Abundance of natural resources, government scale and green economic growth: An empirical study on urban resource curse

Based on panel data of Chinese cities in 2000–2020, this study analyzed the impact of natural resources abundance on green economic growth at the urban level, and also examined the mediated effect of government scale. The findings of the study reveal that: The “resource curse” phenomenon in China's various cities is significant. The relationship between environmental regulation intensity and green economic growth presented as “U-shaped curve”. The impeding effect of industrial structure, as well as the promoting effect of factors such as economic openness level, technical innovation and physical capital investment on the development of green economy were significant. However, the marketization level and education level did not show significant impact on green economic growth. Natural resources abundance can produce “curse” effect on green economic growth by promoting the expansion of government expenditure scale and government personnel scale. Government institutional reform policies can effectively alleviate the “resource curse” phenomenon in various cities. Therefore, this study argued that optimizing the government internal expenditure structure, reshaping the political incentive structure and reducing administrative regulations in the natural resources industries were effective ways to optimize the government expenditure scale and alleviate the urban “resource curse”. Scientifically determining the government personnel scale, reducing the scope and intensity of government intervention, and fully leveraging the public's social supervision function were effective ways to optimize the government personnel scale and alleviate the “Resource curse” of cities.