Natural resource curse and Arab Spring

By Ilhem Zirari and Ramiro Silva Rivera

The “natural resource curse” thesis, contrary to common sense, states that resource-rich countries experience less economic growth in the long run than those deprived of natural riches.

Since Jeffrey Sachs and others economists documented this negative relationship in 1995, many empirical studies have been conducted to explain the paradox, and though mixed results have been found so far, what seems to be clear is that high dependency on natural resources is not a good platform for development.