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Beware of the mine! the political economy of mines in Northern Mozambique
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Resumo(s)
We examine the effect of natural resources on the social and political fabric of low-income communities. We combine geospatial data on mining activity with household surveys we conducted in Northern Mozambique. We find that mines decrease the level of trust, especially in neighbors, local and national leaders. In the same direction, households living in mining areas contribute less to public goods. A significant negative effect on participation to local community groups only emerges when using matching methods. On the political side, mineral endowments lead to institutional degradation in the form of lower level of democratic decision-making in the community, lower preference for democratic decisions by the households and increased corruption in the allocation of public funds, which suggest rent-seeking behavior of both the political elite and the population. We also document weak evidence of violence within and around mining areas. These results unveil the presence of both social and political mechanisms behind the natural resource curse and call for carefully monitoring the ongoing expansion of the extractive industries in Africa.
Descrição
A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Economics from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics
Palavras-chave
political economy Natural resources Resource curse Mines trust Rent-seeking Mozambique Africa