The wealth derived from natural resources can have a tremendous impact on the economics and politics of producing countries. In the last quarter century, we hav

The "resource curse," or "paradox of plenty," refers to the long-established notion central in development economics that countries rich in natural resources, p

This paper presents a critical survey of the literature on the "resource curse", focusing on three main questions: (i) are natural resources bad for development

It is widely believed that natural mineral resources are desirable. However there is growing evidence that this may not always be the case. Indeed, it seems tha

When countries discover that they possess large deposits of oil and natural gas, the news is usually welcome. Yet, paradoxically, if they rely on their wealth o