What Drives Successful Economic Diversification in Resource-Rich Countries - Policy lessons and future research directions

Jul 19, 2026

Upload by Jiven

The paper examines why resource-rich countries often lag in non-resource sectors and why diversification outcomes differ across countries. Using a diversification measure based on per-capita growth in domestic and export non-resource activities (manufacturing and services), it evaluates long-run diversification of resource-dependent starters and ranks performance. National-level correlates focus on human capital, public and intellectual capital, and firm dynamism, supported by case studies of Oman, Laos, and Indonesia.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages33

Reading Time1 h 23 min

Introduction

Purpose and scope

Measuring diversification

Policy-relevant correlates

Case studies and conclusions

Pub lic Disclosure Authorized Pub lic Disclosure Authorized | What Drives Successful Economic Diversification in Resource-Rich Countries? | | --- | | Addisu A. Lashitew, Michael L. Ross, and Eric Werker | The “resource curse” is often understood to imply poor growth in the non-resource sectors of the economy, but research into the diversification performance of resource-rich countries is limited. This paper surveys recent evidence and identifies empirical patterns in the economic diversification of resource-rich countries. Diversification is measured using the growth of per capita non-resource (manufacturing and services) sectors in domestic and export markets, which has a cleaner interpretation than competing measures. This measure is used to evaluate the long-term diversification of countries that started off as resource-dependent, and to rank countries according to their performance. We then identify policy-relevant correlates of diversification at the national level, including the acquisition of human capital, public and intellectual capital, and firm dynamism. More resource-dependent countries appear to perform worse on measures of human capital and intellectual capital, but more resource-abundant countries perform better on public capital and human capital accumulation. We examine the mechanisms behind diversification performance through in-depth case studies of Oman, Laos, and Indonesia, and conclude by identifying policy lessons and future research directions. JEL Codes: D02, 011, 014, Q56 Keywords: diversification, resource curse, competitive capabilities, non-resource sectors, manufacturing, services. Introduction Although an extensive body of the “resource curse” literature has examined the multifacetedrelationshipbetween natural resources and economic development(Van der Ploeg 2011; Ross 2013 ; Venables 2016), the topic of economic diversification The World Bank Research Observer © The Author(s) 2020 . Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / THE WORLD BANK. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License ([http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)), which permits non-commercial reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please [contact journals.permissions@oup.com](contact journals.permissions@oup.com) doi: 10 . 1093/wbro/lkaa001 36:164–196 Downloaded from [https://academic.oup.com/wbro/article/36/2/164/5813434 by World Bank user on](https://academic.oup.com/wbro/article/36/2/164/5813434 by World Bank user on) 11 September 2023 specifically has received much less attention. One of the most pronounced manifestations of resource wealth is a low level of economic diversification, as natural resources assume a dominant place in export income and government revenues (Ross 2017; Bahar and Santos 2018) . This low level of economic diversification can be harmful, as the concentration of economic activities around natural resources makes resource-rich countries vulnerable to economic shocks related to volatile commodity prices and resource stock depletion (Devlin and Titman 2004; Van der Ploeg and Poelhekke 2009; Venables 2016) . Reliance on extractive industries that are heavy in regulatory rents can also stymie the development of political and market institutions that promote broad-based growth (Pritchett, Sen, and Werker 2017) . To policymakers in resource-rich countries, the most fundamental challenge of resource-led development is how to turn a resource in the ground into physical and human capital that can be used to provide prosperity for their citizens (Morrison 2010) . The best measure of economic diversification that corresponds to success in that metric is growth in the non-resource side of the economy. Consider the examp

FAQs

为什么资源丰富国家的经济多元化会受到挑战？

资源禀赋往往使出口和财政收入集中在自然资源上，进而让非资源部门发展不足，并提高对商品价格波动与资源枯竭冲击的脆弱性。

论文如何衡量经济多元化表现？

通过衡量人均非资源部门（制造业与服务业）在国内市场和出口市场的增长来度量多元化。该指标被认为比其他竞争性指标具有更清晰的解释。

论文重点关注哪些与多元化相关的国家层面因素？

重点包括人力资本、公共与智力资本，以及企业活力等政策相关关联因素，并通过案例研究揭示其作用机制。

Jul 19, 2026

Upload by Jiven