IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i22p15053-d972310.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can the Resource Curse for Well-Being Be Morphed into a Blessing? Investigating the Moderating Role of Environmental Quality, Governance, and Human Capital

Author

Listed:
  • Suzanna Elmassah

    (College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi 144534, United Arab Emirates
    Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, Cairo 12613, Egypt)

  • Eslam A. Hassanein

    (Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, Cairo 12613, Egypt
    Faculty of Politics and Economics, Beni Suef University, Beni Suef 2722165, Egypt)

Abstract

One of the most pressing global concerns is ensuring high levels of human well-being without overburdening natural resources. The impact of natural resource abundance on the economy’s monetary dimensions has long been controversial, with researchers debating whether it is a blessing or a curse. Recently, focus has shifted to its impact on non-monetary attributes (i.e., human well-being), with conflicting empirical evidence with respect to existence of the resource curse. However, studies on the indirect impact of natural resources on well-being are rare. This inquiry extends previous research by investigating the effect of natural resource abundance on human well-being and the underlying mechanisms that may clarify the convoluted link between the two variables in the UAE from 1990 to 2019. The novel contribution of this research is the evaluation of the resource curse concept from a broader perspective by considering how resource endowments indirectly affect human well-being via environmental quality, human capital, and governance channels. To this end, in the present study, we utilized the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) technique for cointegration and deployed the vector error correction model (VECM) for causality investigation. The ARDL results indicate cointegrated variables with diverse integration orders, signifying a long-term bond. Furthermore, the outcomes endorse the notion that resource endowment is inversely related to well-being as calibrated by the Human Development Index (HDI), corroborating the “Resource Curse Concept”, whereby large resource endowments impede human well-being. In terms of transmission channels, natural resources improve human well-being through environmental quality. In contrast, both human capital and governance have insignificant impacts on the influence of natural resources on well-being. Therefore, resource endowments improve human well-being as long as they do not harm the environment. The present analysis also resulted in the development of a feedback hypothesis between natural resource endowments and human well-being. The findings of this study provide several insights into the control of the direct and indirect adverse effects of natural resources on human well-being, the foremost being the provision of incentives for low-carbon energy use, reducing energy intensity, and assisting businesses engaged in R&D to minimize the cost of employing renewables, as well as investments in low-carbon technologies/cleantech and environmental technologies.

Suggested Citation

  • Suzanna Elmassah & Eslam A. Hassanein, 2022. "Can the Resource Curse for Well-Being Be Morphed into a Blessing? Investigating the Moderating Role of Environmental Quality, Governance, and Human Capital," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-21, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:22:p:15053-:d:972310
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/22/15053/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/22/15053/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xu, Xiaoying, 2022. "The impact of natural resources on green growth: The role of green trade," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    2. Simplice A. Asongu, 2018. "CO2 emission thresholds for inclusive human development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Research Africa Network Working Papers 18/023, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    3. Jeffrey D. Sachs & Andrew M. Warner, 1995. "Natural Resource Abundance and Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 5398, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Havranek, Tomas & Horvath, Roman & Zeynalov, Ayaz, 2016. "Natural Resources and Economic Growth: A Meta-Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 134-151.
    5. Xavier Sala-i-Martin & Arvind Subramanian, 2013. "Addressing the Natural Resource Curse: An Illustration from Nigeria," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE), vol. 22(4), pages 570-615, August.
    6. Banerjee, Abhijit V & Newman, Andrew F, 1993. "Occupational Choice and the Process of Development," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(2), pages 274-298, April.
    7. Shiao-Yen Liu & Po-Chin Wu & Tsai-Yuan Huang, 2018. "Nonlinear Causality between Education and Health: the Role of Human Development Index," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 13(3), pages 761-777, September.
    8. M. Hashem Pesaran & Yongcheol Shin & Richard J. Smith, 2001. "Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 289-326.
    9. Bulte Erwin & Damania Richard, 2008. "Resources for Sale: Corruption, Democracy and the Natural Resource Curse," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 1-30, February.
    10. Sinha, Avik & Sengupta, Tuhin, 2019. "Impact of natural resource rents on human development: What is the role of globalization in Asia Pacific countries?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1-1.
    11. Wang, Rong & Tan, Junlan & Yao, Shuangliang, 2021. "Are natural resources a blessing or a curse for economic development? The importance of energy innovations," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    12. Serap Bedir & Vildan Merve Yilmaz, 2016. "CO2 emissions and human development in OECD countries: granger causality analysis with a panel data approach," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 6(1), pages 97-110, April.
    13. Luo, Keyu & Wang, Qi & Liang, Chao, 2022. "The way to break the resource curse: New evidence from China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    14. Raimundo Soto & Ilham Haouas, 2012. "Has the UAE Escaped the Oil Curse?," Working Papers 728, Economic Research Forum, revised 2012.
    15. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan & Marcel Thum, 2020. "Does oil rents dependency reduce the quality of education?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 1863-1911, April.
    16. 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.
    17. Carmignani, Fabrizio, 2013. "Development outcomes, resource abundance, and the transmission through inequality," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 412-428.
    18. Haouas, Ilham & Heshmati, Almas, 2014. "Can the UAE Avoid the Oil Curse by Economic Diversification?," IZA Discussion Papers 8003, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Lashitew, Addisu A. & Werker, Eric, 2020. "Do natural resources help or hinder development? Resource abundance, dependence, and the role of institutions," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    20. Alfred A. Haug, 2002. "Temporal Aggregation and the Power of Cointegration Tests: a Monte Carlo Study," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 64(4), pages 399-412, September.
    21. Paresh Kumar Narayan, 2005. "The saving and investment nexus for China: evidence from cointegration tests," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(17), pages 1979-1990.
    22. 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).
    23. Dietz, Simon & Neumayer, Eric & De Soysa, Indra, 2007. "Corruption, the resource curse and genuine saving," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 33-53, February.
    24. Ali, Adnan & Ramakrishnan, Suresh & Faisal,, 2022. "Financial development and natural resources. Is there a stock market resource curse?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    25. Arshad Hayat & Muhammad Tahir, 2021. "Natural Resources Volatility and Economic Growth: Evidence from the Resource-Rich Region," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-17, February.
    26. Pérez, Claudia & Claveria, Oscar, 2020. "Natural resources and human development: Evidence from mineral-dependent African countries using exploratory graphical analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    27. Minhas Akbar & Ammar Hussain & Ahsan Akbar & Irfan Ullah, 2021. "The dynamic association between healthcare spending, CO2 emissions, and human development index in OECD countries: evidence from panel VAR model," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(7), pages 10470-10489, July.
    28. Stijns, Jean-Philippe C., 2005. "Natural resource abundance and economic growth revisited," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 107-130, June.
    29. Khan, Syed Abdul Rehman & Ponce, Pablo & Yu, Zhang & Ponce, Katerine, 2022. "Investigating economic growth and natural resource dependence: An asymmetric approach in developed and developing economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    30. Wang, Shuhong & Wang, Xiaoqing & Lu, Binbin, 2022. "Is resource abundance a curse for green economic growth? Evidence from developing countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    31. Badeeb, Ramez Abubakr & Lean, Hooi Hooi & Shahbaz, Muhammad, 2020. "Are too many natural resources to blame for the shape of the Environmental Kuznets Curve in resource-based economies?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    32. Noumba, Issidor & Noula, Armand Gilbert & Nguea, Stéphane Mbiankeu, 2022. "Do globalization and resource rents matter for human well-being? Evidence from African countries," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 49-65.
    33. Erling Røed Larsen, 2006. "Escaping the Resource Curse and the Dutch Disease?," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(3), pages 605-640, July.
    34. Ruba Aljarallah, 2019. "Impact of Natural Resource Rents and Institutional Quality on Human Capital: A Case Study of the United Arab Emirates," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-11, August.
    35. Nchofoung, Tii N. & Achuo, Elvis Dze & Asongu, Simplice A., 2021. "Resource rents and inclusive human development in developing countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    36. Jahanger, Atif & Usman, Muhammad & Murshed, Muntasir & Mahmood, Haider & Balsalobre-Lorente, Daniel, 2022. "The linkages between natural resources, human capital, globalization, economic growth, financial development, and ecological footprint: The moderating role of technological innovations," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    37. Langnel, Zechariah & Amegavi, George Babington & Donkor, Prince & Mensah, James Kwame, 2021. "Income inequality, human capital, natural resource abundance, and ecological footprint in ECOWAS member countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    38. Muhanji, Stella & Ojah, Kalu & Soumaré, Issouf, 2019. "How do natural resource endowment and institutional quality influence the nexus between external indebtedness and welfare in Africa?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 77-98.
    39. Clovis Wendji Miamo & Elvis Dze Achuo, 2022. "Can the resource curse be avoided? An empirical examination of the nexus between crude oil price and economic growth," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-23, January.
    40. Zafar, Muhammad Wasif & Zaidi, Syed Anees Haider & Khan, Naveed R. & Mirza, Faisal Mehmood & Hou, Fujun & Kirmani, Syed Ali Ashiq, 2019. "The impact of natural resources, human capital, and foreign direct investment on the ecological footprint: The case of the United States," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1-1.
    41. Chandan Sharma & Ritesh Kumar Mishra, 2022. "On the Good and Bad of Natural Resource, Corruption, and Economic Growth Nexus," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 82(4), pages 889-922, August.
    42. Karatayev, Marat & Hall, Stephen, 2020. "Establishing and comparing energy security trends in resource-rich exporting nations (Russia and the Caspian Sea region)," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    43. Nasiru Inuwa & Sagir Adamu & Mohammed Bello Sani & Haruna Usman Modibbo, 2022. "Natural resource and economic growth nexus in Nigeria: a disaggregated approach," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 17-37, April.
    44. Benedetta Barchielli & Clarissa Cricenti & Francesca Gallè & Elita Anna Sabella & Fabrizio Liguori & Giovanna Da Molin & Giorgio Liguori & Giovanni Battista Orsi & Anna Maria Giannini & Stefano Ferrac, 2022. "Climate Changes, Natural Resources Depletion, COVID-19 Pandemic, and Russian-Ukrainian War: What Is the Impact on Habits Change and Mental Health?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-18, September.
    45. Bulte, Erwin H. & Damania, Richard & Deacon, Robert T., 2005. "Resource intensity, institutions, and development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1029-1044, July.
    46. Ajide, Kazeem Bello, 2022. "Is natural resource curse thesis an empirical regularity for economic complexity in Africa?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    47. Tabash, Mosab I. & Mesagan, Ekundayo Peter & Farooq, Umar, 2022. "Dynamic linkage between natural resources, economic complexity, and economic growth: Empirical evidence from Africa," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    48. Oluwaseyi Musibau, Hammed & Olawale Shittu, Waliu & Yanotti, Maria, 2022. "Natural resources endowment: What more does West Africa need in order to grow?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Suzanna ElMassah & Eslam A. Hassanein, 2023. "Economic Development and Environmental Sustainability in the GCC Countries: New Insights Based on the Economic Complexity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-24, May.
    2. Kabiru Kamalu & Wan Hakimah Binti Wan Ibrahim, 2023. "Conditional Effect of Environmental Degradation and Institutional Environment on Human Development in Developing Countries: Evidence from Method of the Moment-Quantile Regression with Fixed Effect," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(5), pages 667-677, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yilanci, Veli & Aslan, Murat & Ozgur, Onder, 2021. "Disaggregated analysis of the curse of natural resources in most natural resource-abundant countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    2. Chen, Yufeng & Khurshid, Adnan & Rauf, Abdur & Yang, Hanyao & Calin, Adrian Cantemir, 2023. "Natural resource endowment and human development: Contemporary role of governance," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Ampofo, Gideon Kwaku Minua & Cheng, Jinhua & Asante, Daniel Akwasi & Bosah, Philip, 2020. "Total natural resource rents, trade openness and economic growth in the top mineral-rich countries: New evidence from nonlinear and asymmetric analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    4. Wolde-Rufael, Yemane & Mulat-Weldemeskel, Eyob, 2023. "Is natural capital a blessing or a curse for capital accumulation in low income countries?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    5. 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).
    6. Pérez, Claudia & Claveria, Oscar, 2020. "Natural resources and human development: Evidence from mineral-dependent African countries using exploratory graphical analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    7. Nchofoung, Tii N. & Achuo, Elvis Dze & Asongu, Simplice A., 2021. "Resource rents and inclusive human development in developing countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    8. Abdul HANNAN* & Hasan M. MOHSIN**, 2015. "Regional Analysis of Resource Curse Hypothesis: Evidence from Panel Data," Pakistan Journal of Applied Economics, Applied Economics Research Centre, vol. 25(1), pages 45-66.
    9. van Krevel, Charan, 2021. "Does natural capital depletion hamper sustainable development? Panel data evidence," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    10. Kaznacheev, Peter, 2013. "Resource Rents and Economic Growth: Economic and institutional development in countries with a high share of income from the sale of natural resources. Analysis and recommendations based on internatio," EconStor Research Reports 121950, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    11. Frederick van der Ploeg, 2011. "Natural Resources: Curse or Blessing?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 366-420, June.
    12. Akram, Vaseem & Ali, Jabir, 2022. "Do countries converge in natural resources rents? Evidence from club convergence analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    13. Cheng, Zhonghua & Li, Lianshui & Liu, Jun, 2020. "Natural resource abundance, resource industry dependence and economic green growth in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    14. Kamguia, Brice & Keneck-Massil, Joseph & Nvuh-Njoya, Youssouf & Tadadjeu, Sosson, 2022. "Natural resources and innovation: Is the R&D sector cursed too?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    15. Long, Hai & Li, Wen-Wei & Otrakçı, Caner, 2023. "Sustaining environment through natural resource and human development: Revisiting EKC curve in China through BARDL," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    16. Arshad Hayat & Muhammad Tahir, 2021. "Natural Resources Volatility and Economic Growth: Evidence from the Resource-Rich Region," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-17, February.
    17. Muhamad, Goran M. & Heshmati, Almas & Khayyat, Nabaz T., 2021. "How to reduce the degree of dependency on natural resources?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    18. Destek, Mehmet Akif & Adedoyin, Festus & Bekun, Festus Victor & Aydin, Sercan, 2023. "Converting a resource curse into a resource blessing: The function of institutional quality with different dimensions," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    19. Abdulahi, Mohamued Elyas & Shu, Yang & Khan, Muhammad Asif, 2019. "Resource rents, economic growth, and the role of institutional quality: A panel threshold analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 293-303.
    20. Ruba A. Aljarallah & Andrew Angus, 2020. "Dilemma of Natural Resource Abundance: A Case Study of Kuwait," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(1), pages 21582440198, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:22:p:15053-:d:972310. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.