Title: The oil curse : how petroleum wealth shapes the development of nations /
Authors: Ross, Michael, 1961-
Publisher: Princeton University Press,
Year: 2012
Subjects: Petroleum industry and trade Government policy Developing countries.; Revenue Developing countries.; Petroleum products Prices; Women Developing countries Social conditions.; Natural resources Developing countries; Civil war Developing countries.; Developing countries Economic policy.
Abstract: Countries that are rich in petroleum have less democracy, less economic stability, and more frequent civil wars than countries without oil. What explains this oil curse? And can it be fixed? In this analysis, the author looks at how developing nations are shaped by their mineral wealth, and how they can turn oil from a curse into a blessing. He traces the oil curse to the upheaval of the 1970s, when oil prices soared and governments across the developing world seized control of their countries' oil industries. Before nationalization, the oil-rich countries looked much like the rest of the world; today, they are 50 percent more likely to be ruled by autocrats, and twice as likely to descend into civil war, than countries without oil. This book shows why oil wealth typically creates less economic growth than it should; why it produces jobs for men but not women; and why it creates more problems in poor states than in rich ones. It also warns that the global thirst for petroleum is causing companies to drill in increasingly poor nations, which could further spread the oil curse. And it explains why good geology often leads to bad governance, and how this can be changed.
Contents: Foreign direct investment in extractive industries, 2007 -- The number and income of oil-producing states, 1960n-2006 -- Incomes of new oil producers, 1857n-2015 -- Size of the Nigerian government, 1960n-84 -- Oil and the size of government -- Government size in selected oil and non-oil states -- Petroleum in the economy and government, 2007 -- Oil prices and oil rents in selected countries, 2008 -- Government expropriation of oil companies, 1960n-93 -- Capital-to-labor ratios of major industries -- Price of a barrel of oil, 1861n-2009 -- US petroleum production and consumption, 1947n-2007 -- Proved oil reserves, 2005 -- Government revenues in Iran and Egypt, 1970n-2009 -- Number of democracies and autocracies, 1960n-2008 -- Oil and transitions to democracy, 1960n-2008 -- Number of oil-producing democracies and autocracies, 1960n-2008 -- Democracy levels over time, 1960n-2004 -- Government spending-to-revenue ratios in autocracies, 1970n-2008 --^