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Cursing the blessings? Natural resource abundance, institutions, and economic growth

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Abstract

Since Sachs and Warner's (1995a) contribution, there has been a lively debate on the so-called natural resource curse. This paper re-examines the effects of natural resource abundance on economic growth using new measures of resource endowment and considering the role of institutional quality. We find a positive direct empirical relationship between natural resource abundance and economic growth. In both OLS and 2SLS re- gressions, the positive resource effects are particularly strong for subsoil wealth. Our results also show no evidence of negative indirect effects of natural resources through the institutional channel.

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  • Christa N. Brunnschweiler, 2006. "Cursing the blessings? Natural resource abundance, institutions, and economic growth," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 06/51, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    • Handle: RePEc:eth:wpswif:06-51
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Natural resources; resource curse; economic growth; institutional quality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q0 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General

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