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From Natural Resource Windfalls to Curse? The Resource Curse Paradox and Economic Diversification in Kazakhstan

Kamaliyeva, Akmaral LU (2017) EKHK18 20171
Department of Economic History
Abstract
The evidence pointing to a fundamental link between abundance in natural resources and unsustainable development processes in developing countries has caught attention lately, one aspect of this being the „resource curse‟. This paper aims to demonstrate the extent to which the resource abundance can explain the unsustainable economic development process of Kazakhstan. It aims to answer the overarching research question: How does the dependence on natural resources affect the economic development in Kazakhstan? with sub questions: a) Is economic development deficient due to poor political institutions?, b) If poor political institutions are present, shall the case of Kazakhstan be defined by the resource curse or the rentier state theory?... (More)
The evidence pointing to a fundamental link between abundance in natural resources and unsustainable development processes in developing countries has caught attention lately, one aspect of this being the „resource curse‟. This paper aims to demonstrate the extent to which the resource abundance can explain the unsustainable economic development process of Kazakhstan. It aims to answer the overarching research question: How does the dependence on natural resources affect the economic development in Kazakhstan? with sub questions: a) Is economic development deficient due to poor political institutions?, b) If poor political institutions are present, shall the case of Kazakhstan be defined by the resource curse or the rentier state theory? The analysis is carried out through applying theories of natural resource curse and rentier state on the case of Kazakhstan, thereby assessing how both theoretical models and exceptional country factors shape the developmental outcome in Kazakhstan altogether with its economic, political and social progresses. However, it is observed that resource curse theory alone is not able to explain Kazakhstan‟s inability to be engaged in significant steps towards proper governance of sustainable economic diversification. Both low economic diversification and neopatrimonial structures combined with the Post Soviet legacies consolidate rentierism effects in the country. Thus, the study demonstrates that the rentier state approach seems to be applicable in Kazakhstan. (Less)
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author
Kamaliyeva, Akmaral LU
supervisor
organization
course
EKHK18 20171
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
natural resources, resource curse, Kazakhstan, rentier state, Soviet legacy, economic diversification
language
English
id
8925617
date added to LUP
2017-09-14 15:01:54
date last changed
2017-09-14 15:01:54
@misc{8925617,
  abstract     = {{The evidence pointing to a fundamental link between abundance in natural resources and unsustainable development processes in developing countries has caught attention lately, one aspect of this being the „resource curse‟. This paper aims to demonstrate the extent to which the resource abundance can explain the unsustainable economic development process of Kazakhstan. It aims to answer the overarching research question: How does the dependence on natural resources affect the economic development in Kazakhstan? with sub questions: a) Is economic development deficient due to poor political institutions?, b) If poor political institutions are present, shall the case of Kazakhstan be defined by the resource curse or the rentier state theory? The analysis is carried out through applying theories of natural resource curse and rentier state on the case of Kazakhstan, thereby assessing how both theoretical models and exceptional country factors shape the developmental outcome in Kazakhstan altogether with its economic, political and social progresses. However, it is observed that resource curse theory alone is not able to explain Kazakhstan‟s inability to be engaged in significant steps towards proper governance of sustainable economic diversification. Both low economic diversification and neopatrimonial structures combined with the Post Soviet legacies consolidate rentierism effects in the country. Thus, the study demonstrates that the rentier state approach seems to be applicable in Kazakhstan.}},
  author       = {{Kamaliyeva, Akmaral}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{From Natural Resource Windfalls to Curse? The Resource Curse Paradox and Economic Diversification in Kazakhstan}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}