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Can Ethnic Divisions Explain Poor Economic Growth in Resource Rich Countries? The Case of the Middle East

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  • Acar-Burkay, Sinem

Abstract

This paper addresses the question of the effects of ethnic diversity on economic growth. It extends the cross-country growth regressions in Easterly and Levine (1997) by allowing for growth effects of natural resources to depend on the amount of ethnic fractionalization to see if ethnic diversity, natural resource abundance, and the interaction of the two can explain Middle Eastern Countries' poor economic performance. And, the answer is found to be “yes”: The resource curse applies in ethnically heterogeneous countries but not in homogenous ones.

Suggested Citation

  • Acar-Burkay, Sinem, 2026. "Can Ethnic Divisions Explain Poor Economic Growth in Resource Rich Countries? The Case of the Middle East," SocArXiv mkq3e_v1, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:mkq3e_v1
    DOI: 10.31235/osf.io/mkq3e_v1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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