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Is Mother Nature a Curse for Social Development?

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Abstract

On the question of whether natural resources kill growth, the jury is still out. While waiting for a decision, we provide evidence that Mother Nature is responsible for slowing down social development over and above any effect it might have on income or growth. We define social development by a combination of health and education outcomes. We find that, after controlling for per-capita income and a bunch of other macroeconomic and institutional factors, a higher dependence on (point and diffuse) natural resources causes social underdevelopment. The estimation of a system of equations indicates two possible transmission mechanisms. One operates via income inequality, the other via macroeconomic volatility.

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  • Desire Avom & Fabrizio Carmignani, "undated". "Is Mother Nature a Curse for Social Development?," MRG Discussion Paper Series 2709, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    • Handle: RePEc:qld:uqmrg6:27
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    File URL: https://economics.uq.edu.au/files/46951/2709.pdf
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