An Research On "Resource Curse" Hypothesis And Empirical Analysis Of Central And Western Regions In China

Classic economics believes the good natural resources endowment is both important material basis and ultimate guarantee for industrialization, economic growth and social development. Economic growth history of western countries such as UK and USA confirms the view is correct. However, during more fifty years since the end of the World War Ⅱ, among over 60 countries with rich resource endowment like oil and coal only several countries such as South Africa, Botswana and Indonesia have achieved faster growth in GDP, the rest keep slow or even negative. During more than 30 years of reform and opening-up in China, economic growth of Eastern China with the poor resource endowment is faster and better than Middle and Western China with the rich resource endowment. Economic development both home and abroad shows that natural resources is not blessing but curse for some countries or some regions.The research idea of the dissertation is moving along the mechanism and reasons of the natural resource curse. ①We elaborated and demonstrated the government policy is major reason of the resource curse in China. ②We use the endogenous growth theory to explain the reason of the resource curse. ③We found that industry of resource is the biggest and most important one in resource district,which has been squeezing manufacturing and high-technology industries out and result a negative on economic growth.④We think rent-seeking by entrepreneurs is one of primary reasons for resource curses. ⑤We find the mineral mining industry is the fundamental reason for Jiangxi’s resource curse.The main conclusions of my study are: ①Differences of govern policies between Eastern China and Middle & Western China is the basic system reason for the resource curse for Middle and West China.②Because there is attractive invest return and lower invest risk, technology innovation and human capital cultivation which are key factors keeping economy for long-term are crowded out.③Due to the excessive dependence on the resources industry, the economic structure is very simple and onefold. There is no motivation to develop the manufacturing industry and the high-tech industry ensuring the long-term growth of economy, which makes it difficult to obtain long-term stable development of the economy.④ Due to soft constraints of institution and law, the entrepreneurs will spend more time and engery on rent-seeking activities instead of productive activity, resulting in entrepreneurs "crowding out" from productive activity.⑤Finally, we analyze Jiangxi case and find "resource curse" is not avoidable in short time, but it can lower the share of resource industry and push manufacturing and the tertiary industry.We provide some recommendations for resource curse are as follows:① improving the system of resource compensation and tax reform.②abolishing different development policies and strageties in different region.③upgrading industry, reasonably develop manufacturing industry and the tertiary industry.④ increasing R&D and human capital investment in the resource region.⑤Improving all kinds of economic institutions, reducing government intervention in the economy, eliminating entrepreneur rent-seeking space, and paying reasonable and attractive remuneration to entrepreneurs.Innovation of this dissertation lies in:①The different government policy in the different region on the different time is one of the major reason of the resource curse. ②Middle and Western region’s dependence on resource industry is crowing out manufacturing and the tertiary industry, resulting in the three industrial structure disorder. ③We used the David Romer’s theory of technology innovation and Robert Lucas’s theory of human capital to successfully explain"resource curse"phenomenon in the Middle and Western regions.④The entrepreneur’s rent-seeking has been leading to resource curse in Middle and Western regions.