Boon or bane: Examining divergent development outcomes among oil- and mineral-dependent countries in the Global South

Abstract

Under neoliberal conditions that privilege foreign investors and call for the retreat of the state, some oil- and mineral-dependent countries in the Global South outperform others. To investigate what accounts for this variation in economic development among these countries, this study tests hypotheses derived from resource curse and dependency/world systems literatures using a dataset of 36 oil- and mineral-dependent countries in the Global South from 1984 through 2010 and panel methods of data analysis. The results show that state capacity and debt dependence shape uneven development outcomes among these countries. The implications for resource curse and dependency/world systems theories are discussed.

Labor, Agency, and State‐building in Trinidad and Tobago: Toward a Postcolonial Sociological Approach to Development

“…While the British conceded to labor's demands for less repressive legislation and political inclusion, these movements were not of the Trinidad and Tobago type. Sectoral and ethnoracial divisions resulted in benefits for select groups of workers, as opposed to broad gains for the working class as a whole (Edwards, ). Furthermore, during decolonization and the first decades of independence, many African labor movements did not remain politically independent of political parties and the state (Cooper, ).…”

The Dynamics of Industrial Development in a Resource-Rich Developing Society: A Political Economy Analysis

“…During the last three decades, the resource curse thesis has come to dominate the analyses of economic development in resource-rich countries (Auty, 2017; for more critical perspectives, see Edwards, 2017a; Saad-Filho & Weeks, 2013). Analysts have claimed this so-called resource curse to be responsible for the weak manufacturing capacity and lackluster industrial performance of countries with large resource sectors.…”

“…This approach reveals how countries are not locked into specific development paths. Rather, development is a complex and multi-causal process shaped by specific social-institutional configurations, policies that emerge from the complex interaction of domestic and external forces, and economic structures that prevail in a society and in turn help determine political and economic outcomes often not considered in the resource curse literature (Amsden, 2009; Breznitz & Ornston, 2016; Edwards, 2017a; Mohan, Asante, & Abdulai, 2017; Ovadia & Wolf, 2017).…”

“…In the case of Trinidad and Tobago (hereafter T&T), recent studies have suggested that reliance on petroleum and gas resources have weakened manufacturing growth and diminished innovation (Artana, Auguste, Ramiro, Sookram, & Watson, 2007; Khadan, 2016). Critics challenge these conclusions by invoking the agential role that the organized labor played in the country’s governance and human development (Edwards, 2017a, 2017b). The dominance of mainstream and certain structural explanations have neglected the process of institution-building and the role of social actors in catalyzing important investments in the science and technology infrastructure needed for industrial development in T&T (some examples are Best, 2012; Farrell, 2012; Mottley, 2008; for exceptions, see Barclay, 2004, 2015).…”

“…This article challenges these perspectives and relies upon a multilevel political economy approach to explain varying patterns of growth and industrial development in a developing country like T&T (Edwards, 2017b; Jessop, 2015; Migdal, 1988; Ngo, 2016). It examines how state capacity and a certain form of “developmental state” emerged to promote industrialization in T&T, reinforced by a favorable international climate and buoyant commodity prices.…”