PRIO Network

Peer-reviewed-Journal-Article
Cursed by Resources or Institutions?
Moene, Karl Ove;Mehlum, Halvor; & Torvik, Ragnar (2006) Cursed by Resources or Institutions? , World Economy 29(8): 1117–1131.

Natural resource-abundant countries constitute both growth losers and growth winners, and the main difference between the success cases and the cases of failure lies in the quality of institutions. With grabber-friendly institutions more natural resources push aggregate income down, while with producer-friendly institutions more natural resources increase income. Such a theory finds strong support in data. A key question we also discuss is if resources in addition alter the quality of institutions. When that is the case, countries with bad institutions suffer a double resource curse - as the deterioration of institutions strengthens the negative effect of more natural resources.

Halvor Mehlum

Halvor Mehlum

Research Economist, Department of Economics, University of Oslo


halvor.mehlum@econ.uio.no

Karl Ove Moene

Karl Ove Moene

Working Group Leader: Conflict and Economic Performance. Professor of Economics, University of Oslo

22547700
k.o.moene@econ.uio.no

Ragnar Torvik

Ragnar Torvik

Professor of Economics NTNU

4773591420
ragnar.torvik@svt.ntnu.no