Resource Curse: Micro and Macro Analysis

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to identify the different human agents and their different activities which cause resource curse – a phenomenon that has plagued Sub-Saharan Africa. In order to do the identification, the paper employed the levels of analysis approach. The approach shows that the relevant agents and factors can be analysed at the micro and macro levels. At the micro level, there are the individual, collective and corporate sub-levels, while at the macro level there are the state and the global institutional order sub-levels. The paper was divided into three parts. The first part explicated the different levels and sub-levels of analyses. The second part dealt with the micro level while the third part dealt with the macro level. The end-result is that despite the complexity of resource curse and the multifaceted nature of the activities that cause resource curse, we can still identify the different causal roles played by different agents, and thus attribute causal responsibility to the agents.

Keywords: Dutch Disease, Macro, Micro, Rent-Seeking, Resource Curse