Indigenous natural resource wealth can provide a basis for robust economic development and broad macroeconomic development, especially when there is appropriate governance and robust legal and regulatory institutions. But a lack of institutional fortitude in many regions around the world has contributed to failure to translate resource wealth into broader macroeconomic wealth. This observation has resulted in the implication that natural resource wealth dooms a region to poverty and corruption – the “resource curse.” However, the resource curse is by no means universally accepted, giving rise to an exploration of how its manifestation can be avoided. From the perspective of a firm in the extractive resource industry, institutional frameworks (or lack thereof) in different regions present risks that must be considered, and if possible, mitigated. This, in turn, presents a number of important questions, including but not limited to: What is the proper role of the private sector, and what obligation does local government have? How do contracts and overall political stability influence investment? What role should foreign investors play in supporting long-term, sustainable regional development?
• Research Protocol and Executive Summary
Kenneth B. Medlock III, Keily Miller
