Understanding and Avoiding the Oil Curse in Resource-rich Arab Economies

For over eighty years the Arab region has derived massive wealth from its natural resources, yet the region's economies remain little diversified, while the oil market is experiencing major structural shifts with the advent of shale gas. Moreover, the resource itself is eventually exhaustible. Under these conditions economic prosperity cannot be sustainable. The critical question is how can the countries of this region escape the 'oil curse'? In this volume, leading economists argue that the curse is not a predestined outcome but a result of weak institutions and bad governance. A variety of analytical perspectives and examination of various international case studies leads to the conclusion that natural resources can only spur economic development when combined with sound political institutions and effective economic governance. This volume, with its unique focus on the Arab region, will be an important reference for researchers and policymakers alike.

Foreword Ahmed Galal; Acknowledgements Ibrahim Elbadawi and Hoda Selim; 1. Overview of context, issues and summary Ibrahim Elbadawi and Hoda Selim; 2. The global impact of the systemic economies and MENA business cycles Paul Cashin, Kamiar Mohaddes and Mehdi Raissi; 3. Real exchange rates and export performance in oil-dependent Arab economies Ibrahim Elbadawi and Linda Kaltani; 4. Dutch disease in the services sector - evidence from oil exporters in the Arab region Ndiamé Diop and Jaime de Melo; 5. The political economy of public sector employment in resource-dependent countries Omer Ali and Ibrahim Elbadawi; 6. The oil curse and labor markets - the case of Saudi Arabia Hend Al-Sheikh and S. Nuri Erbas; 7. Resource rents, political institutions and economic growth Ibrahim Elbadawi and Raimundo Soto; 8. Fiscal institutions in resource-rich economies - lessons from Chile and Norway Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel; 9. Savings and investment decisions from natural resource revenues - implications for Arab development Paul Collier; 10. Labor market heterogeneity and optimal exchange rate regimes in resource-rich Arab countries Almukhtar Saif Al-Abri; 11. The institutional curse of natural resources in the Arab world Hoda Selim and Chahir Zaki; 12. Has the UAE escaped the oil curse? Raimundo Soto and Ilham Haouas; 13. Understanding and avoiding the oil curse in Sudan Kabbashi M. Suliman; Index.

Ibrahim Elbadawi is Director of the Macroeconomics Research Department, Dubai Economic Council and Visiting Fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD) in Washington, DC. He has been the thematic leader for the Economic Research Forum (ERF) research work on 'Natural Resources and Economic Diversification in the Arab World' since 2010. Until February 2009 he was Lead Economist at the Development Research Group of the World Bank and he also served as Research Director of the African Economic Research Consortium, Nairobi from 1993 to 1998. Elbadawi has published widely on several areas of macroeconomic and development policy. His regional specialization covers Africa and the Middle East, where he is widely networked with academic research and policy forums.
Hoda Selim is currently an economist at the Economic Research Forum (ERF), Cairo. Previously, she worked for five years at the World Bank's Cairo Office in the Poverty Reduction and Economic Monitoring department. For the past four years, she has been managing research projects and conducting research work under the theme of 'natural resources and economic diversification'. She has conducted research on macroeconomic issues in Egypt and the Arab region including economic development, economic growth, monetary and exchange rate issues.