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Do corruption and resource endowments curse jobs? Worldwide empirical evidence

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  • Chandan Sharma

    (Indian Institute of Management Lucknow)

  • Ritesh Kumar Mishra

    (University of Delhi)

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of corruption and natural resource endowments on job market by using a large panel of countries covering the period from 1995 to 2023. Our results suggest that broadly the impact of corruption on unemployment is conditional on countries’ natural resource endowment. Countries suffering from corruption and rich in resource endowment are expected to witness a favorable joint impact on unemployment, indicating that an increase in these two factors will lead to a decline in unemployment. The marginal impact of corruption, conditional on resource rent, appears to be skill-biased on unemployment as the impact is positive (harmful) for the job opportunities of workers with basic education but negative (beneficial) for workers with advanced education. Overall, the results conclude that high resource dependency coupled with poor institutions can cause job losses in the industry and services sector. Nevertheless, natural resource wealth is mostly a job creator rather than a job destroyer for resource-rich countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Chandan Sharma & Ritesh Kumar Mishra, 2025. "Do corruption and resource endowments curse jobs? Worldwide empirical evidence," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 1-44, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:ecopln:v:58:y:2025:i:4:d:10.1007_s10644-025-09896-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10644-025-09896-x
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