Book contents
- Understanding and Avoiding the Oil Curse in Resource-rich Arab Economies
- Understanding and Avoiding the Oil Curse in Resource-rich Arab Economies
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Overview of Context, Issues and Summary
- 2 The Global Impact of the Systemic Economies and MENA Business Cycles1
- 3 Real Exchange Rates and Export Performance in Oil-dependent Arab Economies*
- 4 Dutch Disease in the Services Sector
- 5 The Political Economy of Public Sector Employment in Resource-dependent Countries1
- 6 The Oil Curse and Labor Markets
- 7 Resource Rents, Political Institutions and Economic Growth*
- 8 Fiscal Institutions in Resource-rich Economies
- 9 Savings and Investment Decisions from Natural Resource Revenues
- 10 Labor Market Heterogeneity and Optimal Exchange Rate Regimes in Resource-rich Arab Countries
- 11 The Institutional Curse of Natural Resources in the Arab World1
- 12 Has the UAE Escaped the Oil Curse?
- 13 Understanding and Avoiding the Oil Curse in Sudan
- Index
- References
11 - The Institutional Curse of Natural Resources in the Arab World1
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2016
- Understanding and Avoiding the Oil Curse in Resource-rich Arab Economies
- Understanding and Avoiding the Oil Curse in Resource-rich Arab Economies
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Overview of Context, Issues and Summary
- 2 The Global Impact of the Systemic Economies and MENA Business Cycles1
- 3 Real Exchange Rates and Export Performance in Oil-dependent Arab Economies*
- 4 Dutch Disease in the Services Sector
- 5 The Political Economy of Public Sector Employment in Resource-dependent Countries1
- 6 The Oil Curse and Labor Markets
- 7 Resource Rents, Political Institutions and Economic Growth*
- 8 Fiscal Institutions in Resource-rich Economies
- 9 Savings and Investment Decisions from Natural Resource Revenues
- 10 Labor Market Heterogeneity and Optimal Exchange Rate Regimes in Resource-rich Arab Countries
- 11 The Institutional Curse of Natural Resources in the Arab World1
- 12 Has the UAE Escaped the Oil Curse?
- 13 Understanding and Avoiding the Oil Curse in Sudan
- Index
- References
Summary
This paper argues that the resource curse in the Arab world is primarily an “institutional curse,” even though it has several macroeconomic manifestations. An empirical investigation, using an augmented growth model, confirms the conditional resource curse hypothesis. The results suggest that on their own, political institutions do not always have an effect on growth but, when interacted with natural resources, they reduce the negative effect of natural resources on growth but do not offset it. The analysis also shows that the curse has operated in different ways within the Arab World. In the GCC, large rents per capita have been channeled to national citizens in the form of well-remunerated public sector jobs and other generous social welfare schemes which have served to increase government legitimacy and foster regime stability. In contrast, the populous group comprising poorer rentier states have experienced conflict, violence and social unrest. Moreover, in a context of low rent per capita, excessive consumption resulted in massive deficiencies in infrastructure investments and an underdeveloped financial sector. Finally, the volatility of their limited resources has been accompanied by more dire economic consequences: excessive borrowing and Dutch Disease.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2016
References
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