Mineral Wealth and Economic Development

by Tilton, John E.

• ISBN13: 9780915707621
• ISBN10: 0915707624
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1992-02-01
• Publisher: Resources for the Future

Summary

Many low-income mineral-exporting countries have seen their per capita income decline or their standards of living stagnate over the last several decades. Is it possible, contrary to natural expectations, that domestic mineral wealth actually retards development and growth? Lectures by leading scholars identify factors that lie behind the negative performance and offer specific policy guidance to help make mineral wealth an engine for economic development.

Table of Contents

Preface
Mineral Wealth and Economic Development: An Overview	p. 1
Economic Nationalism and Multinational Mining Companies	p. 4
The Optimal Pace of Mineral Exploitation	p. 7
Political Pressures and the Use of Mineral Rents	p. 10
Linkages with the Rest of the Economy	p. 12
Conclusion	p. 16
Reference	p. 17
Mining Companies, Economic Nationalism, and Third World Development in the 1990s	p. 19
The Sources of Economic Nationalism	p. 20
The Structural Vulnerability of LDC Mining Investments	p. 22
Strategies to Offset Investor Vulnerability	p. 26
Strategies to Manage Political Risk	p. 27
Use of Project Finance to Offset Political Risk	p. 30
Conclusion	p. 34
Acknowledgment	p. 35
References	p. 35
Economic Development and the Timing of Mineral Exploitation	p. 39
The Fallacies of the Hotelling Rule	p. 40
Saving for Future Generations	p. 43
Waiting for an Appropriate Institutional Framework	p. 47
Deferral to Avoid Depressing Mineral Prices	p. 50
Delaying Projects to Strengthen Monopoly Profits	p. 52
Summary	p. 53
Acknowledgments	p. 55
References	p. 55
The Political Economy of Rent in Mining Countries	p. 59
The Nature of Mining Rents	p. 62
Earlier Studies	p. 65
Mining Rents in Zambia	p. 67
Mining Rents in Other Countries	p. 72
Prospects	p. 75
References	p. 78
Economic Policy in Mineral-Exporting Countries: What Have We Learned?	p. 81
Mineral Market Characteristics and Economic Policy	p. 82
Theoretical Approaches	p. 87
Economic Performance in Mineral-Exporting Countries	p. 97
Economic Policy Choices	p. 106
Some Lessons for Economic Policy	p. 116
Acknowledgment	p. 119
References	p. 119
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