Revisiting resource curse puzzle: new evidence from heterogeneous panel analysis

This study examines the natural resource curse hypothesize on a panel of 111 countries over the period 1996–2015. Using a range of heterogeneous panel cointegration techniques, it tests the resource curse hypothesis while allowing for cross-section heterogeneity. Specifically, it employs common correlated effects mean group, cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL), and cross-sectionally augmented distributed lag (CS-DL) techniques. It begins the analysis with a conventional method in which the average value of variables is considered. The conventional approach fails to provide any clear evidence. The CCEMG estimator yields limited evidence supporting the resource curse in the long-run. However, CS-DL and CS-ARDL results show strong evidence for resources as a curse in the short-run, however, the evidence is weak in suggesting any long-run influence of resource-dependence on economic growth. Furthermore, CS-ARDL-based results also show that the effects work with a lag. Overall, we find support for the resource curse hypothesis, suggesting that resource-rich economies tend to grow at a slower rate in comparison to the resource-deprived ones.