1. Introduction; 2. Three puzzles and some building blocks; 3. Intellectual heritage of the institutions curse view; 4. The institutions curse; 5. Not manna from heaven after all: the endogeneity of oil; 6. The resource blessing; 7. Whither the Arab Spring?; 8. Conclusions
The ʽresource curseʼ is the view that countries with extensive natural resources tend to suffer from a host of undesirable outcomes, including the weakening of state capacity, authoritarianism, fewer public goods, war, and economic stagnation. This book debunks this view, arguing that there is an ʽinstitutions curseʼ rather than a resource curse. Legacies endemic to the developing world have impelled many countries to develop natural resources as a default sector in lieu of cultivating modern and diversified economies, and.