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The natural resources curse theory argues the higher dependency on natural resources leads to many socio-economic problems. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between corruption and banking soundness and also to compare the extent of this effect between the two groups of rich and poor in natural resources countries.

To this aim, the authors apply a panel data set comprised of 98 countries from 2012 to 2015.

The results show that nations with a higher level of corruption have poorer banking soundness. The authors also find that by considering the resource curse theory and the effect of natural resource rents in the model, the adverse impact of corruption on banking soundness is more substantial in countries with a higher natural dependency level (rich in natural resources).

Though studies have been conducted on corruption and banking soundness, this paper, by using resources curse theory, articulates that corruption is one of the most critical factors affecting banking soundness and has a destructive effect on the health of the banking system and the economy of almost all countries, especially in natural resource-based economies. This study will appeal to banks authorities, governments, policymakers, oversight financial institutions and those who have a vested interest in regulating financial crimes globally. They can prevent financial and banking crises by cooperating in the fight against corruption worldwide.

Although the importance of network embeddedness attracted much attention in recent years, the interpretations of the underlying mechanism almost focus on the positive effects and neglect the potential negative aspects. This paper aims to use Chinese listed manufacturing enterprises, in the perspective of network embeddedness, to analyze whether resource curse effects exist in strategic networks of enterprises.

This paper examines the resource curse effect that exists in enterprise networks through analysis of enterprise’s total factors productivity compared with those of its industry peers with different degrees of embeddedness. This paper then uses several different methods, such as clustered fixed and random effect model, core and peripheral model, and generalized method of moments estimation in endogenous checks, to detect network curse effects and reveal three potential mechanisms, including overinvestment, extra maintaining cost and innovation extrusion.

This paper finds that excessive network embeddedness hinders continuous improvement of productivity, which is derived from three mechanisms: excessive network embeddedness makes information redundancy among enterprises, and the imitate-follow effect makes excessive investment seriously; enterprises have to encounter more problems and difficulties, such as information coordination and benefit negotiation, to maintain network relationship, which leads to extra cost; enterprises with abundant network resources may tend to more emphasis on marketable operational abilities, resulting in resource decentralization and less investment on innovation, which is finally not beneficial to productivity improvement in the long run.

Compared with previous literatures, this paper not only enriches the understanding of negative mechanisms in enterprise`s network embeddedness, but also unfolds the inconsistency of network embeddedness effects in practice and finds new evidence that the two types of network embeddedness are consistent in certain circumstances.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the “resource curse” problem as a counter-example of creative performance and innovation by examining reliance on capital and physical resources, showing the gap between expectations and ex-post actual performance that became clearer under conditions of economic turmoil.

The analysis uses logistic regressions with dichotomous response and predictor variables on structured tables of count data, representing firm performance as an outcome of capital resources, physical resources and innovation where appropriate.

Key findings relevant to economic and business practice follow. First, a typical characteristic of successful Vietnamese firms in the transition period is their reliance on either capital resources or physical asset endowments. Second, poor performers exhibit evidence of over-reliance on both capital and physical assets. Third, firms that relied on both types of resources tended to downplay creative performance. Some evidence suggests that firms face more acute problem caused by the law of diminishing returns in troubled times. Fourth, the “innovation factor” has not been tapped as a source of economic growth.

This study has some limitations. The size of the survey sample is approximately 150 firms, while the potential sample of > 300 should be possible in the future. When the size increases, the research could be expanded to include further variables that will help investigate more deeply into the related issues and business implications. With regard to the implications of the study, the absence of innovations has made the notion of “resource curse” identical to “destructive creation” implemented by ex-ante resource-rich firms, and worsened the problem of resource misallocation in transition turmoil. The Vietnamese corporate sector's addiction to resources may contribute to economic deterioration, through a downward spiral of lower efficiency leading to consumption of more resources.

Insights obtained from this study could save transition economies' resources which have almost always been considered sine qua non before any critical major policymaking, while this is not necessarily true, and in many cases, even counterproductive.

Original data set on Vietnam stock market are collected, processed, prepared and used by the authors. Original design by the authors for regression equations with dichotomous predictor variables: dependence on endowed physical assets, reliance on capital resources and significant signs of creative performance/innovations. Original idea of viewing “resource curse” as absence of innovation and due to uncreative “destructive creation” of poor-performing commercial operations by resource-rich firms is used in the paper. We have searched the literature in business research and found that the empirical results have not been previously reported.

The resource curse literature suggests that firms operating in non-oil and non-gas industries in petrostates face considerable challenges in securing competitiveness and sustaining themselves. Based on a firm-level survey within a micro-petrostate, Brunei, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between specific HR policies and practices and organisational performance; analyse, compare, and contrast oil and gas with non-oil and non-gas sectors; and draw out the comparative lessons for understanding the potential and performance consequences of HR interventions in resource-centred national economies.

Data for this study were generated from a primary survey administered amongst the HR directors in companies operating in all sectors in Brunei. A statistically representative sample size of 214 was selected.

The authors confirmed that firms in the oil and gas sector indeed performed better than other sectors. However, the authors found that the negative effects associated with operating outside of oil and gas could be mitigated through strategic choices: the strategic involvement of HR directors in the affairs of the company reduced employee turnover and added positively to financial returns across sectors.

Developing and enhancing the role of people management is still very much easier than bringing about structural institutional reforms: the study confirms that at least part of the solution to contextual difficulties lies within, and that the firm-level consequences of the resource curse can be ameliorated through a strategic choice.

The nature of the present investigation is one of few studies conducted in South East Asia in general and in the context of Brunei, in particular. It also contributes to the authors’ understanding whether HR interventions can ameliorate the challenges of operating in a non-resource sector in a resource-rich country.

This paper aims to identify the factors that have allowed some counties to avoid the so‐called “resource curse”; to determine practical steps that can be taken by companies, governments, local communities and aid agencies in collaboration to enhance mining's contribution to poverty reduction.

Research was conducted collaboratively with the UNCTAD and the World Bank Group, overseen by an independent advisory group, and tested through two multi‐stakeholder workshops. Industry involvement in the initiative took place through an ICMM working group comprising around 20 companies and chambers of mines.

Success depended on three factors: reformed mineral legislation, improved macroeconomic management and some improvements in governance.

Although the robust nature of the processes employed can be demonstrated, the explicit aim of identifying factors that allow certain “successful” countries to avoid the resource curse has inherent limitations.

Companies, governments, donors and other actors need to work together to help strengthen capacity in mining countries and regions, particularly at the sub‐national level.

Mining and metals companies have been at the forefront of some of the most innovative multi‐stakeholder processes of any industry sector. The paper outlines the causes, such as its poor reputation among stakeholder groups, and explores how the industry has sought to become more accountable to its stakeholders by demonstrably improving its sustainable development performance.

With heterogeneous findings dominating the growth and natural resources relations, there is a need to explain the variances in Africa's growth process as induced by robust measures of factor endowments. This study used a comprehensive set of data from the updated database of the World Bank to capture the heterogeneous dimensions of natural resource endowments on growth with a particular focus on establishing complementary evidence on the resource curse hypothesis in energy and environmental economics literature in Africa. These comprehensive data on oil rent, coal rent and forest rent could provide new and insightful evidence on obscure relations on the subject matter.

This paper considers the panel vector error correction model (PVECM) procedure to explain changes in economic growth outcomes as induced by oil rent, coal rent and forest rent. The consideration of the PVECM was premised on the panel unit root process that returns series that were cointegrated at the first-order differentials.

The paper found positive relations between oil rent, coal rent and economic development in Africa. Forest rent, on the other hand, is inversely related to economic growth in Africa. Trade and human capital are positively related to economic growth in Africa, while population growth is negatively associated with economic growth in Africa.

Short-run policies should be tailored towards the stability of fiscal expenditure such that the objective of fiscal policy, which is to maintain the condition of full employment and economic stability and stabilise the rate of growth, can be optimised and sustained. By this, the resource curse will be averted and productive capacity will increase, leading to sustainable growth and development in Africa, where conditions for growth and development remain inadequately met.

The originality of this paper can be viewed from the strength of its arguments and methods adopted to address the questions raised in this paper. This study further illuminated age-long obscure relations in the literature of natural resource endowment and economic growth by taking a disaggregated approach to the component-by-component analysis of natural resources factors (the oil rent, coal rent and forest rent) and their corresponding influence on economic growth in Africa. This pattern remains underexplored mainly in previous literature on the subject. Many African countries are blessed with an abundance of these different natural resources in varying proportions. The misuse and mismanagement of these resources along various dimensions have been the core of the inclination towards the resource curse hypothesis in Africa. Knowing how growth conditions respond to changes in the depth of forest resources, oil resources and coal resources could be useful pointers in Africa's overall energy use and management. This study contributed to the literature on natural resource-induced growth dynamics by offering a generalisable conclusion as to why natural resource-abundance economies are prone to poor economic performance. This study further asks if mineral deposits are a source or reflection of ill growth and underdevelopment in African countries.

The purpose of this paper is to describe co-devolutionary processes of multinational enterprise (MNE)/emerging economy institutional relationships utilizing concepts from “old” institutional theory as well as the institutional aspects of socially constructed realities.

The authors develop a set of propositions that explore the new concept of a co-devolutionary relationship between MNEs and emerging economy institutions. Guided by prior research, the paper investigates MNE/emerging economy institutional co-devolution at the macro-(MNE home and host countries), meso-(MNE industry/host country regulative and normative institutions) and micro-(MNE and host country institutional actors) levels.

MNE/emerging economy institutional co-devolution occurs at the macro-level via negative public communications in the MNE’s home and host countries, at the meso-level via host country corruption and MNE adaptation, and at the micro-level via pressures for individual actors to cognitively “take for granted” emerging economy corruption, leading to MNE divestment and a reduction in new MNE investment.

By characterizing co-devolutionary processes within MNE/emerging economy institutional relationships, the research augments co-evolutionary theory. It also assists in developing more accurate specification and measurement methods for the organizational co-evolution construct by using institutional theory’s foundational processes to discuss MNE/emerging economy institutional co-devolution.

The research suggests the use of enhanced regulation, bilateral investment treaties and MNE/local institution partnerships to stabilize MNE/emerging economy institutional relationships, leading to more robust progress in building emerging economy institutions.

The research posits that using the concepts of institutional theory as a foundation provides useful insights into the “stickiness” of institutional instability and corruption in emerging economies and into the resulting co-devolutionary MNE/emerging economy institutional relationships.

This study aims to analyze the effects of natural resource rents on income inequality.

This study uses a panel quantile regression (QR) approach for 42 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries over the period 1998–2018.

The results show that natural resource rents have a negative and statistically significant effect on income inequality. Regarding the types of resources, the results show that coal rents increase inequality, while forestry and oil rents reduce income inequality. The results also show that the effects of mining and gas rents vary along the income inequality distribution. Finally, the results reveal a negative and significant effect of natural resource rents on income inequality in all sub-regions except Southern Africa.

The results suggest that the SSA Governments should intensify the implementation of income redistribution policies such as family allowances to poor families with multiple children and public sector job creation. SSA policymakers should also increase access to electricity, and internet, and allocate a portion of oil revenues to create an intergenerational sovereign wealth fund.

First, few studies have analyzed the effects of various types of natural resource rents on income inequality. To this end, this study used the QR method to examine the impact of natural resource rents on inequality, by laying emphasis on various types of natural resources. This study takes into account the likely heterogeneity across countries that may exist when considering a sample such as SSA countries, by examining the effects in the different sub-regions that make up this part of Africa (Central Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa and East Africa).

The study contributes to the aim of regional development policy in reducing regional disparities, by examining the spatial balance in socioeconomic development across the states of Malaysia based on composite development index (CDI). Besides, the study has attempted to understand the issues in the development gaps across Malaysian states by evaluating the factors that explain the variation in economic growth

This study uses three-stage least squares (3SLS) and bootstrap sampling and estimation techniques to examine the factors that explain the variations in the growth of development across the states in Malaysia. The analysis involves 13 states in Malaysia (Johor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pulau Pinang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak) from 2005 to 2015.

The pattern in the spatial socioeconomic imbalance demonstrates a decreasing trend. However, the development index reveals that the performance of less developed states remained behind that of the developed states. The significant factors in explaining the variation in growth across the Malaysian states are relating to agriculture, manufacturing, human capital, population growth, Chinese ethnicity, institutional factors and natural resources.

The authors focused on Malaysian states over the period between 2005 and 2015. The authors encountered some limitations in obtaining relevant data such as international factors and technological change that might also explain the variation in economic growth as the data on these variables are not reported at the state level. Moreover, the data on GSDP by sector was only available from the year 2005. Second, the study is based on secondary data. Future studies might examine the factors that contribute to the development gap across Malaysian states through interviews or questionnaires and compare the findings with the existing results. Despite its limitations, this study contributes to the existing literature that emphasizes on spatial balance of socioeconomic in a developing country, focusing on Malaysian states.

These findings provide guidance for policymakers by understanding key potential areas to reduce the disparity in economic growth across Malaysian states by understanding their impact on the growth.

This study employs different method of 3SLS and bootstrap sampling and estimation techniques in examining the factors that explain the variations in the growth of development across the states in Malaysia.

The study examines the role of natural resources (NRs) and energy consumption in managing the climate crisis in Africa, using annual series data from the World Bank from 1980 to 2019.

The empirical strategy is based on the second-generation panel techniques that account for cross-sectional dependency in the series. Specifically, the empirical evidence is based on the Westerlund (2017) panel cointegration test, panel augmented mean group, common correlated effects mean group and the vector autoregressive (VAR)-vector error correction (VEC) approaches.

Evidence from the panel analysis confirmed the existence of Carbon Kuznets Curve (CKC) U-shaped nexus in Africa, but the country-level results are mixed. Furthermore, results using the VAR-vector correction model indicate possible convergence among the variables across the African countries. NR unidirectionally Granger-causes carbon emissions. The authors suggest the consideration of environmental factors in the utilisation of NRs. Similarly, energy efficiency is crucial to decouple carbon from energy usage.

The study complements the extant literature by assessing the role of NRs and energy consumption in managing climate crisis in Africa.