A Study Of Regional Disparity Of The Impact Of Natural Resources Exploitation On Economic Growth

Good resources endowment is regarded as the foundation of the economic growth by traditional economic theories. However, with the failure of many resource-oriented models of economic growth and the rapid development of regions and countries which are short of resources, economists reexamined closely at the relationships between natural resources exploitation and economic development and they further proposed the hypothesis of "resource curse". In fact, whether resources exploitation in economic development is a "blessing" or a "curse" is still in dispute in the academic field.As far as the level of economic development is concerned, the central and western regions of China with natural resources gift have been in a backward state for a long time in Chinese regional economic development pattern, and the so-called "the poverty of plenty" has made its appearance. In reaction to the perplexing phenomenon, a great number of scholars have conducted extensive research based on the hypothesis of "resource curse" and produced numerous valuable works and research findings. But, most of the present investigations are empirical tests and theoretical interpretations based on linear assumption, which failed to offer reasonable explanation for the co-existence of "resource blessing" and "resource curse".According to the existing limitations and controversy, this paper, based on empirical and normative study, systematically investigates the regional differences and the threshold effect of natural resources exploitation in economic growth. The conclusion of the research is as follows:First of all, there exists significant difference of the roles of natural resources exploitation in the economic development among three large regions of China. Specifically, the exploitation of natural resources exerts a marked promoting effect on the economic growth in eastern China, but it does not bring about positive effects for the vast central and western regions of China because of their over-exploitation and inability of resources transforming and value-adding.Secondly, there is a non-linear relationship between natural resources exploitation and economic development. When the exploitation of natural resources is less than a certain threshold value, it will greatly promote the regional economic growth which is in a "resource blessing" state. When the exploitation of natural resources is more than a certain threshold value, it will inhibit the progress of economy, which leads the regional economic progress into a "resource curse" trap.Thirdly, development of manufacturing industries, degree of marketization and financial development act important roles in the non-linear relationship between natural resources exploitation and economic development. Only when these variables become more than a certain threshold value, can the natural resources exploitation promote the regional economic development. In other words, these factors can play a crucial role in avoiding "resource cures".Finally, natural resources exploitation, development of manufacturing industries, degree of marketization and financial development are in an antagonistic condition. Natural resources development can squeeze out the other three factors and restrain the economic growth. Conversely, the three factors mentioned above can improve and remedy the inborn deficiency of human activities of resources exploitation, leading to a real "blessing" for economic growth.Therefore, this research paper concludes that natural resources exploitation is not necessarily the promoter of economic growth, and "resource curse" is not always the inevitable outcome of activities of resources exploitation. The central and western regions of China excessively depend on natural resources exploitation and they are weak at resource transformation and absorption, which is one of the main reasons of "resource curse". Thus, in order to avoid the "resource curse", we are supposed to scientifically explore and utilize natural resources, strengthen the accumulation of human capital and improve technical creativity, promote the development of manufacturing industries, speed up the process of marketization, raise the level of financial development, and then make good use of the optimization of industrial structure to improve resource allocative efficiency and make up the natural limitations of resources exploitation, transforming resources advantage into economic advantage.