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Democratic Institutions, Natural Resource Governance, and Ghana’s Oil Wealth

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  • Felix Kumah-Abiwu

    (Department of Pan-African Studies, Kent State University, P. O. Box 5190, Kent, OH 44242, USA)

Abstract

The literature on natural resources is endowed with works on countries that have experienced slow economic performance despite their abundant natural resources (resource curse), with the exception of Norway and other few countries. Strong institutions and good governance practices have been underscored as some of the explanatory factors to the high performance of the outlier countries. Ghana’s oil discovery in the era of its advancing democratic practices has led some to argue that the country might escape the resource curse phenomenon. While recognizing the importance of this argument, this article, however, argues that Ghana’s likelihood of escaping the resource curse could be problematic due to its exclusive emphasis on democratic governance without greater focus on oil sector governance. Drawing on the theory of agenda setting and the existing literature, the article makes the case for agenda shift in the debate on Ghana’s oil wealth and development. It stresses the need for a dualistic governance (the democratic and the oil sector) approach in the broader discourse on how Ghana can escape the resource curse.

Suggested Citation

  • Felix Kumah-Abiwu, 2017. "Democratic Institutions, Natural Resource Governance, and Ghana’s Oil Wealth," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-13, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:6:y:2017:i:1:p:21-:d:90981
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jeffrey D. Sachs & Andrew M. Warner, 1995. "Natural Resource Abundance and Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 5398, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Halvor Mehlum & Karl Moene & Ragnar Torvik, 2006. "Cursed by Resources or Institutions?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 1117-1131, August.
    3. Frederick van der Ploeg, 2011. "Natural Resources: Curse or Blessing?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 366-420, June.
    4. Ayelazuno, Jasper, 2014. "Oil wealth and the well-being of the subaltern classes in Sub-Saharan Africa: A critical analysis of the resource curse in Ghana," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 66-73.
    5. Thurber, Mark C. & Hults, David R. & Heller, Patrick R.P., 2011. "Exporting the "Norwegian Model": The effect of administrative design on oil sector performance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 5366-5378, September.
    6. Michael K. McLendon, 2003. "Setting the Governmental Agenda for State Decentralization of Higher Education," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 74(5), pages 479-515, September.
    7. Holden, Steinar, 2013. "Avoiding the resource curse the case Norway," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 870-876.
    8. Mr. Atsushi Iimi, 2006. "Did Botswana Escape from the Resource Curse?," IMF Working Papers 2006/138, International Monetary Fund.
    9. Sachs, Jeffrey D. & Warner, Andrew M., 2001. "The curse of natural resources," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4-6), pages 827-838, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Olatunji Abdul Shobande & Joseph Onuche Enemona, 2021. "A Multivariate VAR Model for Evaluating Sustainable Finance and Natural Resource Curse in West Africa: Evidence from Nigeria and Ghana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-15, March.

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