roine, 2007. "Resource Curse or Not: A Question of Appropriability," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 109(3), pages 593-617, September.
    36. Zhijiu Yang & Daqian Shi, 2023. "Towards carbon neutrality: the impact of innovative city pilot policy on corporate carbon intensity in China," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(8), pages 975-988, September.
    37. Gebresilasse, Mesay, 2023. "Rural roads, agricultural extension, and productivity," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    38. Corden, W Max & Neary, J Peter, 1982. "Booming Sector and De-Industrialisation in a Small Open Economy," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 92(368), pages 825-848, December.
    39. Benedikt Goderis & Samuel W. Malone, 2011. "Natural Resource Booms and Inequality: Theory and Evidence," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 113, pages 388-417, June.
    40. Iris Claus & Les Oxley & Chen Wang & Guanghua Wan & Dan Yang, 2014. "Income Inequality In The People'S Republic Of China: Trends, Determinants, And Proposed Remedies," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 686-708, September.
    41. Gao, Da & Li, Ge & Yu, Jiyu, 2022. "Does digitization improve green total factor energy efficiency? Evidence from Chinese 213 cities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    42. Corden, W M, 1984. "Booming Sector and Dutch Disease Economics: Survey and Consolidation," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 36(3), pages 359-380, November.
    43. Leamer, Edward E. & Maul, Hugo & Rodriguez, Sergio & Schott, Peter K., 1999. "Does natural resource abundance increase Latin American income inequality?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 3-42, June.
    44. Lashitew, Addisu A. & Werker, Eric, 2020. "Do natural resources help or hinder development? Resource abundance, dependence, and the role of institutions," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    45. Shi, Xinzheng & Xu, Zhufeng, 2018. "Environmental regulation and firm exports: Evidence from the eleventh Five-Year Plan in China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 187-200.
    46. Chen, Shawn Xiaoguang, 2017. "The effect of a fiscal squeeze on tax enforcement: Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 62-76.
    47. Dong-Hyeon Kim & Shu-Chin Lin, 2018. "Oil Abundance and Income Inequality," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 71(4), pages 825-848, December.
    48. Fum, Ruikang Marcus & Hodler, Roland, 2010. "Natural resources and income inequality: The role of ethnic divisions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 107(3), pages 360-363, June.
    49. Shao, Shuai & Zhang, Xuebin & Yang, Lili, 2023. "Natural resource dependence and urban shrinkage: The role of human capital accumulation," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    50. Papyrakis, Elissaios & Gerlagh, Reyer, 2007. "Resource abundance and economic growth in the United States," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 1011-1039, May.
    51. Sachs, Jeffrey D. & Warner, Andrew M., 2001. "The curse of natural resources," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4-6), pages 827-838, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lotfalipour, Mohammad Reza & sargolzaie, Ali & Salehnia, Narges, 2022. "Natural resources: A curse on welfare?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Li, Mengxu & Liu, Jianghua & Chen, Yang & Yang, Zhijiu, 2023. "Can sustainable development strategy reduce income inequality in resource-based regions? A natural resource dependence perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Ruba A. Aljarallah & Andrew Angus, 2020. "Dilemma of Natural Resource Abundance: A Case Study of Kuwait," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(1), pages 21582440198, January.
    4. Njangang, Henri & Asongu, Simplice A. & Tadadjeu, Sosson & Nounamo, Yann & Kamguia, Brice, 2022. "Governance in mitigating the effect of oil wealth on wealth inequality: A cross-country analysis of policy thresholds," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    5. Frederick van der Ploeg, 2011. "Natural Resources: Curse or Blessing?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 366-420, June.
    6. Dauvin, Magali & Guerreiro, David, 2017. "The Paradox of Plenty: A Meta-Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 212-231.
    7. Moradbeigi, Maryam & Law, Siong Hook, 2017. "The role of financial development in the oil-growth nexus," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 164-172.
    8. Tiba, Sofien & Frikha, Mohamed, 2019. "The controversy of the resource curse and the environment in the SDGs background: The African context," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 437-452.
    9. Zuo, Na & Zhong, Hua, 2020. "Can resource policy reverse the resource curse? Evidence from China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    10. Nicoletta Corrocher & Camilla Lenzi & Marie-Louise Deshaires, 2020. "The curse of natural resources: an empirical analysis of European regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(12), pages 1694-1708, December.
    11. He, Ruofan & Wan, Panbing & Yang, Mian, 2024. "The resource curse in energy-rich regions: Evidence from China's ultra-high voltage transmission," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    12. Silvana Sandonato & Henry Willebald, 2018. "Natural Capital, Domestic Product and Proximate Causes of Economic Growth: Uruguay in the Long Run, 1870–2014," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-26, March.
    13. Carmignani, Fabrizio, 2013. "Development outcomes, resource abundance, and the transmission through inequality," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 412-428.
    14. Zuo, Na & Zhong, Hua, 2019. "The Effect of Resource Wealth on Regional Economic Development in China," 2019 Annual Meeting, July 21-23, Atlanta, Georgia 291114, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Younes Nademi, 2018. "The resource curse and income inequality in Iran," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 1159-1172, May.
    16. Masi, Tania & Savoia, Antonio & Sen, Kunal, 2024. "Is there a fiscal resource curse? Resource rents, fiscal capacity and political institutions in developing economies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    17. Havranek, Tomas & Horvath, Roman & Zeynalov, Ayaz, 2016. "Natural Resources and Economic Growth: A Meta-Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 134-151.
    18. Christopher A. Hartwell & Roman Horvath & Eva Horvathova & Olga Popova, 2019. "Democratic Institutions, Natural Resources, and Income Inequality," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 61(4), pages 531-550, December.
    19. Balza, Lenin & De Los Rios, Camilo & Rivera, Nathaly M., 2022. "Digging Deep: Resource Exploitation and Higher Education," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 12451, Inter-American Development Bank.
    20. Chi-Swian Wong, 2021. "Science Mapping: A Scientometric Review on Resource Curses, Dutch Diseases, and Conflict Resources during 1993–2020," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-48, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:11:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-024-04228-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.nature.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.