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

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  • Olivier C. Sterck

Abstract

This paper answers two questions: “What impact have natural resources had on the spread of the HIV/AIDS 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, de Soysa and Gizelis (2013) provided evidence that oil-rich countries are more deeply affected by the HIV epidemic. They concluded that government of resource-rich countries failed to implement effective public policies for dealing with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In this paper, I show that their results are not robust and are spurious because the dependent variables and explanatory variables considered in their analysis are non-stationary. After correcting for these issues, I find no specific relationship between resource rents and the spread of HIV/AIDS. I conclude by discussing the potential of resources rents for financing the long-term liability brought about by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa.

Suggested Citation

  • Olivier C. Sterck, 2014. "Natural resources and the spread of HIV/AIDS: curse or blessing?," CSAE Working Paper Series 2014-12, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    • Handle: RePEc:csa:wpaper:2014-12
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. 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).
    3. Keller, Michael, 2020. "Wasted windfalls: Inefficiencies in health care spending in oil rich countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    4. 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).
    5. 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.
    6. 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).
    7. 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).
    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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