Why Governments Waste Natural Resources: Policy Failures in Developing Countries
by William Ascher, Donald C McKenna Professor of Government and Economics William Ascher
Category: Political Science

Explores the complex political and programmatic reasons why government officials in Third World countries often wilfully adopt wasteful natural resource policies. Drawing on 16 case studies from Africa, Asia and Latin America, the author documents how clashes among government agencies have led to results ranging from Indonesia's deforestation to the collapse of the Mexican water system, from the destruction of cocoa farms in Ghana to the waste of Nigeria's oil wealth.