Rents to Riches? focuses on the political economy of the detailed
decisions that governments make at each step of the natural resource
management (nrm) value chain. Many resource-dependent developing
countries pursue seemingly shortsighted and suboptimal policies when
extracting, taxing, and investing resource rents. The book
contextualizes these micro-level outcomes with an emphasis on two
central political economy dimensions: the degree to which governments
can make credible intertemporal commitments to both resource developers
and citizens, and the degree to which governments are inclusive and
inclined to turn resource rents into public goods.
Almost 1.5 billion people live in the more than 50 World Bank client
countries classified as resource-dependent. A detailed understanding of
the way political economy characteristics affect the nrm decisions made
in these countries by governments, extractive developers, and society
can improve the design of interventions to support welfare-enhancing
policy making and governance in the natural resource sectors. Featuring
case study work from Africa (Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Ghana, Niger, Nigeria), East Asia and Pacific (the Lao People’s
Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Timor-Leste), and Latin America and the
Caribbean (Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago), the
book provides guidance for government clients, domestic stakeholders,
and development partners committed to transforming natural resource
rents into sustainable development riches.
Governments are often advised to manage their mineral wealth in
accordance with international 'best practice.' Yet the authors
of this insightful book point out that there are no
'one-size-fitsall' solutions to the dilemmas created by
resource wealth: policies that work in some countries may not be
appropriate, or feasible, for others. Rents to Riches? argues that we
must account for a country's political and economic realities, and
devise incentive-compatible reforms that can help nations turn their
resource wealth into sustainable gains in people’s everyday
lives. This book is unique, essential, and filled with invaluable and
practical ideas.
— MICHAEL L. ROSS, Professor of
Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles
For many poor and fragile countries, reserves of oil, gas, and
minerals may seem to promise unlimited economic development. Rents to
Riches? is an important, timely, cautionary guide to the governments of
those countries as well as international policy makers, beginning with
its reminder that governments manage natural resources in trust for
citizens, who are the actual owners. No less vital is the
authors’ emphasis on transparency as an essential ingredient of
good governance at every stage of the value chain. There are fresh,
valuable lessons in every chapter.
— KARIN LISSAKERS,
Director, The Revenue Watch Institute, New York
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