The subnational resource curse: links of oil and mineral wealth with conflict and criminality

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Subnational governments in oil and mineral-rich regions from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru have access to significant resource revenues. The emerging literature on the subnational resource curse argues that local and regional governments face similar difficulties and risks than national governments when dealing with abundance of fuel and non-fuel mineral wealth: rent-seeking incentives; increased corruption and non-programmatic distributive politics; severe localized violence; and, the appropriation of rents by non-state armed groups. Nevertheless, the research on the existence and the causal mechanisms of a subnational resource has presented mixed results and it is less conclusive than the literature on the national resource curse. The objective of this panel is to review and discuss empirical evidence (qualitative and quantitative) on the association between oil and mineral wealth with violence, armed conflict, and criminality activity. The papers of the panel address the interaction between resource wealth, violence and criminal activities, as well as the political processes that unfold in oil and gold-rich regions located in Colombia and Peru.

Sub Track

• Energy, Commodities and Development

Session Organizer

• Juan David Gutiérrez Rodríguez, Oxford University

Chair

• Lucas I Gonzalez, CONICET/Universidad Católica Argentina-Universidad Nacional de San Martin

Discussant

• Javier Arellano Yanguas, University of Deusto

Individual Presentations

• Same resource, different conflicts: The relationship between gold and conflict in six Colombian gold mining regions - Angelika Rettberg, Universidad de los Andes; Juan Felipe Ortiz-Riomalo

• A Bonanza for Bad Politicians: Criminal Candidates and Informal Mining in Peru - Antonella A Bandiera, New York University

• Oil barrels, votes and guns: The links between oil wealth and organized violence at the local level in Colombia - Juan David Gutiérrez Rodríguez, Oxford University