The Resource Curse Play: A Comparative Study of Norway and Venezuela

Abstract

Ever since its nomenclature in the 1990s, the resource curse has been a particular field of study for researchers in economics. The paper analyses the experience of Norway and Venezuela to tackle the problem of resource curse emanating from the abundance of oil in both countries. Tracing a historical trail of the two nations from 1960 to 2015, the post effects of their respective resource management and fiscal policies are compared through economic and socio-economic parameters. Employing statistical observations to analyze the differences in the handling of oil abundance, a conclusion is drawn on Norway's superior resource management over Venezuela's troubled handling of its resources to establish Norway's case as the ideal for other countries suffering from the 'resource curse'.

Keywords: Norway, Oil, Public Finance, Resource Curse, Taxation, Venezuela

JEL Classification: H2, H5, H10, N1, Q3