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Resource discovery and the politics of fiscal decentralization

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  • Bhattacharyya, Sambit
  • Conradie, Louis
  • Arezki, Rabah
Abstract
If the central government is a revenue maximizing Leviathan then resource discovery and democratization should have discernible impacts on the degree of fiscal decentralization. We systematically explore these effects by exploiting exogenous variation in giant oil and mineral discoveries and permanent democratization. Using a global dataset of 77 countries over the period 1970–2012 we find that resource discovery has very little effect on revenue decentralization but induces expenditure centralization. Oil discovery appears to be the main driver of centralization and not minerals. Resource discovery leads to centralization in locations which have not experienced permanent democratization. Tax and intergovernmental transfers respond most to resource discovery shocks and democratization whereas own source revenue, property tax, educational expenditure, and health expenditure do not seem to be affected. Higher resource rent leads to more centralization and the effect is moderated by democratization.

Suggested Citation

  • Bhattacharyya, Sambit & Conradie, Louis & Arezki, Rabah, 2017. "Resource discovery and the politics of fiscal decentralization," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 366-382.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:45:y:2017:i:2:p:366-382
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2017.02.003
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    2. Chachu, Daniel Ofoe, 2020. "Domestic revenue displacement in resource-rich countries: What’s oil money got to do with it?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    3. Francisco J. Delgado & Maria J. Presno, 2023. "Evolution of Fiscal Decentralisation in OECD Countries: A Club Convergence Analysis," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 25(63), pages 558-558, April.
    4. Lin, Boqiang & Zhou, Yicheng, 2021. "Does fiscal decentralization improve energy and environmental performance? New perspective on vertical fiscal imbalance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    5. Arrouna Keita & Camelia Turcu, 2020. "Natural Resource Discoveries and Fiscal Discipline," Working Papers 2020.07, International Network for Economic Research - INFER.
    6. Maria Cadaval Sampedro & Ana Herrero Alcalde & Santiago Lago-Peñas & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2022. "Extreme events and the resilience of decentralized governance," Working Papers. Collection A: Public economics, governance and decentralization 2212, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    7. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Destek, Mehmet Akif & Okumus, Ilyas & Sinha, Avik, 2019. "An empirical note on comparison between resource abundance and resource dependence in resource abundant countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 47-55.
    8. Christopher A. Hartwell & Roman Horvath & Eva Horvathova & Olga Popova, 2019. "Democratic Institutions, Natural Resources, and Income Inequality," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 61(4), pages 531-550, December.
    9. Mamo, Nemera & Bhattacharyya, Sambit & Moradi, Alexander, 2019. "Intensive and extensive margins of mining and development: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 28-49.
    10. Sambit Bhattacharyya & Michael Keller, 2021. "Resource Discovery and the Political Fortunes of National Leaders," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 88(349), pages 129-166, January.
    11. Nouf Alsharif & Sambit Bhattacharyya, 2024. "Oil discovery, boom‐bust cycle and manufacturing slowdown: Evidence from a large industry level dataset," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 406-431, May.
    12. Abdelwahed, Loujaina, 2020. "More oil, more or less taxes? New evidence on the impact of resource revenue on domestic tax revenue," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    13. Keisuke Okada & Sovannroeun Samreth, 2021. "Oil bonanza and the composition of government expenditure," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 23-46, March.
    14. Keller, Michael, 2020. "Wasted windfalls: Inefficiencies in health care spending in oil rich countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    15. Nemera Mamo & Sambit Bhattacharyya, 2018. "Natural Resources and Political Patronage in Africa: An Ethnicity Level Analysis," Working Paper Series 0418, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    16. Nemera Gebeyehu Mamo, 2018. "Essays on natural resources in Africa: local economic development, multi-ethnic coalitions and armed conflict," Economics PhD Theses 0518, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    17. Bin Amin, Sakib & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Khan, Farhan & Manal Rahman, Faria, 2024. "Does technology have a lead or lag role in economic growth? The case of selected resource-rich and resource-scarce countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Resource discovery; Resource rent; Democratization; Fiscal decentralization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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