Resource Rents Research Articles

The relationship between natural resource rents and gender discrimination laws: evidence from panel data analysis

PurposeThis study investigates the impact of hydrocarbon rents on gender discrimination laws and the extent to which democratic institutions and women’s political participation condition this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses static and dynamic panel estimation including pooled-ordinary least squares, fixed and random effects and system generalized method of moments.FindingsThe results show that countries with higher hydrocarbon rents have higher levels of gender discrimination laws. Furthermore, there is a significant link between hydrocarbon rents and gender discrimination laws regardless of the quality of democratic institutions or strength of women’s political empowerment.Research limitations/implicationsThe index of gender discrimination laws is limited to laws that impact a woman’s access to employment and entrepreneurial activity once a woman enters the labor force and does not take into account implementation of the laws.Practical implicationsPolicymakers should promote output and export diversification and adopt gender-inclusive policies to counter the adverse consequences of gender discrimination laws associated with hydrocarbon resource wealth.Originality/valueWomen’s empowerment is a major issue on the global development agenda, featuring most notably in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 on achieving women equality and empowerment of women and girls. There is scant evidence about how hydrocarbon rents impact gender discrimination laws, a pervasive obstacle to women’s economic and political empowerment. This paper fills this gap in the literature paper by examining the effect of hydrocarbon rents on gender discrimination laws.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-02-2024-0174

Navigating the path to environmental sustainability: Insights from CIVETS on the intersection of ICT diffusion, natural resources, and green technological innovation.

The rapid technological and economic growth in CIVETS countries poses challenges to environmental sustainability. This study explores the intricate relationships between Information and Communication Technology (ICT), natural resource usage, and green innovation in these economies. Employing advanced statistical models uncovers long-term and short-term patterns, providing valuable insights for policymakers, stakeholders, and scholars. Key findings reveal that ICT diffusion can potentially reduce carbon emissions, while natural resource rent is linked to increased ecological footprints. Conversely, green technological innovation is promising in alleviating environmental degradation. The study underscores the importance of comprehensive policies integrating ICT diffusion, sustainable resource management, and green innovation. To achieve environmental sustainability, the study recommends responsible natural resource extraction, fiscal incentives for green innovation, digital tools for environmental monitoring, and international collaboration. Public awareness and sustainable urbanization practices guided by ICT are also crucial. These insights help policymakers balance economic development with ecological preservation in the CIVETS nations.

Reinvestigating the impact of natural resource rents on carbon emissions: Novel insights from geopolitical risks and economic complexity

Understanding the relationship between natural resource rents and carbon emissions is crucial for achieving a balance between economic development and environmental sustainability. This study reinvestigates the impact of natural resource rents on carbon emissions and explores the threshold effects of geopolitical risks and economic complexity, aiming to provide a more comprehensive understanding of their relationship. Based on an empirical analysis of panel data from 38 countries between 1995 and 2021, the conclusions are as follows. (i) The panel ARDL estimation results reveal that natural resource rents increase carbon emissions over the long term, with this finding remaining robust after addressing endogeneity. (ii) The DPTR model results indicate that natural resource rents have a non-linear impact on carbon emissions, shaped by geopolitical risks and economic complexity. As geopolitical risks escalate, the effect of resource rents on carbon emissions shifts from a reduction to an increase. On the contrary, rising economic complexity reverses this impact, causing natural resource rents to reduce carbon emissions. (iii) Heterogeneity analysis results demonstrate that only the impact of oil and natural gas rents on carbon emissions is affected by high geopolitical risks. Additionally, in contexts of high economic complexity, oil, natural gas, and forest rents help reduce carbon emissions, while coal and mineral rents have a negative impact. Finally, policy implications for global resource management and environmental sustainability that combine geopolitical risk and economic complexity are proposed.

Interregional Inequality in Russia and Post-Soviet Countries in the 21st Century

The article analyzes the level and dynamics of interregional inequality in Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus versus other European countries based on data from official statistics of CIS countries (1995–2022) and Eurostat (2011–2022). The Gini coefficient, weighted by population and normalized depending on the number of territorial units, is used as the main assessment parameter. In Belarus and European Union countries, the level of interregional inequality is lower, associated with high and more uniform development of the territory and a more stable economic structure. In Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the level of interregional inequality is higher and its dynamics are multidirectional, associated with the influence of resource rent on a limited number of regions. In Russia and Uzbekistan since the late 2010s, inequality has grown, decreased in Kazakhstan, and was small and stable in Belarus due to the peculiarities of the economic structure and institutional factors of development. Assessments of the impact of macroeconomic dynamics on interregional inequality have not provided clear evidence of its impact. The impact of the state’s redistribution policy can only be assessed for Russia: a significant increase in transfers during the crises of 2009 and 2020 contributed to mitigating inequality. Within Russian federal districts, differentiation is generally lower. High inequality is characteristic of the extremely heterogeneous Ural Federal District and Central Federal District, where it has been declining in recent years. In the Far Eastern Federal District, regional differentiation grew, and its gradual increase also occurred in the regions of the Northwestern Federal District.

Natural resource use, industrialization and climate change in Africa: Blueprints for sustainable regional development

Climate crisis continue to animate environmental policy debate and remains a fundamental global concern. While natural resources use and industrialization are main drivers of climate change especially in developing countries like Africa, previous empirical studies have failed to analyze the simultaneous effect of both on climate change. To close this gap, the current study investigates the relationship between natural resources use, industrialization and climate change in Africa. Specifically, this study analyzes the effect of natural resources rents and value added in manufacturing on carbon dioxide emissions. Addressing these issues is important, as the implications of natural resources extraction and industrial development on environmental sustainability cannot be underestimated. This paper is very relevant because of the limited research on comprehensive frameworks that integrate natural resources use with industrialization policies specific to Africa. Using data from 2005 to 2022 for 45 African countries obtained from the African Infrastructural and World Bank databases, and employing the Cross-Sectional Feasible Generalized Least Squares, Driscoll-Kraay effects, Dynamic Driscoll-Kraay effects and Panel Quantile on Quantile regression techniques, the empirical findings revealed that natural resources rents and industrialization adversely contribute to climate change in Africa. Quantitative results show that a 1% increase in natural resource rents increased carbon dioxide emissions by 0.000103% for both Feasible Generalized Least Squares and Driscoll-Kraay estimates and by 0.00813% for the Dynamic Driscoll-Kraay estimates. Furthermore, a 1% increase in value added in manufacturing led to a 0.377% increase in carbon dioxide emissions for both Feasible Generalized Least Squares and Driscoll-Kraay estimates and a 0.157% increase for Dynamic Driscoll-Kraay estimates. The result also shows that the effect of natural resource extraction and industrialization on climate change become negative at both the 25% quantile and 50% quantile. However, this turning point becomes nullified at the 75% and at 90% quantiles. Africa should adopt a green path to natural resource use and industrialization.

Environmental degradation in geopolitical risk and uncertainty contexts for India: A comparison of ecological footprint, CO2 emissions, and load capacity factor

This study assesses the role of geopolitical risk and uncertainty in the degradation of the environment by forming the functions for ecological footprint, CO2 emissions, and load capacity factor for the period 1990-2019 in India. Besides, the specified function endogenizes economic growth, renewable energy consumption, and natural resource rent as the additional covariates. The use of the autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) confirms the long-run relationship between study variables. Further, the dynamic simulations of the autoregressive distributed lag model (DYNARDL) outcomes show that geopolitical risk improves the quality of the environment by reducing the ecological footprint and CO2 emissions. However, it degrades the environment by reducing the load capacity factor. Furthermore, the uncertainty improves the environmental quality by reducing the CO2 emissions and ecological footprint, but the reduced load capacity factor due to uncertainty implies the degradation of environmental quality in India. Given these findings, the study proposes different environmental conservation policies.

The Resource Curse Across Economies: A Comparative Analysis of Developed and Developing Resource-Rich Countries

This study investigates the relationship between natural resource rents and economic growth, focusing on a diverse sample of developed and developing economies. Using panel data (1998–2021) and robust estimation methods, it examines the roles of institutional quality, governance, economic diversification, and global demand in shaping outcomes across varying contexts. The findings reveal that the impact of resource rents on growth is complex, differing by resource type, income group, and governance quality. The resource curse is not inevitable; its negative effects are most pronounced in oil-dependent countries with poor governance and limited diversification. In contrast, gas and mineral rents provide more stable growth opportunities when effectively managed. Strong governance and diversification are essential to mitigate risks and maximize the benefits of resource rents. While stable global demand minimizes the impact of fuel price fluctuations on growth, mineral price volatility hampers growth in high- and low-income countries but not in middle-income ones, reflecting varying levels of dependency and resilience. This study’s key contribution lies in addressing the existing gap in the literature by analyzing the impact of resource rents across a diverse set of countries, integrating both developed and developing economies. To our knowledge, only a limited number of studies use mixed samples that encompass both. By doing so, this study provides a more comprehensive understanding of the heterogeneous effects of resource dependence, highlighting the role of institutional quality and economic structures across varying levels of development

Sustainable Development in ASEAN-5: Renewable Energy, Natural Resources Rent and Economic Globalization

Sustainable Development in ASEAN-5: Renewable Energy, Natural Resources Rent and Economic Globalization

Green Technological Advances and Resource Rents as Levers for Carbon Reduction in BRICS: Implications for SDGs 7, 8, 9, 12, and 13

ABSTRACTIn recent decades, rapid development in emerging economies has heightened climate challenges, threatening environmental sustainability and quality. In response, green energy, technological innovation, and carbon pricing strategies have emerged as key tools for environmental mitigation and promoting green economic growth. These strategies are integral to the goals of COP 27, the 2030 SDGs, and the pledge to reach carbon neutrality by 2060. However, the BRICS economic bloc faces significant obstacles in balancing socio‐economic growth with environmental sustainability. This study intentions to inspect the impact of natural resource rents, research and development (R&D) expenditures, green energy, green technological innovation, and economic growth on carbon emissions in BRICS economies from 1995 to 2021. Using a cross‐sectional ARDL model, the study explores relationships between these variables, employing advanced panel methods to account for CSD and heterogeneity. The empirical findings reveal that research and development expenditure, green energy, and green technological innovation contribute to CO2 emission reductions by 0.329%, 0.211%, and 0.148%, respectively. In contrast, a 1% increase in economic growth and natural resource rents corresponds to a substantial 0.499% and 0.840% upsurge in CO2 emissions. The Dumitrescu and Hurlin panel causality test also highlights reciprocal causal relationships among the variables. Based on these findings, the study recommends policy actions to achieve SDG targets: enforce stricter CO2 emissions regulations for SDG‐13, increase renewable energy investment for SDG‐07, support green innovation for SDG‐08, enhance R&D for SDG‐09, and promote circular economy practices for SDG‐12.

Why do some populist presidents erode liberal democratic institutions more than others in Latin America?

ABSTRACT This paper contributes to the current literature on the relationship between populist rule and liberal democracy by conducting quantitative research with a time-series cross-sectional dataset covering 18 Latin American countries from 1991 to 2017. The findings reveal an overall negative correlation between populist rule and the quality of liberal democratic institutions, highlighting their inherent incompatibility. Nevertheless, this paper argues that several factors influence the governing populists' ability to erode liberal democracy. Specifically, it is observed that the negative impact of populist rule on the quality of liberal democratic institutions is amplified in the presence of higher levels of natural resource rents and lower levels of industrial employment and financial development. Moreover, it is found that the impact of these moderating variables on the relationship between populist rule and liberal democracy is contingent upon the ideological orientation of governing populists.

Could Africa leapfrog to a low-carbon future? Evidence on the nexus between environmental tax, foreign direct investment, resource dependence, and technological progress

The devastating impact of climate change has intensified discussions on balancing sustainable economic growth with environmental sustainability achievement. To contribute to the discourse, this study explores how environmental tax, foreign investment, natural resource (NRR), and technological innovation impact Sub-Saharan Africa's efforts towards a low-carbon future. Using data from 1995 to 2019 and advanced methodologies (Cross Sectional Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag, and Method of Moments Quantile Regression), the results showed that environmental taxes effectively minimize carbon emissions. FDI in the short run causes carbon emissions to rise slowly but causes a significant reduction in the long run. An increase in natural resources rent was found to cause damage to the environment significantly while technological innovation in the long run demonstrates a significant reduction in carbon emissions. The MMQR results confirm environmental tax significantly reduced CO2 emissions in all the quantiles. FDI and Technology in the long run cause a reduction in CO2 emissions while natural resource rent causes environmental destruction in all the quantiles. We recommend that policymakers introduce more carbon tax policies, establish sub-regional carbon offset markets, and prioritize the development of clean energy infrastructure.

Competing with Theories: Using Awareness and Confidence to Secure Resources and Rents

An assumption of factor market efficiency is often used to grant primacy to firms’ existing unique and valuable resources as the source of economic rents. But this assumption is difficult to reconcile with observed market outcomes. For instance, five of the six companies with the highest global market capitalization in 2022 were upstarts in their industries with few resources at their origins. More surprising, three of these entrants were assisted by incumbents with vastly superior resources in assembling the resources they required. In this paper we explore how entrants compete with theories to secure resources from incumbents and capture rents. We introduce a modeling approach in which theories with causal logic generate awareness of valuable potential future states and shape the beliefs about payoffs and probabilities associated with these states. We combine work in the theory-based view and value capture theory to distinguish among three distinct sources of economic rents that are potentially available to entrants: awareness rents, confidence rents, and resource rents. We explore the circumstances under which these three types of rents are available. By exploring the role of theories and awareness in value creation and capture, our paper seeks to deepen our understanding of how entrants both attract resources and secure rents. Funding: T. Zenger was supported by the ION Management Science Lab, Utah.

The role of green finance and natural resources rent in eradicating energy poverty – the case of the Sub-Saharan African countries

This research addresses energy poverty in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, emphasizing improved access to clean cooking electricity and technologies in urban areas. Urbanization in the SSA region has intensified the problem, with informal settlements relying on traditional and polluting cooking methods, causing indoor air pollution, environmental damage, and economic struggles. The research employs the Methods of Moments Quantile Regression with fixed effects to assess the factors that enhance access to clean energy and technologies for cooking in the urban areas. The data of forty-four SSA countries during the timeframe spanning 2004 to 2020 is used. This research adds to the growing body of literature on how energy poverty can be eradicated, considering the few studies that has been done to address this issue. Specifically, the effect of green finance and financial development on energy poverty has not been widely done, thus this research covers the literature gap present. The major results of this research depicts that financial development, government effectiveness, natural resources rents and technological innovations are fundamental in improving access to clean electricity in the urban areas of the SSA nations. We also show that economic growth, foreign direct investment and green finance are counterproductive in fostering the access to clean electricity in this region. This research show that the resource curse hypothesis does not hold in the SSA countries in the context of energy poverty. The major policies presented in this research calls for the developing countries to promote financial development, technological innovations and natural resource rents in alleviating energy poverty. Corruption levels and political instability in these countries should be reduced.

Resource shocks, firm obstacles, and local business in Africa

AbstractThe negative correlation between growth and natural resource abundance is widely studied in the resource curse literature. We add to this literature by examining the heterogeneous effect of resource rents on the obstacles faced by different sized firms. We find small firms experience more setbacks across a range of categories—including corruption—in response to positive exogenous resource shocks while large firms tend to benefit. These results are robust across a number of specifications as well as a placebo analysis where resource shocks are randomly assigned. Our findings contribute to our understanding of how resource rents exacerbate the existing difficulties faced by small firms in the developing world.

How does technological innovation moderate the environmental impacts of economic growth, natural resource rents and trade openness?

The objective of this study is to unravel the linear impacts of economic growth, technological innovation, natural resource rents and trade openness on carbon emissions in Malaysia during 1980–2021. It also unveils the moderating role of technological innovation on the impacts of economic growth, natural resource rents and trade openness on carbon emissions. It further analyses the nonlinear relationship between technological innovation and carbon emissions. It estimates the parameters with the Autoregressive Distributed Lag model technique. The results of the linear model reveal that economic growth, natural resource rents and trade openness contributes to carbon emissions while technological innovation mitigates carbon emissions. The disaggregated analysis of natural resource rents indicates that oil rents, natural gas rents and coal rents intensify carbon emissions while mineral rents and forest rents do not contribute to carbon emissions. The disaggregated analysis of trade openness shows that exports worsen carbon emissions while imports have tenuous effect. The disaggregated analysis of technological innovation indicates that innovation by non-residents mitigate carbon emissions while innovation by residents do not alleviate carbon emissions. Moreover, evidence from the interaction model reveals that technological innovation can favourably mitigate the adverse impacts of economic growth and trade openness on carbon emissions albeit it cannot alleviate the impact of natural resource rents on carbon emissions. Besides, the nonlinear model indicates a U-shaped relationship between technological innovation and carbon emissions. Unlike previous studies that typically focused on the direct impacts of these variables, this study unravels the impacts of the disaggregated components as well as provides insights into the moderating and nonlinear effects of technological innovation on carbon emissions. The implication of this study is that efforts to achieve a carbon-neutral economy should consider the direct and indirect impacts of economic growth, technological innovation, natural resource rents and trade openness. It is recommended for Malaysia to encourage technological innovation in her quest to abate the adverse environmental impacts of economic activities.

Combining the pieces: identifying key determinants of export diversification in Africa amidst model uncertainty

AbstractExport diversification can be a driver of economic growth. Policies to diversify exports attempt to defy an existing comparative advantage in low-value-added goods to promote transformation. Many structural, general policy, and trade-related variables have been identified as important drivers of diversification. This article reviews the literature on the determinants of export diversification and applies Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) to empirically tackle model uncertainty stemming from many possible determinants. It assesses the relevance and impact of up to 46 drivers of export diversification for up to 47 African countries and 123 trading partners from 1995 to 2018. It finds that African countries’ structural features are especially influential in determining export diversification, a potential explanation for Africa’s more concentrated export baskets compared to other world regions. Furthermore, trade policies, like tariffs and regional integration, are critical in promoting export diversification. These findings underscore the AfCFTA’s potential to foster export diversification across African economies. A diverse set of non-trade-related policy variables also significantly affect export diversification. Factors such as institutions, education, service sector, resource rents, financial development, FDI and exchange rate stability are relevant determinants in different settings. Moreover, the analysis shows that whom you trade with is also important for diversification, and that context-specific differences, such as specific regional integration contexts or type of commodity-dependence, matter. The results suggest that the goals to diversify exports at the extensive margin for structural change and the intensive margin to tackle volatility, seem often not achievable via the same policies.

Impact of natural resource rents on global trade dynamics in RCEP: Economic and geopolitical interdependencies

This research analyzes the impact of natural resource revenues on global economic trends in the RCEP countries, emphasizing the importance of resource exploitation in the financial development process. The work explores complex interdependencies between resource extraction, geopolitical risk, economic environment, and trade relationships. Energy efficiency, geopolitical risk, and GDP are the control variables. These findings highlight the importance of natural resource rents, GDP, geopolitical risk, and energy conservation on the trade structure of the RCEP trading partners. Quantile regression studies show the negative effect of oil revenues on world trade, thus providing evidence of the multifaceted link between natural resource earnings and trade outcomes. The findings underscore the significance of policymakers and businesses understanding these interrelated links and their implications for global trade relations. The report offers policy directions for RCEP countries to foster sustainable economic development and enhance export competitiveness. These recommendations aim to further the resource sector's growth, financial infrastructure, and managing geopolitical risks.

Analyzing the Impact of Natural Resource Rents, Green Finance and Digital Finance on Environmental Quality: Evidence from Developing Countries

Analyzing the Impact of Natural Resource Rents, Green Finance and Digital Finance on Environmental Quality: Evidence from Developing Countries

Natural resources and nuclear energy development: Does political stability matter?

Policymakers all around the globe are focusing on the factors that can contribute to ecological sustainability. Nuclear energy is considered a sustainable and low-carbon energy source. Therefore, finding the factors that can contribute to nuclear energy development is crucial. The analysis aims to estimate the influence of natural resource rents and political stability on nuclear energy development. To obtain the estimates of these variables, we employ the CS-ARDL and PMG-ARDL methods using panel data from 1996 to 2021. The results of these methods indicate that natural resource rents hurt nuclear energy development, while political stability contributes positively to increasing investment in nuclear energy in the long run only. The controlling factors, such as economic growth and trade, also hinder nuclear growth, and financial development is instrumental in fostering nuclear energy. The short-run estimates appear to be insignificant for most of the variables. In light of these findings, we suggest that policymakers should enhance the share of nuclear energy in the energy mix via the channels of political stability and natural resource rents.

A Threshold Effect of Financial Development on Natural Resource Rents-Sustainable Human Development Nexus: Empirical Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan African (SSA) nations are falling behind in human development when compared to other regions globally, despite their abundant natural resources. Several Sub-Saharan African states have an underdeveloped financial structure, leading to underutilization of natural resource profits for human development. This research examines how the level of financial development impacts the relationship between natural resource rents and sustainable human development in 40 SSA countries from 2005 to 2019. This research used the dynamic panel threshold (DPT) approach, an advanced econometric methodology designed to address concerns often seen in panel data such as endogeneity, cross-sectional dependence, and heterogeneity. The cointegration findings showed a long-term association among the variables. The dynamic panel threshold analysis showed that natural resource rent had a detrimental influence on human capital development when financial development was below a certain threshold. Conversely, the outcomes were different when financial development exceeded the threshold. Financial system progress in Sub-Saharan African states considerably uses resource windfalls to improve sustainable human development. This research conducted robustness tests by using alternative estimates excluding outlier sample countries and extra proxies. The conclusions remained unchanged. Policy suggestions were introduced to enhance the financial sector and improve institutional quality in order to ensure sustainable growth in the SSA area.