The Political Economy of the Resource Curse
1999/01/01 by Michael L. Ross · 1,995 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Engineering · Social Sciences · #Curse #Development economics #Economic system #Economics #Harm #International Development and Aid #Law #Mining and Resource Management #Natural Resources and Economic Development #Natural resource #Neoclassical economics #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Positive economics #Resource (disambiguation) #Resource curse #Sociology #State (computer science)
paper · doi:10.1017/s0043887100008200
published in World Politics 51(2), 297-322 (Cambridge University Press)
openalex publication_date 1999/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
Abstract
How does a state's natural resource wealth influence its economic development? For the past fifty years, versions of this question have been explored by both economists and political scientists. New research suggests that resource wealth tends to harm economic growth, yet there is little agreement on why this occurs. This article reviews a wide range of recent attempts in both economics and political science to explain the “resource curse.” It suggests that much has been learned about the economic problems of resource exporters but less is known about their political problems. The disparity between strong findings on economic matters and weak findings on political ones partly reflects the failure of political scientists to carefully test their own theories.
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