IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/halshs-02157588.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Natural Resources, Institutional Quality, and Economic Growth: an African Tale

Author

Listed:
  • Boniface Ngah Epo

    (Université de Yaoundé II)

  • Dief Reagen Nochi Faha

    (CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Yaoundé II)

Abstract

This study investigates the role of institutions in the relationship between natural resources and economic growth using panel data from 44 African countries over the period 1996–2016. We use natural resource rents as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) and the share of ores and metals exports in total merchandise exports as variables for natural resources. To check for endogeneity, heterogeneity, and nonlinearity, we undertake cross-sectional instrumental variable analysis, system dynamic panel-data instrumental variable regression, and panel smooth transition regression. The relationship between natural resources and economic growth varies for indicators of institutional quality and the measure for natural resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Boniface Ngah Epo & Dief Reagen Nochi Faha, 2020. "Natural Resources, Institutional Quality, and Economic Growth: an African Tale," Post-Print halshs-02157588, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02157588
    DOI: 10.1057/s41287-019-00222-6
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-02157588
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-02157588/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41287-019-00222-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brunnschweiler, Christa N. & Bulte, Erwin H., 2008. "The resource curse revisited and revised: A tale of paradoxes and red herrings," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 248-264, May.
    2. Halvor Mehlum & Karl Moene & Ragnar Torvik, 2006. "Institutions and the Resource Curse," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(508), pages 1-20, January.
    3. Thorvaldur Gylfason & Gylfi Zoega, 2006. "Natural Resources and Economic Growth: The Role of Investment," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 1091-1115, August.
    4. Rabah Arezki & Frederick van der Ploeg, 2007. "Can the Natural Resource Curse Be Turned into a Blessing? The Role of Trade Policies and Institutions," Economics Working Papers ECO2007/35, European University Institute.
    5. Hansen, Bruce E., 1999. "Threshold effects in non-dynamic panels: Estimation, testing, and inference," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 345-368, December.
    6. Frederick Van der Ploeg & Steven Poelhekke, 2009. "The Volatility Curse: Revisiting the Paradox of Plenty," CESifo Working Paper Series 2616, CESifo.
    7. Sachs, Jeffrey D & Warner, Andrew M, 1997. "Sources of Slow Growth in African Economies," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 6(3), pages 335-376, October.
    8. Tsani, Stella, 2013. "Natural resources, governance and institutional quality: The role of resource funds," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 181-195.
    9. Erling Røed Larsen, 2004. "Escaping the Resource Curse and the Dutch Disease? When and Why Norway Caught up with and Forged ahead of Its Neighbors," Discussion Papers 377, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    10. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    11. Saeed Moshiri & Sara Hayati, 2017. "Natural Resources, Institutions Quality, and Economic Growth; A Cross-Country Analysis," Iranian Economic Review (IER), Faculty of Economics,University of Tehran.Tehran,Iran, vol. 21(3), pages 661-693, Summer.
    12. Halvor Mehlum & Karl Moene & Ragnar Torvik, 2006. "Cursed by Resources or Institutions?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 1117-1131, August.
    13. 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, vol. 22(4), pages 570-615, August.
    14. Collier, Paul & Hoeffler, Anke, 2009. "Testing the neocon agenda: Democracy in resource-rich societies," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 293-308, April.
    15. N. Gregory Mankiw & David Romer & David N. Weil, 1992. "A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(2), pages 407-437.
    16. Sachs, Jeffrey D. & Warner, Andrew M., 1999. "The big push, natural resource booms and growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 43-76, June.
    17. Carl-Johan Dalgaard & Ola Olsson, 0. "Windfall Gains, Political Economy and Economic Development," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 17(suppl_1), pages -109.
    18. Paul Collier & Anke Hoeffler, 2005. "Resource Rents, Governance, and Conflict," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 49(4), pages 625-633, August.
    19. Gylfason, Thorvaldur, 2001. "Natural resources, education, and economic development," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4-6), pages 847-859, May.
    20. Damette, Olivier & Seghir, Majda, 2018. "Natural resource curse in oil exporting countries: A nonlinear approach," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 231-246.
    21. Gylfason, Thorvaldur & Herbertsson, Tryggvi Thor & Zoega, Gylfi, 1999. "A Mixed Blessing," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(2), pages 204-225, June.
    22. Robinson, James A. & Torvik, Ragnar & Verdier, Thierry, 2006. "Political foundations of the resource curse," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 447-468, April.
    23. Im, Kyung So & Pesaran, M. Hashem & Shin, Yongcheol, 2003. "Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 53-74, July.
    24. William Easterly & Ross Levine, 2016. "The European origins of economic development," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 225-257, September.
    25. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Why do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Per Worker than Others?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 83-116.
    26. Haber, Stephen & Menaldo, Victor, 2011. "Do Natural Resources Fuel Authoritarianism? A Reappraisal of the Resource Curse," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 105(1), pages 1-26, February.
    27. Frederick Van der Ploeg & Steven Poelhekke, 2009. "The Volatility Curse: Revisiting the Paradox of Plenty," CESifo Working Paper Series 2616, CESifo.
    28. Diadié Diaw & Albert Lessoua, 2013. "Natural Resources Exports, Diversification and Economic Growth of CEMAC Countries: On the Impact of Trade with China," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 25(2), pages 189-202, June.
    29. Mr. Carlos A Leite & Jens Weidmann, 1999. "Does Mother Nature Corrupt? Natural Resources, Corruption, and Economic Growth," IMF Working Papers 1999/085, International Monetary Fund.
    30. Itchoko Motande Mondjeli Mwa Ndjokou & Pierre Christian Tsopmo, 2017. "The effects on economic growth of natural resources in Sub-Saharan Africa: Does the quality of institutions matters?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 37(1), pages 248-263.
    31. Boschini, Anne & Pettersson, Jan & Roine, Jesper, 2013. "The Resource Curse and its Potential Reversal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 19-41.
    32. Toto Same, Achille, 2008. "Mineral-rich countries and dutch disease : understanding the macroeconomic implications of windfalls and the development prospects-the case of Equatorial Guinea," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4595, The World Bank.
    33. Diadié Diaw & Albert Lessoua, 2013. "Natural Resources Exports, Diversification and Economic Growth of CEMAC Countries: On the Impact of Trade with China," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 25(2), pages 189-202.
    34. Rick Van der Ploeg & Steven Poelhekke, 2009. "The Volatility Curse and Financial Development: Revisiting the paradox of plenty," OxCarre Working Papers 024, Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies, University of Oxford.
    35. Atkinson, Giles & Hamilton, Kirk, 2003. "Savings, Growth and the Resource Curse Hypothesis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(11), pages 1793-1807, November.
    36. Joya, Omar, 2015. "Growth and volatility in resource-rich countries: Does diversification help?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 38-55.
    37. Bulte, Erwin H. & Damania, Richard & Deacon, Robert T., 2005. "Resource intensity, institutions, and development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1029-1044, July.
    38. Leonard Wantchekon, 2002. "Why do Resource Abundant Countries Have Authoritarian Governments?," Journal of African Development, African Finance and Economic Association (AFEA), vol. 5(2), pages 145-176.
    39. Sachs, Jeffrey D. & Warner, Andrew M., 2001. "The curse of natural resources," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4-6), pages 827-838, May.
    40. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    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. Maddah, Majid & Ghaffari Nejad, Amir Hossein & Sargolzaei, Mostafa, 2022. "Natural resources, political competition, and economic growth: An empirical evidence from dynamic panel threshold kink analysis in Iranian provinces," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    2. Wang, Yanlong & Li, Haixia & Altuntaş, Mehmet, 2022. "Volatility in natural resources commodity prices: Evaluating volatility in oil and gas rents," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    3. Jules René Minkoua Nzié & Ateh Thomson Pepeah, 2022. "Are natural resources an impetus for economic growth in Africa?," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(1), pages 136-153, February.
    4. Xu, Jiaqi & Zhao, Jingfeng & She, Shengxiang & Liu, Wen, 2022. "Green growth, natural resources and sustainable development: Evidence from BRICS economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    5. Li, Li, 2023. "Commodity prices volatility and economic growth: Empirical evidence from natural resources industries of China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    6. Zhang, Yichi & Wang, Qiao & Tian, Tian & Yang, Yuan, 2022. "Volatility in natural resources, economic performance, and public administration quality: Evidence from COVID-19," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    7. Sun, Yanpeng & Chang, Hsuling & Vasbieva, Dinara G. & Andlib, Zubaria, 2022. "Economic performance, investment in energy resources, foreign trade, and natural resources volatility nexus: Evidence from China's provincial data," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    8. Alex O. Acheampong & Janet Dzator & Matthew Abunyewah & Michael Odei Erdiaw-Kwasie & Eric Evans Osei Opoku, 2023. "Sub-Saharan Africa’s Tragedy: Resource Curse, Democracy and Income Inequality," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 471-509, August.
    9. Chien, FengSheng & Chau, Ka Yin & Sadiq, Muhammad & Hsu, Ching-Chi, 2022. "The impact of economic and non-economic determinants on the natural resources commodity prices volatility in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    10. Shehzad, Khurram & Zeraibi, Ayoub & Zaman, Umer, 2022. "Testing the N-shaped environmental Kuznets Curve in Algeria: An imperious role of natural resources and economic globalization," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    11. Guo, Shanwen & Wang, Qibin & Hordofa, Tolassa Temesgen & Kaur, Prabjot & Nguyen, Ngoc Quynh & Maneengam, Apichit, 2022. "Does COVID-19 pandemic cause natural resources commodity prices volatility? Empirical evidence from China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    12. Tereza Nìmeèková & Arshad Hayat, 2022. "Does trade openness improve the quality of domestic institutions? Evidence from Africa," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 17(4), pages 881-908, December.
    13. Deng, Wei & Akram, Rabia & Mirza, Nawazish, 2022. "Economic performance and natural resources: Evaluating the role of economic risk," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    14. Muhammad Sohail Amjad Makhdum & Muhammad Usman & Rakhshanda Kousar & Javier Cifuentes-Faura & Magdalena Radulescu & Daniel Balsalobre-Lorente, 2022. "How Do Institutional Quality, Natural Resources, Renewable Energy, and Financial Development Reduce Ecological Footprint without Hindering Economic Growth Trajectory? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-25, October.
    15. Wen, Jun & Mughal, Nafeesa & Kashif, Maryam & Jain, Vipin & Ramos Meza, Carlos Samuel & Cong, Phan The, 2022. "Volatility in natural resources prices and economic performance: Evidence from BRICS economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    16. Sha, Zhiping, 2022. "Total natural resources, oil prices, and sustainable economic performance: Evidence from global data," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Bernhard Tröster & Karin Küblböck, 2020. "Unprecedented but not Unpredictable: Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis on Commodity-Dependent Countries," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(5), pages 1430-1449, December.
    18. Zhang, Jie & Chen, Zhiguo & Altuntaş, Mehmet, 2022. "Tracing volatility in natural resources, green finance and investment in energy resources: Fresh evidence from China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    19. Relwende Sawadogo & Youmanli Ouoba, 2024. "The effects of natural resource rents on income inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa: Is the informal economy a curse or a blessing?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 44(3), pages 832-846.
    20. Li, Lin & Du, Le, 2024. "Impact of natural resources, financial innovation, and policy robustness on economic growth: A study of China and India," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    21. Ganhane, José Jeremias & Stage, Jesper, 2024. "Estimating resource rents for Mozambique," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    22. Fu, Rong & Liu, Jianmei, 2023. "Revenue sources of natural resources rents and its impact on sustainable development: Evidence from global data," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    23. Zhou, Shuai & Qian, Yudan & Farmanesh, Panteha, 2022. "The economic cost of environmental laws: Volatility transmission mechanism and remedies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    24. Ni, Xiewen & Wang, Zanxin & Akbar, Ahsan & Ali, Sher, 2022. "Measuring natural resources rents volatility: Evidence from EGARCH and TGARCH for global data," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

    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. Boniface Ngah Epo & Dief Reagen Nochi Faha, 2020. "Natural Resources, Institutional Quality, and Economic Growth: an African Tale," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(1), pages 99-128, January.
    2. Ruba A. Aljarallah & Andrew Angus, 2020. "Dilemma of Natural Resource Abundance: A Case Study of Kuwait," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(1), pages 21582440198, January.
    3. Badeeb, Ramez Abubakr & Lean, Hooi Hooi & Clark, Jeremy, 2017. "The evolution of the natural resource curse thesis: A critical literature survey," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 123-134.
    4. Vittorio Daniele, 2011. "Natural Resources and the 'Quality' of Economic Development," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(4), pages 545-573.
    5. Ruba Aljarallah, 2021. "An Analysis of the Impact of Rents from Non-renewable Natural Resources and Changes in Human Capital on Institutional Quality: A Case Study of Kuwait," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(5), pages 224-234.
    6. Carmignani, Fabrizio, 2013. "Development outcomes, resource abundance, and the transmission through inequality," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 412-428.
    7. Eslamloueyan, Karim & Jafari, Mahbubeh, 2021. "Do high human capital and strong institutions make oil-rich developing countries immune to the oil curse?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    8. Frederick van der Ploeg, 2011. "Natural Resources: Curse or Blessing?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 366-420, June.
    9. Cockx, Lara & Francken, Nathalie, 2016. "Natural resources: A curse on education spending?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 394-408.
    10. Collier, Paul & Goderis, Benedikt, 2012. "Commodity prices and growth: An empirical investigation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 1241-1260.
    11. Adrian Boos & Karin Holm‐Müller, 2012. "A theoretical overview of the relationship between the resource curse and genuine savings as an indicator for “weak” sustainability," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 36(3), pages 145-159, August.
    12. Sharma, Chandan & Paramati, Sudharshan Reddy, 2022. "Resource curse versus resource blessing: New evidence from resource capital data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    13. Boyce, John R. & Herbert Emery, J.C., 2011. "Is a negative correlation between resource abundance and growth sufficient evidence that there is a "resource curse"?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 1-13, March.
    14. Alssadek, Marwan & Benhin, James, 2023. "Natural resource curse: A literature survey and comparative assessment of regional groupings of oil-rich countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    15. Havranek, Tomas & Horvath, Roman & Zeynalov, Ayaz, 2016. "Natural Resources and Economic Growth: A Meta-Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 134-151.
    16. Lotfalipour, Mohammad Reza & sargolzaie, Ali & Salehnia, Narges, 2022. "Natural resources: A curse on welfare?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Mignamissi, Dieudonné & Malah Kuete, Yselle Flora, 2021. "Resource rents and happiness on a global perspective: The resource curse revisited," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    18. 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.
    19. 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.
    20. Mohsen Mehrara, Mohsen & Alhosseini, Seyedmohammadsadegh & Bahramirad, Duman, 2008. "Resource curse and institutional quality in oil countries," MPRA Paper 16456, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Mar 2009.

    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:hal:journl:halshs-02157588. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.