The Effects of Institutional Environment Quality and Abundance of Natural Resources on Economic Growth

Abstract

In recent years, the factors that influence economic growth have traversed beyond the set of factors that are proposed in conventional growth theories; namely, institutional factors have been considered by researchers. Why some countries are moving toward rich countries in terms of economic performance is a question that has long occupied the minds of economists, and the answer to this question is fundamental as to the formation of economic growth patterns. In this study, based on the division of countries in terms of development, it has been examined as to which of the institutional variables have the highest priority in influencing economic growth. To this end, using a dynamic system data approach, the resource curse phenomenon in the studied countries is first studied and then analyzed using variables such as variables of the institutional environment, human capital, and other control variables affecting economic growth. In this study, two groups of (developing and developed) countries have been studied, which are estimated and analyzed for the period 1995-2016. Analysis of research coefficients shows that the resource curse phenomenon is existent in the developing countries but not in developed countries. On the other hand, the analysis of the results of the coefficients of the variables of different models show that the weak institutional qualities and the low level of development of human capital have led to the intensification of the resource curse in the countries in question.

Keywords

• institutional environment
• resource curse
• human capital
• economic growth
• capital inventory
• good governance.