Natural Resources and the 'Quality' of Economic Development

Vittorio Daniele

Journal of Development Studies, 2011, vol. 47, issue 4, 545-573

Abstract: Are natural resources a 'blessing' or a 'curse' for human development? This article attempts to answer the question by distinguishing between a 'dependence' on natural resources and an 'abundance' of the same. Dependence is measured in terms of exports of metals and fuel, while resource abundance is calculated on the basis of the subsoil assets per square kilometre and per capita. Results show the existence of a negative correlation between metals and ore exports and human development, while subsoil assets measures are, rather, positively related. These effects are particularly significant in countries with a comparatively lower institutional quality. The cases of Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea, briefly examined, suggest, however, that the effects of natural resources on human and economic development can be very different, and strictly related to specific national political and institutional characteristics.

Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (37)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220388.2010.506915 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:47:y:2011:i:4:p:545-573

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/FJDS20

DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2010.506915

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Development Studies is currently edited by Howard White, Oliver Morrissey and Ken Shadlen

More articles in Journal of Development Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().