The ‘Resource Curse’: Theory and Evidence

Mineral and fuel abundance does not determine either the political or economic trajectory of less developed countries.

This paper undertakes a critical survey of the ‘resource curse’ –the idea that mineral and fuel abundance generates poor economic performance in less developed countries–. It examines the proposition that mineral and fuel abundance generates growth-restricting forms of state intervention and extraordinarily large degrees of rent-seeking and corruption, which are generally argued to be negative in terms of the economic growth outcomes they generate. The analysis surveys the Dutch Disease, rentier state, and rent-seeking versions of the resource curse and finds they have significant shortcomings in terms of both theory and evidence. It also discusses particular growth strategies that have been effective in producing long-run economic growth in mineral- and fuel-abundant developing countries.