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Oxford Economic Papers Advance Access originally published online on July 29, 2009
Oxford Economic Papers 2009 61(4):651-674; doi:10.1093/oep/gpp024
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© Oxford University Press 2009 All rights reserved

This article appears in the following Oxford Economic Papers issue: Symposium on Resource Rich Economies [View the issue table of contents]

Natural resources and violent conflict: resource abundance, dependence, and the onset of civil wars

Christa N. Brunnschweiler* and Erwin H. Bulte{dagger}

*CER-ETH Center of Economic Research at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and OxCarre, University of Oxford; e-mail: cbrunnschweiler{at}ethz.ch
{dagger}Development Economics Group, Wageningen University, De Leeuwenborch, Hollandseweg 1, 6706 KN Wageningen, and Department of Economics, Tilburg University, Netherlands; e-mail: Erwin.bulte{at}wur.nl

JEL classifications: Q34, O11, N40, N50


  Abstract

In this paper we examine the claim that natural resources invite civil conflict, and challenge the main stylized facts in this literature. We find that the conventional measure of resource dependence is endogenous with respect to conflict, and that instrumenting for dependence implies that it is no longer significant in conflict regressions. Instead, it appears that conflict increases dependence on resource extraction (as a default sector). Moreover, resource abundance is associated with a reduced probability of the onset of war. These results are robust to a range of specifications and, considering the conflict channel, we conclude there is no reason to regard resources as a general curse to peace and development.


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