Examining the ‘blessing’ effects of natural resource endowments on economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean

The implications of the natural resources “curse” hypothesis are enormous for the design of economic policies, and an erroneous appreciation of this phenomenon can lead to poor decision-making with disastrous impacts on the regional economy. This study presents new evidence regarding this hypothesis...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Le Clech, Néstor Adrián
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/182221
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/182221
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10663-025-09657-z
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Non-renewable resources
Natural resource ‘curse’ hypothesis
Latin America and the Caribbean economies
Human and physical capital accumulation
Natural resource wealth and economic growth
Descripción
Sumario:The implications of the natural resources “curse” hypothesis are enormous for the design of economic policies, and an erroneous appreciation of this phenomenon can lead to poor decision-making with disastrous impacts on the regional economy. This study presents new evidence regarding this hypothesis for the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region measuring the impact on the region’s economic growth. The long- and short-run elasticities are estimated, and both the abundance and dependence effects are measured through different variables. The evidence indicates that this hypothesis is not validated for the region and that the main drivers of growth continue to be traditional factors, such as the accumulation of human and physical capital. To a lesser extent, both renewable and non-renewable natural resources also positively impact economic growth. Our study confirms a ‘blessing’ effect from these resources.