Natural resource abundance is a blessing for some countries, but a curse for othes. We show that differences across countries in the degree of fiscal decentralisation can contribute to this divergent outcome. First, the paper presents a unified theory that combines political and market...

This paper investigates the scope for international rules to address market failures in trade in natural resources and the associated international transactions of prospecting and investment in resource exploitation. We argue that several market failures are likely to have substantial costs....

This paper provides an overview of the relationships between natural resources, governance, and economic performance. The relationships run in both directions, with resources potentially altering the quality of governance, and governance being particularly important for resource poor countries....

Countries with substantial revenues from renewable resources face a complex range of revenue management issues. What is the optimal time profile of consumption from the revenue, and how much should be saved? Should saving be invested in foreign funds or in the domestic economy? How does...

This paper examines the effect of natural resources on the level of democracy in a set of countries. The main model is a fixed effects regression model, where the focus is on within-country variation over time. The effect of different resources is investigated, namely the effect of oil, diamonds...

In recent years economists have recognized that, along with physical and human capital, environmental resources should be viewed as important economic assets, which can be called natural capital. However, the services provided by natural capital are unique. They include the use of resources for...

The UAE is blessed with vast deposits of oil and gas. Contrary to other oil-rich economies, the UAE seems to have escaped from the so-called “oil curse”. We study how the UAE used resource rents to achieve economic development and provide higher welfare for the local population. We identify,...

Studies of the resource curse as it affects African states abound, yet few deal specifically with the experiences of South Africa. The inability of countries to convert natural resource wealth into income and improved development measures remains highly pertinent and is especially apparent in...

This paper extends the concept of the resource curse by studying whether and through which transmission channels natural resource wealth affects social spending. Even though the availability of vast natural capital reserves has commonly been linked to the neglect of human development, most of...