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Exogenous Resource Shocks and Economic Freedom

Author

Listed:
  • Colin O’Reilly

    (Creighton University)

  • Ryan H. Murphy

    (Southern Methodist University)

Abstract

An extensive literature has identified the tendency of natural resource rents to inhibit the development of quality institutions, though few studies have investigated the effects on economic institutions. We use a data set of plausibly exogenous “giant” oil field discoveries as a means of testing whether the presence of large resource rents impacts a country’s economic institutions. We find evidence of short run effects of these discoveries on the size of government spending, but find no evidence of an effect on economic institutions in general. At least for this set of resource discoveries, there is no resource curse for economic institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Colin O’Reilly & Ryan H. Murphy, 2017. "Exogenous Resource Shocks and Economic Freedom," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 59(3), pages 243-260, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:compes:v:59:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1057_s41294-017-0028-2
    DOI: 10.1057/s41294-017-0028-2
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    Cited by:

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    2. Gouider, Abdessalem & Nouira, Ridha & Saafi, Sami, 2022. "Re-Exploring the Nexus Between Economic Freedom and Growth: Is There a Threshold Effect?," Journal of Economic Development, The Economic Research Institute, Chung-Ang University, vol. 47(3), pages 147-167, September.
    3. Justin Callais & Andrew T. Young, 2021. "Does constitutional entrenchment matter for economic freedom?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(4), pages 808-830, October.
    4. Ryan H. Murphy, 2021. "Plausibly exogenous causes of economic freedom," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 85-105, April.
    5. Robert A. Lawson & Ryan Murphy & Benjamin Powell, 2020. "The Determinants Of Economic Freedom: A Survey," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 38(4), pages 622-642, October.
    6. Khoshnoodi, Abdollah & Farouji, Majid Dashtban & de Haan, Jakob, 2022. "The effect of natural resources rents on institutional and policy reform: New evidence," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    resource curse; oil; economic freedom; economic institutions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • P10 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - General

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