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The patterns and problems of economic development in rentier states: The case of Iran
... natural resources like oil, gold, diamond) and not from entrepreneurial or specialized work (McGuirk 2013;Mahdavy 1970). Historically, those who receive rent are viewed as a 'rentier class' and rent seeking seems to have a negative connotation associated with 'lazy' landowners during the industrial revolution who subsist on inherited wealth, with little inclination towards cultivation, industrial development and engagement in other productive economic activities (Ghazvinian 2007, p. 103;Mahdavy 1970). ...
... natural resources like oil, gold, diamond) and not from entrepreneurial or specialized work (McGuirk 2013;Mahdavy 1970). Historically, those who receive rent are viewed as a 'rentier class' and rent seeking seems to have a negative connotation associated with 'lazy' landowners during the industrial revolution who subsist on inherited wealth, with little inclination towards cultivation, industrial development and engagement in other productive economic activities (Ghazvinian 2007, p. 103;Mahdavy 1970). The lazy undertone associated with 'rent' has been extended to include situations where countries' revenues or incomes are generated from natural resources by external sources and companies such as transnational oil companies (Mahdavy 1970). ...
... Historically, those who receive rent are viewed as a 'rentier class' and rent seeking seems to have a negative connotation associated with 'lazy' landowners during the industrial revolution who subsist on inherited wealth, with little inclination towards cultivation, industrial development and engagement in other productive economic activities (Ghazvinian 2007, p. 103;Mahdavy 1970). The lazy undertone associated with 'rent' has been extended to include situations where countries' revenues or incomes are generated from natural resources by external sources and companies such as transnational oil companies (Mahdavy 1970). The 'rentier state' concept has its origin in Mahdavy's (1970) work on how the Iranian state became overly dependent on international oil companies, with the country deriving most of its revenue from extraction of oil from its oil. ...
The resource curse has generated much research since the 1970s because natural resource rich countries in the developing world seem to perform poorly economically and on development indicators compared to resource poor ones. Researchers and development practitioners have explained the curse in terms of how natural resource windfalls are implicated in a country’s poor economic growth, governance, government borrowing and debt, currency movement, decline in manufacturing and agricultural sectors, environmental degradation and violent conflicts. Indeed, whereas the growth rate of resource rich economies has been erratic, it is essential to put the explanation and whom the growth benefit in context.
The existing literature on the curse is problematic for its methodological nationalism where it does not account adequately for global and local factors (actors, agencies and structures) interact with national politics in shaping the differentiated impact of natural resource windfalls on development. While this study recognised the importance of the national economy in shaping the impact of resource windfalls on development, it relies on actor network theory (ANT) to analyse the problematic impact of natural resources (the curse) as a socially constructed phenomenon and conditioned through interactions between a ‘globalised assemblage’. The assemblage comprises transnational oil companies, states, CSOs, global energy discourses and local politics. Thus, where the curse manifests, it is produced through the interaction between actors, agency and structures, and the resource rich economies are sometimes governed through a transnational contract of extraversion. In Africa, weak democracy is noted as the main factor that shape the impact of oil, this study uses network perspective to analyse the diverse actors, agencies and structures that condition the impact of oil, and whether or not the curse will manifest in a democratic setting on the continent.
This study revealed that while Ghana is not experiencing a curse, oil can be problematic for development in the developing world, even in a democratic setting due to the negative impacts of oil; global; national and local politics. Ghana’s case yet revealed that while democracy does not insulate a country from oil-related development challenges, it can mitigate them. Competitive electoral pressure has compelled the state to be responsive, by directing oil windfalls for provision of social services. This study also revealed that the directionality of the problematic impacts oil are not predetermined since Ghana’s currency has depreciated instead of it appreciating as noted in curse literature. There are also temporalities and spatialities to the problematic nature impact oil where increased Ghana government borrowing is creating a ‘deferred debt curse’ and similarly, whereas oil positively impacted the national provision of social services, fisher-folks experienced decline in income due to restrictions on fishing.
... As a result, imposing sanctions had encouraged many Iranians to engage in unproductive activities like trading foreign currencies, gold, land, and houses (Dizaji & van Bergeijk, 2013;Ghorbani Dastgerdi et al., 2018). Additionally, reports show that, because of Iran's inefficient tax system and lack of economic transparency, the informal sector of the economy has sharply expanded since before sanctions against Iran began (Mahdavy, 1970). ...
... In rentier economies, the state's bureaucracy grows to create employment, expand power, and maintaining legitimacy (Luciani, 2015;Mahdavy, 1970). The increase in public departments and agencies negatively affects its efficiency and prevents its positive performance in growth and development based on production and activity (Torabi et al., 2021). ...
... selling oil) for gaining revenues before the sanctions, it failed to understand the necessity of developing an efficient tax system and promoting economic transparency, especially in the housing sector. Given that sanctions are mainly aimed at productive and economic activities of rentier states, the inefficiency of rentier government structures in dealing with crises (Mahdavy, 1970). Our findings show that the rentier state's institutional loophole under sanctions led to the development of unproductive and informal markets (e.g. ...
This study explores the impact of sanctions on the development of second home tourism in the context of a rentier state. The subject was examined with special reference to rural regions of Shemiranat County in Tehran, Iran, where second homes have developed over the past four decades. The results indicating that devaluation of the national currency, caused by the sanctions, led to turmoil in the second home market of Shemiranat. This, in turn, resulted in the development of unique and complicated relationships. Sanctions, coupled with the institutional inefficiency of the rentier state, including heavy dependence on oil-based revenues, legal loopholes, and the absence of efficient executive and supervisory institutions, have exacerbated speculation and expanded informal economies and corruption in the second home market.
... W niniejszym rozdziale analizie poddano zdolność unii bankowej do zwiększania * Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie. 1 Koszty ostatniego kryzysu zapoczątkowanego bankructwem Lehman Brothers w 2007 r. zostały przez Międzynarodowy Fundusz Walutowy oszacowane na 2 bln USD (R. Holzer, Jak uniknąć kolejnego światowego kryzysu, http://www.obserwatorfinansowy.pl/forma/debata/jak-uniknac-kolejnego-swiatowego-kryzysu-systemu-finansowego/). 2 stabilności systemu inansowego UE w drugim znaczeniu. Z tego względu zostaną rozważone różne aspekty możliwej konstrukcji dwóch z jej trzech ilarów: systemu gwarantowania depozytów i zintegrowanego zarządzania w sytuacji kryzysowej. ...
... Tradycje, szkoły i modele organizacyjne, "Zarządzanie Zmianami" 2013, nr 1, s. 58-59. 2 ma służyć prowadzenie działalności stricte lub quasi -gospodarczej, z których przychody można również częściowo wypłacać podejmującym ją przedsiębiorcom jako dywidendy. Na podstawie jednego z aksjomatów nauk o zarządzaniu przyjmuje się założenie, że powodzenie realizacji wyznaczanych przez przedsiębiorstwa celów zależy od dobranych do nich elementów oraz zestawienia ich w odpowiedniej na potrzeby czasu i miejsca strukturze 4 . ...
... W roku 2013 ponad połowa chińskich użytkowników Internetu * Polska Akademia Nauk, Instytut Studiów Politycznych. 1 W niniejszym rozdziale termin "ChRL" i "Chiny" używam jako synonimy, bez uwzględnienia specyfiki Tajwanu, Hongkongu i Makao. 2 ...
Chiński Internet stanowi niemal równoległy świat wobec zachodniego, dzięki czemu
może podlegać łatwiejszej kontroli ze strony władz. Zadanie to jednak pozostaje niezmiernie
trudne ze względu na skalę zjawiska (550 mln internautów), jak też jego dynamiczny
rozwój. Przykładem najważniejszej społeczności internetowej są blogi na Weibo, które
są głównym źródłem informacji dla około połowy chińskich internautów. Stanowią
przez to konkurencję i alternatywę dla oicjalnych mediów. Działalność internautów
i prewencja cenzury stają się grą w kotka i myszkę, dodatkowo komplikowaną przez
często niezauważanego na Zachodzie gracza, jakim są rządy lokalne. Najaktywniejsze
społeczności tworzą się zwykle wokół problemów ekologicznych i nadużyć lokalnych
urzędników.
... 5 Supermajors are the largest publicly traded oil and gas companies such as BP, Chevron,Eni,ExxonMobil,Royal Dutch Shell,Total and ConocoPhillips. 6 These arguments share similarities to some of the theoretical arguments concerning how oil may allow authoritarian rulers to remain in office (e.g., Mahdavy, 1970;Beblawi, 1987;Ross, 2015;Wright et al., 2015; see also the meta-analysis by Ahmadov, 2014). ...
... Finally, however, we must emphasize that the results of Table 7 are not only consistent with our main argument. For instance, they are also consistent with theory and evidence on the role of oil in authoritarianism and non-democratic rule (e.g., Mahdavy, 1970;Beblawi, 1987;Ross, 2015;Wright et al., 2015). Hence, additional research is clearly necessary to identify the mechanisms underlying the oil-property rights relationship more clearly. ...
We investigate the role of oil in economic institutions for a sample of 150 countries between 1960 and 2014. We find that higher per capita values of oil production result in weaker economic institutions in the form of lower levels of private property rights protection. This result is robust to alternative instrumental-variable approaches as well as different operationalizations of oil income and production as well as economic institutions. We argue that our finding is indicative of oil interest groups using their economic power to achieve weaker property rights to maintain their economic-political position in society. We also provide evidence that oil induces clientelism, corruption and the repression of dissenting political voices. We argue that this finding is consistent with the idea that oil interest groups translate their outsized economic into political power through these transmission channels to achieve lower levels of property rights protection.
... Rulers in the resulting 'rentier' states spend state revenue in ways that privilege their political or personal interests over those of the public. 2 They become reluctant to 'use scarce administrative resources to promote broad economic development' (Moore, 2004, p. 306) and favour a range of policies based on short-term consumption and patronage over longer-term public investments (Anderson, 1987;Mahdavy, 1970;Ross, 2001aRoss, , 2012Sachs & Warner, 2001). These spending practices help leaders to entrench their power by buying off political opponents and/or building the coercive force necessary to repress political rivals (Ross, 2001a;Wantchekon, 2002;Wright, Frantz, & Geddes, 2015). ...
... Just as citizens are likely to see resource extraction leading to more corruption Vicente, 2010), bureaucrats could also become more willing to either overlook corrupt behaviour or engage in it themselves because of the increased scale on which they expect it to occur. Since oil, in particular, comes with the expectation among state officials that future revenues will grow in perpetuity (Mahdavy, 1970), bureaucrats would come to feel that small diversions of resources for personal use would not seriously harm the public. We therefore propose a third hypothesis about private benefit: Hypothesis 3. When civil servants learn of increased revenue from oil, they become more permissive of private benefits from state finances. ...
The resource curse literature argues that oil production reshapes the fiscal contract between citizens and the state: politicians become less responsive to citizen taxpayers and more likely to use public revenues for their own benefit. This paper examines whether and how bureaucrats influence this breakdown of the fiscal contract. Analysing results of a survey experiment conducted with government employees in Ghana and Uganda, we find that, when primed to think about oil revenue, bureaucrats do not generally express attitudes indicating that they contribute to the resource curse. Although oil revenue does lead some Ghanaian bureaucrats to become less interested in responding to taxpayers, this finding does not operate as predicted, i.e. by bureaucrats expressing greater partiality towards the ruling elite. Instead, we attribute this outcome to ‘disgruntled employees’ – political outsiders with low salaries – who, unlikely to benefit from oil revenue, become disaffected from citizen service. The results shed new light on processes through which resource extraction changes state institutions.
... A rentier state is a state that derives all or a substantial portion of its national revenues from the rent of indigenous resources to external clients. This theory was first postulated by Hossein Mahdavy in 1970(Mahdavy, 1970. In rentier capitalism the predominance of capital derived from external rents and royalties of multinational oil companies for national economic development is significantly low, compared to the intensity of perceived exploitation of the rent-payers (Abulof, 2015). ...
... A rentier state is a state that derives all or a substantial portion of its national revenues from the rent of indigenous resources to external clients. This theory was first postulated by Hossein Mahdavy in 1970(Mahdavy, 1970. In rentier capitalism the predominance of capital derived from external rents and royalties of multinational oil companies for national economic development is significantly low, compared to the intensity of perceived exploitation of the rent-payers (Abulof, 2015). ...
African countries have been hit by a dual shock of COVID-19 pandemic and global oil crisis, which have caused severe economic and social disruptions. Most studies shed light on the correlates between COVID-19 and the global oil crisis, including their economic impacts on oil producing/exporting countries. However, the objective of this study is to examine the effects of the global oil crisis on the implementation of World Health Organization’s (WHO) healthcare and public health measures to contain COVID-19 in Nigeria. Empirical data from Nigeria was collected and analysed using content analysis based on WHO’s methodology. There was low level of healthcare preparedness and emergency response capacities to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health measures against COVID-19 such as lockdowns and social distancing policies were poorly implemented at the expense of the people without adequate countercyclical stimulus packages and palliatives.
... H.Mahdavy, 1970. 2 A. Özyavuz, D. Schmid, avril 2015. 3 M. Valéry, 2007 H.Mahdavy, 1970. ...
... H.Mahdavy, 1970. 2 D. Bach, M. Gazibo (dir.), 2011. 3 J. ...
Cette thèse cherche à évaluer la politique de développement mise en œuvre par les autorités mongoles entre 1990 et 2016. Elle s’articule autour de la question de recherche suivante : Entre « malédiction des ressources », sinophobie et dépendance, comment la Mongolie démocratique et libérale fait-elle face au défi du développement économique pour préserver son indépendance et sa souveraineté et éviter d'être « transformée en une simple annexe de matières premières » pour la Chine ? À travers ce prisme, cette thèse ambitionne de rendre compte du processus de transition suivi par la Mongolie après 1990. L’objectif est de proposer une description du nouveau système politico-économique qui a vu le jour, donc des spécificités de son capitalisme. Outre cette contribution aux études mongoles, cette thèse entend également permettre de mieux comprendre les défis auxquels sont confrontés les États riches en matières premières dans leur processus de développement. Enfin, elle entend contribuer à expliquer les mécanismes qui ont conduit à la divergence observée dans les processus de transitions politique et économique des pays postsocialistes.
... " Hansen's (2014) assertion reinforces previous fndings on the extractive industries in sub-Saharan Africa. Some argue that the region has a high concentration of what, according to Mahdavy (1970), would be considered rentier states (e.g., Karl 1997Karl , 2004Soares de Oliveira 2007;Ovadia 2016). Tese are states which "receive on a regular basis substantial amounts of external rents, " typically originating "from foreign individuals, concerns or governments" (Mahdavy 1970, 428). ...
... Energies 2023, 16, 119 2 of 17 of villagers to major cities, leading to severe and complex problems for both cities and villages [9][10][11]. Due to unplanned immigration, many urban regions in Iran, including Mahabad, are demographically growing [12,13]. However, the existing urban facilities and infrastructure do not respond to such growth effectively, and as a result, people's health has been negatively influenced across several distinct factors. ...
Sustainable energy strategies have been a critical subject for sustainable development, especially in cities. Citizens, as an integral part of the urban environment, play a significant role in urban spaces, as does their health. An accurate understanding of citizens' mental, social, and physical health in urban settings is required to design and plan better cities. This study aims to assess the level of alignment with health factors in Mahabad, a major medium-sized city in Iran. Previous studies indicate that the built environment can influence health dimensions. Health factors depend to a great extent on how well the environment is formed and how it is put together. This research is a descriptive, analytical, cross-sectional study that analyzes the environment's psychological elements and physical and mental health factors of Mahabad's citizens. According to the Cochran model, 384 questionnaires were distributed among households. For data analysis, SPSS 12 and Arc GIS software were used. The main results of this research show that five factors, "Environmental quality", "Identity and social relationships", and "Readability", have the most impact on the physical and mental health of citizens (respondents). These issues are much more pronounced in the downtown neighborhoods. This study showed that urban experts can understand different levels of public health by knowing the historical, social, cultural, and economic factors and characteristics. The result will help decision makers, city authorities, designers, and urban planners to be more informed about citizens' health and the ways to improve it.
... Energies 2023, 16, 119 2 of 17 of villagers to major cities, leading to severe and complex problems for both cities and villages [9][10][11]. Due to unplanned immigration, many urban regions in Iran, including Mahabad, are demographically growing [12,13]. However, the existing urban facilities and infrastructure do not respond to such growth effectively, and as a result, people's health has been negatively influenced across several distinct factors. ...
Sustainable energy strategies have been a critical subject for sustainable development, especially in cities. Citizens, as an integral part of the urban environment, play a significant role in urban spaces, as does their health. An accurate understanding of citizens’ mental, social, and physical health in urban settings is required to design and plan better cities. This study aims to assess the level of alignment with health factors in Mahabad, a major medium-sized city in Iran. Previous studies indicate that the built environment can influence health dimensions. Health factors depend to a great extent on how well the environment is formed and how it is put together. This research is a descriptive, analytical, cross-sectional study that analyzes the environment’s psychological elements and physical and mental health factors of Mahabad’s citizens. According to the Cochran model, 384 questionnaires were distributed among households. For data analysis, SPSS 12 and Arc GIS software were used. The main results of this research show that five factors, “Environmental quality”, “Identity and social relationships”, and “Readability”, have the most impact on the physical and mental health of citizens (respondents). These issues are much more pronounced in the downtown neighborhoods. This study showed that urban experts can understand different levels of public health by knowing the historical, social, cultural, and economic factors and characteristics. The result will help decision makers, city authorities, designers, and urban planners to be more informed about citizens’ health and the ways to improve it.
... The first one is inspired by the argument of "resource curse". This idea originally pointed out by Mahdavy (1970) and intensely tested in Dunning (2005); Haber and Menaldo (2012) investigates the prevalence of authoritarian regimes in the Middle East, referring to the abundance of oil in the countries of the region. As a result, governments would not need tax contributions to support themselves and, consequently, would not have to submit to the tax pact nor offer public services and representation through institutions in exchange for tax collection. ...
How can we access globalization socioecological effects from a local standpoint? This research bring an empirical data based on the case study on the effects of the diffusion of solar PV enterprises at specific localities in the Northeast Brazil. We investigate the role of civil society movements on the diffusion of solar PV enterprises through the specific case of one civil society movement in the state of Paraíba. We identify the main arguments from the literature regarding the debate on globalization effects and we analyze this issue from a broad perspective of a socioecological system. We point out that although there has been a political articulation toward taxing wind and, possibly, solar exploration, actors could search for other alternatives of solutions prioritizing local population socioecological development.
... The evidences indicate that the sector will maintain the dominance in the foreseeable future (Hvidt, 2013). An estimation of the role of the petroleum sector in Iran's economy and its contribution to the gross domestic product (Mahdavy & Cook, 1970), which is an average of about 16 percent over the past 20 years, might lead us to wrongly evaluate it as trivial. Supplying 85 percent of the Iran's foreign currency earnings are the most important role of the petroleum sector (Farzanegan, Khabbazan, & Sadeghi, 2016). ...
In today's complex world, the fair distribution of revenues and demand management play an important role in planning the energy sector of the oil-exporting countries and poverty reduction in such countries. This is because the oil is considered as one of the most important factors and parameters for the economic security of the country. On the other hand, a fair distribution of the incomes can enhance the intellectual security and mental health of the community. The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between economic growth, income distribution and crude oil export using annual time series data in the course of 28 years from 1981 to 2009. To analyze the data regression analysis was used. The results indicated that there is a negative and reverse relationship between the income distribution and economic growth rate, and there is a positive and direct relationship between the amount of crude oil export and economic growth.
... Another body of literature focuses on the so-called "natural resource curse" (van der Ploeg, 2011), usually blaming poor country institutions and governments for neglecting their populations. (Mehlum et al., 2006;Ross, 2012) In contrast to resource-rich industrialized countries, which some claim have sprung this trap (Larsen, 2006), a poor country, if it possesses enough natural resources, fails to develop the institutional and political conditions required for development through productivity growth (Mahdavy, 1970;Beblawi, 1987). If resource wealth, thus, is lost to a population because of corruption and mismanagement, the net outcome for local populations could be environmental degradation and resources depletion, with little lasting good for society (Ali and Abdellatif, 2015; Ross, 2012). ...
Many argue that natural resource use and degradation of ecosystems reduce human health. Others prioritize economic development for increasing human health and wellbeing, acknowledging that some environmental assets are necessarily sacrificed for human development. Neo-Marxists and other critical theorists argue that extraction of natural resources are indirect forms of exploitation of the poor, where the rich benefit while the poor sacrifice their natural capital. We test these large propositions using several measures of natural resource extraction and country-level indicators of ecosystem health on health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE) for 170 countries over a 30-year period. The results suggest that resource extraction has very little effect on population health, except that mineral resource extraction improves human health. Ecosystem services generally do not matter, but there is evidence to suggest that lower availability of biome associates with better human health, suggesting that human health is generated by factors quite independent of available biodiversity and protected area. Indeed, per capita income levels show the most robust relationship with healthy life expectancy, as does population density, results generally at odds with neo-Malthusian explanations about people, planet, and human wellbeing. Our results, taken together, support the view that development generates better human health, and perhaps as a result, spurs local-level environmental protections.
... (Mahdavy, 1970;Beblawi, 1987;Ross, 2004 (Beblawi, 1987: 88) . ...
The topic of this paper is the parliamentary obstacles to the development of national economy in Iran (1989-2005). After problem statement and proving the problematic aspect of it, we deal with a theoretical solution through constructing a theoretical apparatus which is the result of applying the concepts of Leftwich's theory, theory of rentier state and Katouzian's theory presented in the framework of structural public choice theory. Then the data for each of concepts related to content analysis and historical analysis are collected and referred by narrative analysis. The results show that the strategic action of parliament members as rational actors takes place in a strategic context of rentier state, and the two round majority-based election system inclines towards satisfying immediate demands of the electorate. The policies resulted from this kind of action incline towards satisfying the same demands that play a negative role in development of national economy
... Although resource-dependent states at large regularly feature weak institutions, rent-seeking economies and a corrupt state apparatus (c.f. Karl 1997;Luciani 1987;Mahdavy 1970), scholars 114 find that differences in the ownership and control of natural resources have distinct impacts on welfare policies. Initially, Luong and Weinthal (2006) drew attention to the importance of ownership structures when analyzing the resource curse, arguing that state-controlled oil production has a particularly detrimental effect on economic growth. ...
... Typically, rentier states have been considered to be fossil fuel-rich countries, especially in the Middle East and North Africa that derive a substantial amount of their national income from rents paid by foreign private and public actors (Beblawi, 1987;Mahdavy, 1970;Yates, 1996). These governments that are dependent on foreign resources are not as dependent on taxing their citizens, which in turn can have negative effects on democratic and economic development and lead to the so-called "resource curse" (Collier, 2010;Ross, 2015). ...
This article examines how corporate social responsibility (CSR) can serve as an external source of rents for governments that depend on foreign financing for state-building and development. The strategic, instrumental use of CSR has been overlooked in previous research on governments and CSR, especially in the Global South. To understand how CSR can serve as a lever for rents, the concept of “extraversion” is introduced to describe the way in which rent-seeking African governments instrumentalize their asymmetric external relations for political and private benefit. The connection between CSR and rent-seeking is analyzed through a case study of large gas investments in Tanzania. The article finds that the government has set up regulation that enables local and central government authorities to appropriate, mediate, reclaim, or possibly trick CSR practices to gain rents. Based on the study, two contributions are made to the literature on CSR and governments. First, the instrumental use of CSR in the Global South is added to the variety of perspectives that can be taken when studying government agency. Second, CSR is conceptualized as a potential stream of rents for governments to exploit. The article ends with discussing that the outcome of CSR in a rent-seeking environment depends on whether the leveraged resources are managed well to support peaceful and locally beneficial economic development or whether they serve private accumulation through corruption.
... Resource-rich countries hold substantial export revenues from abundant natural resources but have limited domestic production sectors. In the 1970s, the literature introduced the rentier states theory, in which a small percent of the labor force is involved in activities promoting rent generation [1,2]. This theory is most relevant to oil-and gas-producing countries such as Qatar, the third-largest natural gas producer [3,4]. ...
Female entrepreneurship plays a critical role in achieving economic diversification, sustainable economy, and sustainable development, not only in economic terms but also in social and environmental dimensions. Women are considered excellent and relentless custodians of their families, their surroundings, and society. However, in many countries, particularly in resource-rich and developing states, there are considerably limited opportunities and barriers for women to utilize their utmost capacities. Considering the historical development trajectory and learning from several past and benchmark examples, mainly from the entrepreneurship domain, we first developed a conceptual model to deliver a holistic strategy for policymaking and implementation by employing design and systems thinking approaches. Second, based on this conceptual model, we proposed an integrated policy framework for Qatar, as a resource-rich country in the quest of transforming into an innovation-driven, knowledge-based sustainable development to propel women’s entrepreneurship and increase their involvement in achieving economic diversification, and thus, sustainable development in a broader perspective. Third, we conducted a survey to validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed policy framework. Results reveal that surveyed aspiring and actual female entrepreneurs maintain the relevance of the suggested policies related to the provision of further local training and mentorship programs and subsidies and funds from the government. Furthermore, while female participants agree that their entrepreneurial practices need to abide by local cultural traditions and trends, they believe there is a supplementary need to spread awareness of and garner support for their social and economic contribution to the society. Finally, findings show that several female participants, mainly Qatari nationals, are willing to become entrepreneurial investors to help fund other entrepreneurship startups to partner with other women and give back to society and contribute to the overall sustainability of their community.
... However, the main limitation of most previous studies on Dutch Disease model, as observed by Sachs and Warner (1999) is that they seemed not to address why growth-enhancing policies are chosen in some contexts and not others and, more importantly, why some leaders do not correct ineffective policies. Eblawi andLuciani (1987),Mabro (1969), Mahdavy (1970) The rentier-state theory is a political-economy model of natural resource abundant that was based on the concept of rent-seeking. The model described the main feature of natural resource abundant supply which generates substantial revenue and economic distortion in the area of governance. ...
This study investigates impact of oil resource abundance on Nigerian economy. To achieve the objective of the study, annual data covering a period of 1980-2018 was collected from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and World Bank Development Indicators (WDI). Oil production is used as a proxy of oil resource abundance. While exchange rate and inflation rate were used as control variables. The data were analysed using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Model. Findings from the study show that oil resource abundance has a positive impact of 6.9 per cent and 2.2 percent on the Nigerian economy both in the long-run and in the short-run respectively. The result further reveals that inflation has adverse effect of-0.9.2 per cent on Nigeria economy in the long-run but a positive impact of 1.0 per cent on RGDP in the short-run. However, the impact of exchange rate on Nigerian economy was positive both in the long-run and in the short-run. Based on the findings the study concludes that oil resource abundance is a favour rather than a course to the Nigerian economy. The study recommends that government should stabilized funds from oil resource endowment so as to ensure sustainable economic growth and avoid rent seeking and corruption.
... Oil companies can also choose to lobby, bribe, or otherwise influence government regulation of the industry ( Gupta 2017 ). The government's relationship with the host community (society) centers around the redistribution of revenues earned from extraction to boost development, although its role as a regulator can also be important for reducing the negative externalities associated with oil extraction ( Mahdavy 1970 ;Sandbakken 2006 ;Gonzalez and Lodola 2019 ). In theory, host communities should be able to influence the host government through elections or other democratic institutions, but in reality, host communities are often politically marginalized and so primarily influence government through representation by local elites, whose effectiveness and accountability can vary substantially ( Hancock and Sovacool 2018 ). ...
We examine the spread and persistence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to mitigate oil conflict, despite its failures. Our work challenges the ideas versus interests debate, arguing for a third way in which reinforcing feedbacks between ideas (problem narratives) and interests (power disconnects) interact to shape the persistence of failed CSR. Using Ogoniland, Nigeria, as a case study, we present novel findings showing that Shell and the Nigerian government developed problem narratives for CSR that reinforces rather than narrows existing power disconnects. In contrast, as those most negatively affected by oil extraction, the Ogoni people have a more complex understanding of the problems associated with extraction and the necessary solutions. Therefore, they are disappointed with failed CSR applications practiced by Shell since 1997 and continue to protest ongoing impacts of oil extraction. Oil companies need to change their problem narratives and concede more power to communities, and governments should cease enabling failed CSR strategies. Additionally, governments should reflect on and address the role they play in enabling CSR as a failed strategy, whether they are oil-producing host countries such as Nigeria or oil-consuming home countries such as Holland. Last, we discuss the generalizability of our theoretical framework and propose that the international community could play a role in narrowing domestic power disconnects.
... According to the rentier state theory, the two central effects of dependence on economic rents are economic inefficiency and, as a consequence, the obstruction of socio-economic development (Beck, 2007). With regard to the political effects, the rentier state theory proposes that oil rents have a stabilizing effect on authoritarian rule (Mahdavy, 1970;Beblawi and Lucian, 1987;Ross, 2001). Initially based on empirical findings in the Middle East, the rentier state theory is claimed by its proponents to be universally valid (Beck, 2007). ...
This paper examined oil and gas management in the pre-NEITI era in Nigeria. It observed that since 1956 when oil exploration and exploitation began in Nigeria, the public sector had been playing proprietary role in its management. However, the study had some reservations that ever since then, until EITI agreement was domesticated in Nigeria in 2007, management of the sector culminated in total exclusion of the indigenous people of the oil-bearing Niger Delta region; yet, it was not able to make optimal use of the resources to better the living standard of the people left alone enhancing the nation's sustainable socioeconomic development. The study aimed at and has identified the agencies responsible for the exploitation and exploration of oil and gas in Nigeria in the pre-NEITI era, examined the challenges of oil and gas management during the same period and examined the measures espoused to solving the problems. It considered the rentier state and resource curse theories appropriate for its theoretical framework. Analysis of the study was based on secondary data gathered from library materials and internet facilities. The paper found among others that the public sector has had absolute control over the management of oil and gas resources in Nigeria through its four institutions of the Federal Government, as a legacy from the colonial masters and became statutory after the independence. It also found that despite the huge revenue from oil and gas, it could be said that Nigeria has been suffering heavily from the resource curse malady. This was exacerbated by the identified challenges which the sector had to face over the period. It concluded by heaving a sigh of hope that with the intervention of the established NEITI, many anomalies in the oil and gas resource management would be corrected, only if the process was allowed to operate religiously.
... In such resource-rich countries success in the natural resource industry determines success in society, and control over the resource industry determines political power. The lack of democratic traditions makes the distribution of income intransparent, fuelling corruption and huge social disparities [6]. ...
The exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in a maritime area have considerable social, economic and environmental impact. Despite the relevance of the topic, accurate analyses on the exact social and environmental impact of the extraction of hydrocarbons are sparse. Companies-shareholders are mainly concerned about the profit deriving from such kind of activities, while national leaders are mainly concerned about their national constituencies, since they preside over national economies and pursue national interests. On the other side, NGO’s are mainly focused on the downsides of natural resources development. Taking into account some characteristic examples of extraction and monetisation of hydrocarbons discovered in maritime areas similar to Greece, the paper tries to identify their impact in the specific circumstances of Greece and to contribute the highly topical discussion about the utility of development of hydrocarbons resources in Greece.
... Also, higher resource rents make it easier for decision makers to use those "cheap" revenues to buy off political challengers and build political support (Acemoglu, Robinson and Verdier, 2004). Lightly taxed, the citizenry only weakly demands representation in government, thereby stunting the development of democratic institutions and attenuating political accountability (Mahdavy 1970;Ross 2001). Indeed, decision makers use the resources to maintain the political status quo. ...
This dissertation investigates the causes for the divergent experiences of political and economic development of the provinces in Argentina. Despite the important fiscal and political resources less populated provinces receive, a large group of them are increasingly less dynamic economically and more dependent on fiscal resources coming from the national government. At the same time, local elites have tended to remain in power through patronage and have surpassed the autonomy of other powers, thus stagnating – and sometimes even reversing – the democratization process started in the country three decades ago. It proposes two explanatory variables that help to explain the sub-national democratization process in Argentina: the fiscal rentierism and the geographical distribution of resources within provinces. In the first case, it is used the theoretical framework of the “resource curse” that explain the paradoxical situation of oil exporting countries. Specifically it focuses on the mechanism through which this phenomenon operates looking to specific cases in detail. In trying to explain cases that have managed to escape the “curse”, it shows that in cases in which human and economic resources are dispersed, has helped those provinces to resist the centripetal forces of fiscal rentierism.
... According to the original postulator of the rentier state theory, Mahdavy (1970), a rentier state refers to those countries that receive on a regular basis substantial amount of external economic rent. In such a scenario "the effects of the oil sector are significant and yet the rest of the economy is not of secondary important" (Cited in Yates (1996:11, 12). ...
This essay takes a critical look at the concept of environmental enforcement and its enforceability in Nigeria. This has become a necessary venture given the increased rate at which the environment has been subjected to all forms of degradation especially as we have seen in the Delta Region of Nigeria through the activities of oil multinationals. Using the desk top approach, it seeks to offer a credible explanation for the lack of an effective environmental enforcement programme in the Niger Delta Region, specifically looking at the nature of the Nigerian economy as the point of departure. Its main argument is that the greatest threat to an effective environmental culture in Nigeria with special focus on oil companies and the negative impact of their activities on the environment is the overwhelming dependence of the government on oil rent as the primary source of revenue. This has hampered greatly the political will of the government to enforce its environmental standard on the oil companies. It is therefore recommend amongst others, that there is need for a policy aimed at diversifying the Nigeria economy as this will greatly enhance environmental enforcement in the region.
... The theory of rentier state argues that the regular external rent deriving from natural resources may give a setback for the need to have a productive domestic sector through organization of innovative entrepreneurial initiatives (Mahdavy, 1970;Beblawi & Luciani, 1987;Le Trinh, 2019;Haque, 2020). Lack of good tax system weakens the economic system, because there may be no call for public accountability due to public distribution of wealth from natural resource such as oil rents during boom. ...
Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the moderating effect of institutional quality in the relationship between oil rents and entrepreneurial start-ups for oil-rich countries in Africa.
Research Design & Methods: The study employed panel regression techniques that included instrumental variable (IV) estimator to analyse the data of 11 oil-rich countries in Africa over a period of 2006-2018.
Findings: The following results emerged. (1) Oil rent’s impact is positive and significantly affects entrepreneurial start-ups. (2) The interactive coefficients of oil rents and institutional quality have a negative and significant impact on entrepreneurial start-ups. This means the quality of African institution reduces and leaks out entrepreneurial benefits of oil rents in African oil-rich countries. We establish that institutional quality’s threshold at which oil rent would accelerate entrepreneurial start-ups is 2.23 on a five-point scale.
Implications & Recommendations: This study revealed that the ability of oil rents to consistently promote entrepreneurial development in oil-rich economies depends on the level of institutional conditions. This situation may create a growth trap for African oil-dependent economies because entrepreneurial start-ups depend on the quality of institutional foundations, which may position the growth inclusiveness and government actions on the right paths. In this context, our empirical findings reveal that African governments need to work on the institutional quality of their economies to reduce the institutional curse of oil rents on African entrepreneurial start-ups.
Contribution & Value Added: The article advances our understanding on the nexus of entrepreneurship and oil rents. It is the first study conducted on oil-rich countries in Africa. Moreover, the work differs from the literature by examining the threshold level at which African institutional quality would meaningfully enhance positive relationship between oil rents and entrepreneurial start-ups.
... This compensation may include systems of patronage (e.g., by providing employment, "white elephant" investments contracts etc.) and corruption (i.e., by outright bribing important public officials and buying votes). Second, oil interest 6 These arguments share similarities to some of theoretical arguments concerning how oil wealth may allow authoritarian rulers to remain in office (e.g., Mahdavy, 1970;Beblawi, 1987;Ross, 2015;Wright et al., 2015; see also the meta-analysis by Ahmadov, 2014). ...
We investigate the role of oil wealth in economic institutions for a sample of 150 countries between 1960 and 2014. We find that higher levels of oil wealth result in weak economic institutions in the form of low levels of private property rights protection. This result is robust to alternative instrumental-variable approaches as well as different operationalizations of oil wealth and economic institutions. We argue that our finding is indicative of oil interest groups using their economic power to achieve weaker property rights to curtail innovation and competition which are anathema to the mature and monopolistic or oligopolistic oil sector. Indeed, we also provide evidence that oil wealth induces clientelism, corruption and the repression of dissenting political voices. We argue that oil interest groups translate their outsized economic into political power through these transmission channels to enforce lower levels of property rights protection.
... This theory was first postulated byMahdavy and Cook (1970). ...
This paper surveys normative and positive arguments on why oil and gas exporting countries, in particular OPEC members, may expand into downstream industries (e.g. refining, petrochemicals), instead of exporting raw materials. Indeed, local refining can serve as a partial hedge against the vagaries of the oil price. Furthermore, as downstream activities require more complex tasks, the potential to provide economy wide spillovers, thereby fostering overall economic development will be generated. Major explanations including price differentiation (e.g., export taxes), industrial organization (e.g., property rights), efficiency (e.g., vertical integration), local development and spillover effects (e.g., on comparative advantage), risk hedging, climate change, and finally, political economy (e.g., lobbying and empire building) are surveyed from normative and positive aspects, which are then tested against facts. We also highlight the fact that all of those justifications are only efficient if political considerations are put aside. Policies such as granting the national oil companies a monopoly and by very large subsidies on refined products may indeed hinder achieving some of those goals.
... The important point in defining inflation is time and a continual increase in prices; that is, prices should continually increase over a time (1). One of the most significant effects of inflation is the uncertainty it creates about future inflation (2)(3)(4), meaning that the economic agents are uncertain about the rate and trend of inflationleading to safety savings and investment (5,6). ...
Pharmaceutical productions are recognized as an essential commodity in the economical literature; therefore, an increase in their prices leads to an increase in the household budget. Currently, about 15-20% of the entire health expenditure in Iran is allocated to the pharmaceutical sector. This study aimed to investigate the effect of inflation and its uncertainty on inflation in pharmaceutical prices in Iran. In this study, the monthly time series of consumer price index from 2001 to 2017 was used to calculate inflation uncertainty based on a generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity model. Hylleberg-Engle-Granger-Yoo test was performed to determine the stationary of the data. Feasibility tests were also used to explore the application of Autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity family models to these data. The causal relationship between inflation uncertainty and inflation in the pharmaceutical sector was investigated using the Granger causality test. A causal relationship was found between inflation and inflation uncertainty at the 95% confidence interval for the monthly data during the study. It was revealed that Inflation uncertainty did not affect the inflation in the pharmaceutical prices, but inflation can be a cause of pharmaceutical inflation. Although inflation uncertainty has no association with pharmaceutical inflation, it seems that it could affect pharmaceutical inflation through inflation in other sectors. Therefore, adopting appropriate monetary policies aimed at controlling liquidity and inflation can effectively control pharmaceutical prices.
... Mahdavy defined a «rentier state» as a state that receives a substantial amount of rental income from other states or foreign entities. Thanks to such a rent, the «rentier state» gets the opportunity to finance public expenditures without levying taxes on the population or with minimal taxation (Mahdavy, H., 1970). Hazem Beblawi and Giacomo Luciani were also among the first authors to deeply question the impact of externally generated rent on the type of state, political regime and economic structure of a country. ...
... Resource wealth tends to be associated with unpopular growth, enduring poverty, and social inequalities (Orihuela, 2013). It has also been shown to motivate corruption and patronage (Mahdavy, 1970;Crystal, 1990;Ross, 2001;Caselli & Michaels, 2013;Andersen & Aslaksen, 2013;Zhu & Wu, 2014) as well as confict and crime, to perpetuate unqualifed or autocratic rulers in power (Cuaresma et al., 2010;Andersen & Aslaksen, 2013;Brunnschweiler & Bulte, 2008;Brollo et al., 2013) and to reduce democratic quality (Paler, 2013;Luong & Weinthal, 2009). Recent scholarship has stressed the environmental and health damages resulting from the extensive extraction of natural resources in the territories where it takes place (Gilberthorpe & Papyrakis, 2015). ...
... This compensation may include systems of patronage (e.g., by providing employment, "white elephant" investments contracts etc.) and corruption (i.e., by outright bribing important public officials and buying votes). Second, oil interest 6 These arguments share similarities to some of theoretical arguments concerning how oil wealth may allow authoritarian rulers to remain in office (e.g., Mahdavy, 1970;Beblawi, 1987;Ross, 2015;Wright et al., 2015; see also the meta-analysis by Ahmadov, 2014). groups may use their economic power to suppress the political voice of hostile parts of the population, where such hostility may stem from economic, environmental or cultural antagonisms. ...
1990’lı yılların siyasi konjonktürü SSCB’nin dağılmasının devamında, demokrasi tartışmalarını ve bu tartışmalara bağlı olarak siyasal sistem-rejim tartışmalarını da gündeme getirmişti. Batı literatürünün de başını çektiği genel hava bir barış döneminin başladığını, demokrasi düzeninin oturacağını ve dahası liberal demokrasinin ön plana çıktığı bir düzen projesi çizmişlerdi. Batı’ya yakın ülkeler için bir Avrupalılaşma tahmini yapılırken, Orta Asya devletleri için İslami bir çizgi öngörülmüştü. Burada Gürcistan, Batı’nın Avrupalılaşacağına dair tahminlerinin hedefinde olmasıyla diğer SSCB ardılı devletlerden ayrılmaktadır. Bu çalışma Gürcistan hakkında bu öngörülerin gerçekleşip gerçekleşmediğini, Gürcistan’ın siyasi kurumlarını, sosyal ve siyasi yapısını, seçim sistemleriyle beraber bir Batı ülkesi olup olmadığını ortaya koymaya çalışacaktır. Bunu yaparken Batı’dan gelen desteklerin Gürcistan’ı gerçekten bir Avrupa ülkesi olarak Batı sistemine entegre edilme çabalarının samimiyetini de tartışmaya açarken, Gürcistan iç siyasetinin SSCB kalıntılarından kopmaya çalışırken ülkenin Batı ve Rusya Federasyonu arasında yaşadığı stratejik gel-git politikalarına da değinecektir
Mitigating climate change requires a global transition from fossil fuels to a “green economy” driven by renewable energies. This shift has fostered massive investments in mining resources, notably lithium in South America, needed to store renewable energies. These mining ventures often produce harmful externalities where lithium is located. In Argentina, a major producer, striking variation has occurred in the fortunes of lithium-mining projects. In some instances, mining companies offered concessions that mitigated environmental damage and improved local socioeconomic conditions. In others, companies made minimal concessions, and in a third set they halted projects in response to local resistance. Why do mining ventures result alternatively in negotiated, unnegotiated, or aborted extraction? The article proposes a new typology of modes of extraction together with a multilevel explanatory framework that centers on the strengths and strategies of transnational mining companies, subnational governments, and local communities in setting the terms for extracting lithium.
In this chapter, the Weberian distinction between political and market capitalism will be borrowed to underline the importance of great demarcation between property and sovereignty as a fundamental institution of market capitalism characterized by free labor, impersonal markets, and modern corporation. By contrast, political capitalism preceding historically market capitalism lacks such a demarcation and pertains to profit-making through predatory non-market means. The relationships between political and market capitalism which are complex and may take on any of the following shapes: contradictory, complementary, or a combination of both will be discussed. After critically reviewing the recent literature on political capitalism in the USA and China, I will argue that the so-called natural resource course can be better understood as an institutional curse related to state predation and political capitalism. Finally, the relationship of Islam with capitalism and the sanctity of the private property will be reviewed. It is often assumed that Islam is supportive of private property and its jurisprudence is compatible with requirements of modern capitalism. These claims will be critically assessed in this chapter in light of different tendencies in Islam particularly the Sunni and the Shi’i.
Why were some, but not all the Arab mass social protests of 2011 accompanied by relatively quick and nonviolent outcomes in the direction of regime change, democracy, and social transformation? Why was a democratic transition limited to Tunisia, and why did region-wide democratization not occur? After the Arab Uprisings offers an explanatory framework to answer these central questions, based on four key themes: state and regime type, civil society, gender relations and women's mobilizations, and external influence. Applying these to seven cases: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, Valentine M. Moghadam and Shamiran Mako highlight the salience of domestic and external factors and forces, uniquely presenting women's legal status, social positions, and organizational capacity, along with the presence or absence of external intervention, as key elements in explaining the divergent outcomes of the Arab Spring uprisings, and extending the analysis to the present day.
This chapter offers a critical overview of how states’ dependence on external income has been theorised. In particular, it looks at the classifications and effects of different types of rentier income and advances a theoretical framework for political rentierism. The chapter compares the characteristics of political rents and natural resource rents from the point of view of the accruing state and examines the effects of political rents on the economy, state–society relations, and taxation. In doing so, it has laid the foundations for the exploration of the effects of the two different sources of political rents on the PA.
As a country rich in mineral resources, contemporary China remains surprisingly overlooked in the research about the much debated 'resource curse'. This is the first full-length study to examine the distinctive effects of mineral resources on the state, capital and labour and their interrelations in China. Jing Vivian Zhan draws on a wealth of empirical evidence, both qualitative and quantitative. Taking a subnational approach, she zooms in on local situations and demonstrates how mineral resources affect local governance and economic as well as human development. Characterizing mining industries as pro-capital and anti-labour, this study also highlights the redistributive roles that the state can play to redress the imbalance. It reveals the Chinese state's strategies to contain the resource curse and also pinpoints some pitfalls of the China model, which offer important policy implications for China and other resource-rich countries.
The previous chapter introduced certain key debates within critical security studies in order to examine and identify which sociological paradigms and concepts could be most constructive when applied in postcolonial contexts. This chapter now turns specifically to Oman. By locating the issue within a broader twentieth-century history of colonialism, imperialism, and revolution, it aims to explore how energy has been conceptualised and articulated within Oman’s developmental trajectory. It will argue that the ‘rentier state theory’ and other approaches studying state formation in the Gulf are inadequate for the task of understanding state formation in Oman.
This paper looks at key trajectories of policy adjustment across member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—a region shaped by state-controlled income from exporting hydrocarbons—since 2014, the year in which the price of crude oil dropped significantly. We argue that despite a wide range of policy responses, no deep, structural reform has been initiated in any of these countries. We highlight, however, the importance of several crucial trends shedding light on the future of reforms in the region. First, while coordination between oil producers was successful at the global level in the context of OPEC+, similarly gainful policy coordination has been largely absent within the GCC. Second, migrant workers from the Global South have been the biggest losers from post-2014 adjustment policies, while citizens of the Arab Gulf states—most of whom are employed in the well-paid public sector—were able to maintain their privileges. Third, as typical for rentier states, adjustment policies were characterized by institutional weakness. Differences between GCC countries can be explained by looking at distinct institutional configurations relevant to policy formulation and decision-making. Fourth, adjustment across public hydrocarbon industries reveals initial preparations to cope with an energy transition while there is no indication that ruling families have softened their traditional control over economic activities. Based on the discussion of these four empirical trends, we emphasize the importance of state-class relations and the role of institutions in explaining policy responses during periods of declining hydrocarbon income within rentier states.
This chapter situates the explanatory factors and dependent variable (strategic adjustments) within the Iranian context. It broaches the challenge of measuring relative power, and influence, and shows how ‘objective’ indicators are important but remain inadequate without factoring in perceptions and ideas. The chapter then discusses identity formation, and unpacks historical-ideational elements including nationalism, religion, and regime ideology and their role in informing how Iran’s leadership perceives threat, and presents the notion of state interests as bridging the ideational and material worlds. The third section shows how these ideational elements have led to the formation of political preferences and hence factions, and how these latter have evolved, joined forces, parted ways, or competed over time. The final section situates the individual strategy types within Iran’s context.
يعتبر موضوع الطاقات المتجددة من أهم المواضيع المتداولة حاليا في مختلف دول العالم سواء
كانت متخلفة أو متقدمة، كما يحظى هذا الموضوع بالإهتمام البالغ من طرف خبراء الاقتصاد والعلوم
السياسية على حدّ سواء باِعتباره يمسّ أحد القطاعات الإستراتيجية لأيّ دولة كانت، وهو قطاع الطّاقة
الّذي يعد عصب الإقتصاد وفي نفس الوقت له علاقة بالأمن الطاقوي الذي يعد بدوره جزءً لا يتجزأ من
الأمن القومي للدّولة.
بهذا الصدد تعتبر الجزائر من أهمّ الدّول المعنية بموضوع الطّاقات المتجددة بحكم الإمكانيات
الضخمة التي تتمتع بها في هذا المجال ولاسيما الطاقة الشمسية، وكذلك بحكم محورية قطاع الطاقة
بشكل عام في البنية الاقتصادية والسياسية للدولة الجزائرية، فكما هو معروف فإنّ الاقتصاد الجزائري يعتمد على
نمط الاقتصادي الريعي المتمركز حول قطاع المحروقات. ونتيجة لذلك، فالميزانية العامة للدولة في الجزائر
مازالت تعتمد بشكل أساسي على مداخيل النفط التي يوظفها النظام السياسي في إدارة شؤون الدولة وفي
علاقته بالمجتمع.
Politics of nature in the Middle East is largely discussed in two frameworks of ‘rentier state’ and ‘climate conflict’ that, respectively, seek to capture political economy and security aspects of the matter. Despite their parallels in explanation of authoritarianism, instability, and violent conflicts as determined by natural resources and environmental factors, these approaches are rarely linked. Examining the ongoing ecological crises in Iran, I demonstrate that the omission of the state, which is a key component of both frameworks, makes them mutually incompatible and analytically insufficient. I further argue that bringing the state back into analysis requires attention to the violent process of imposing a particular environmental imaginary, an ecological oppression that empowers the state and the hegemonic vision of society as a totality at the expense of disempowering peoples and localities.KeywordsIranEnvironmental justiceRentier stateClimate securityPolitical ecology
Sovyet sonrası küresel literatürün siyaset bilimi akademisinde en hararetle tartışılan meselesi, demokratik değerlerin yeni oluşan devletlere nasıl entegre edileceğine yönelikti. 1990’lı yıllara karşılık gelen bu dönem, SSCB’nin dağılması ile meydana gelen yeni ulus devletlerin demokrasi ve bağımsızlık hikayelerini oluşturdukları ve buna bağlı olarak uluslararası ortamın siyasal sistem ve siyasal rejim tartışmalarını da beraberinde gündeme getirmişti. Batı kaynaklarının iddiası bir barış döneminin başladığı, devamında demokrasi düzeninin oturacağı ve dahası liberal demokrasinin ön plana çıktığı küresel bir zafer kazanıldığı yönündeydi. Bu öngörü özellikle SSCB’den ayrılan ve Batı ile kültürel ya da coğrafi anlamda entegre olabilecek devletler için düşünülmüş bir projeydi. Gürcistan hem bu nitelikte bir devlet olması hem de kuruluşundan itibaren Rusya ve Batı arasında kurduğu denge siyaseti dolayısıyla çalışmanın merkezine alınmıştır. Bu çalışma Gürcistan hakkında bu öngörülerin gerçekleşip gerçekleşmediğine dair bir yorumu içerirken, Gürcistan’ın siyasi kurumlarını, sosyal ve siyasi yapısını, seçim sistemleriyle beraber bir Batı ülkesi olup olmadığını ortaya koymaya çalışacaktır
This dissertation is the first major systematic study of resource-for-infrastructure (R4I)
investment contracts in Africa. It describes the terms and conditions of the R4I
investment contracts that Chinese investors have been using in the mining sectors of
resource rich countries in Africa since the turn of the century. It then shows – and that
is its paramount objective – why African governments should prefer R4I contracts over
traditional investment contracts, especially production-sharing agreements (PSA) and
turnkey infrastructure projects. R4I contracts are a remarkable departure from
traditional foreign direct investment (FDI), unique in mining contract history,
innovative and adapted to the particular circumstances of most resource rich countries
in Africa.
The dissertation investigates ways in which resource rich countries in Africa can frame
their mining contracts so that they can maximize infrastructure investments while
minimizing the risks and costs associated with China‘s FDI in the mining sectors of Africa. It proposes R4I investment contracts as a model for taking the greatest
advantage of China‘s mining investments in Africa. The basic mechanism is the
exchange of natural resources for national infrastructure through the innovative
combination of two different types of traditional investment contracts, namely a
resource (minerals or hydrocarbons) contract and an infrastructure contract. China gets
the resources; the host state in Africa the infrastructure.
The dissertation‘s main argument is that the ways in which R4I contracts combine
mining contracts and infrastructure projects offers FDI benefits greater than those
provided by the mere sum of these two contract types. R4I contracts increase
infrastructure investments exponentially by drastically reducing transaction costs. As a
consequence, most countries that entered into R4I contracts attracted their largest
infrastructure finance in recent years, if not since independence, even if such
substantial finance does not come without its own package of risks. With the discourse
on China‘s FDI in African mines shaped largely by insights from political science,
economics and development theories, the present dissertation fills a gaping hole in that
fast burgeoning Sino-African economic scholarship by approaching the issue from the
perspective of contract law.
В статье рассматривается концепт государства-рантье и определяются его экономические и политические параметры. Демонстрируется, что хотя изначально концепт имел более экономическое “звучание”, в современных условиях это прежде всего политологический концепт. Показано, что государство-рантье имеет особые внутриполитические и внешнеполитические параметры. С точки зрения внутренней политики это персоналистский султанистский режим, захвативший контроль над нефтегазовым бизнесом. В результате формируется самоусиливающийся цикл – правитель контролирует ресурсы и за счет этого усиливает свою власть. Усиление власти позволяет жестче контролировать нефтегазовый бизнес, извлекать больше ренты и тем самым еще больше укреплять свои позиции. С точки зрения внешней политики государство-рантье – это государство, которое использует углеводороды как внешнеполитический ресурс. Основные внутриполитические и внешнеполитические закономерности в государствах-рантье тесно связаны: правящий режим захватывает контроль над нефтегазовым сектором как главным ресурсом страны, обеспечивает за счет этого свою стабильность, а также превращает его в инструмент балансирования во внешней политике. На основании выделенных политико-экономических критериев составлен список из 16 государств-рантье (к ним приложимы все вычлененные в работе закономерности). Эта группа включает в себя следующие государства: Ирак, Кувейт, Ливия, Ангола, Саудовская Аравия, Оман, Азербайджан, Венесуэла, Катар, ОАЭ, Алжир, Иран, Казахстан, Бруней-Даруссалам, Нигерия, Туркменистан. Была определена также переходная группа, в которой могут действовать отдельные закономерности.
This paper investigates an uncommon and lackluster attitude towards education among youths of Bayelsa State. The Rentier State Theory (RST) is adopted as its theoretical handle. Primary and secondary sources of information were deployed in the study; with 20 randomly sampled communities of four local government areas of Bayelsa State. The paper makes an interesting insight into a rare connection between natural resource endowment and youth education, even as part of a growing concern on how to take youth away from criminality and violent conflicts in many complex conflict-ridden societies. Nigeria, and in particular, Bayelsa State need to make more effort at making education a key instrument in both national and sub-national development. The paper identifies rents/royalties from oil and gas in Bayelsa State as the major culprit. Furthermore, it assertsthat life of flamboyance and affluence without commensurate hard work, has caused disdain for education among the youths of Bayelsa State.
This article identifies the role governance plays in developing physical infrastructure through the utilization of natural resource rent as public investment for infrastructure development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The empirical model employs panel data from 15 MENA countries and two governance indices (GOVI)—GOVI Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and GOVI (Additive). Using the Granger Causality test, a one‐time lag was applied to minimize endogeneity concerns. The article introduces the panel unit roots, and panel Granger noncausality is used for testing stationarity and causal relationships. Estimates of both specifications suggest that improving the quality of governance leads to a significant positive effect on physical infrastructure development in the MENA region. The study departs from the traditional natural resource rent curse arguments and moves toward natural resources rent and good governance indicators for infrastructure development. The findings show that natural resources rent and governance do matter for infrastructure development. This article offers new theoretical and empirical insight in the context of the MENA region.
This paper exploits the 2000s commodity price boom to identify the impact of oil revenues on domestic taxation in oil exporting countries. It estimates the average effect of oil revenues on non-resource taxation for 19 oil exporting countries using synthetic control methodology and finds that non-resource tax per capita is on average 14% lower in oil exporting countries because of the 2000s commodity price boom compared to a scenario without price shock. This result confirms the existing literature concerned with the resource revenues vs domestic taxation debate. Additional knowledge is derived from the synthetic control method showing that the effect is heterogeneous and occurs only in oil exporting countries with a low level of institutional quality, which are highly oil dependent and prefer the use of tax instruments rather than non-tax instruments. Furthermore, the dynamics of the effect differs in countries with a state-owned oil sector compared to a private-owned oil sector. These findings are new within the debate and contribute to our understanding of the effect of natural resources on domestic taxation. Policy makers concerned by a crowding-out effect should invest the oil dividend to improve their tax administration to avoid the negative consequences accompanying low domestic taxes such as the resulting dependency on a volatile income stream from oil, difficulty in achieving non-fiscal objectives, and lack of positive externalities from taxes such as transparency and better governance.
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