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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Demographic Transition In Resource Rich Countries: A Bonus Or A Curse?, Kjetil Bjorvatn, Mohammad Reza Farzanegan
Demographic Transition In Resource Rich Countries: A Bonus Or A Curse?, Kjetil Bjorvatn, Mohammad Reza Farzanegan
Prof. Dr. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan
While East Asia benefited significantly from its demographic transition in the 1970s and 1980s, the youth wave that we currently observe in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has not had a similar impact on economic development. The present study argues that resource wealth is an important reason for understanding why. We develop a simple model highlighting how the income effect of increased labor supply may depend on resource rents, and provide empirical evidence that support the theoretical predictions. Using panel data covering the period from 1970–2006 for more than 120 countries, we find a negative interaction effect between …
Resource Wealth And Entrepreneurship: A Blessing Or A Curse?, Mohammad Reza Farzanegan
Resource Wealth And Entrepreneurship: A Blessing Or A Curse?, Mohammad Reza Farzanegan
Prof. Dr. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan
Resource-rich countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have the highest youth unemployment rate in the world. While other parts of the world are experiencing an increasing trend in new firms’ formation as a potential solution for their unemployment problem, the MENA region has the lowest records in new business establishments. In this study, we investigate the reasons behind such a significant lag of the resource-rich countries in entrepreneurship. Panel data for more than 80 countries from 2004-2009 shows that higher dependence on resource rents reduces entrepreneurship activities. The decline is more significant in countries with higher levels …
Natural Resources And Internal Conflicts - How Decentralization Lifts The Curse, Mohammad Reza Farzanegan, Gunther Markwardt, Christian Lessmann
Natural Resources And Internal Conflicts - How Decentralization Lifts The Curse, Mohammad Reza Farzanegan, Gunther Markwardt, Christian Lessmann
Prof. Dr. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan
We study how the natural resource endowments affect risk of internal conflicts and how this effect depends on decentralization levels in a political system. Resource rents, especially lootable resources such as oil, finance conflicts, creating strong separatist movements. Our main hypothesis is that increasing the levels of political decentralization can limit the destructive effect of the natural resource rents on internal conflicts. We use cross-country and panel data covering the period from 1984–2004 from more than 80 countries to test this hypothesis. Our estimates confirm that the relationship between the natural resource rents and risk of internal conflict is dependent …