Local content policies, natural resource governance, and development in the Global South

Abstract

Natural resource governance is part of a larger emphasis that the World Bank and other Bretton Woods institutions have placed on the good governance agenda. While many important critiques have been made of this agenda, natural resource governance must be seen in the light of the history of the resource curse. The “resource curse” is a catch-all term used to explain low levels of economic growth, a lack of industrial development, authoritarian and repressive regimes, violence, corruption, and civil war. While the existence of the curse is hotly debated, the proposition that different economic policies produce different development outcomes can be made without reservation. Consequent to this postulate, resource governance is important precisely because of the role of state policy in fostering both positive and negative developmental outcomes.