THE RENTIER PREDATORY STATE HYPOTHESIS: AN EMPIRICAL EXPLANATION OF THE RESOURCE CURSE

Khalid R. Alkhater ()
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Khalid R. Alkhater: Qatar Central Bank and Georgetown University, Qatar

Journal of Economic Development, 2012, vol. 37, issue 4, 29-60

Abstract: This paper introduces an empirical growth model that explains the perplexing observed growth resource regime dubbed the resource curse. The main hypothesis advanced in this paper, the rentier predatory state hypothesis, holds that under autocracy, the interaction between political power and resource abundance is expected to lead to poor economic outcomes in the long run. In the empirical model, resource abundance is allowed to interact with political repression to generate a negative impact on economic growth. Depending on the extent of the repression, a state dependent on natural resources (a rentier state) can also become a predatory state, i.e., a rentier predatory state, or, in other words, a rentier state with a high rate of political repression. The resulting net effect of resource abundance on economic growth is contingent on the extent of the repression, and a resource-abundant state with a sufficiently high rate of political repression will have negative economic growth, while a state with a low to moderate rate of political repression will have positive economic growth.

Keywords: Rentier Predatory State; Political Repression; Economic Growth; Resource Curse; Developing Countries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 O40 P16 P26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:jed:journl:v:37:y:2012:i:4:p:29-60

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