nep-res 2023-08-21 papers

on Resource Economics

Issue of 2023‒08‒21
two papers chosen by

How to Pollute a River If You Must By Yuzhi Yang; Erik Ansink; Jens Gudmundsson
Mineral resources and the salience of ethnic identities By Nicolas Berman; Mathieu Couttenier; Victoire Girard

By:	Yuzhi Yang (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); Erik Ansink (University of Amsterdam); Jens Gudmundsson (University of Copenhagen)
Abstract:	We propose the river pollution claims problem to distribute a pollution budget among agents located along a river. A key distinction with the standard claims problem is that agents are ordered exogenously. For environmental reasons, the location of pollution along the river is an important concern in addition to fairness. We characterize the class of externality-adjusted proportional rules and argue that they strike a balance between fairness and minimizing environmental damage in the river. We also propose two novel axioms that are motivated by the river pollution context and use them to characterize two priority rules.
Keywords:	Claims Problem, River Pollution, Pollution Permits, Externality-Adjusted Proportional Rules, Priority Rules
JEL:	D62 D63 C71 Q25
Date:	2023–06–28
URL:	http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20230036&r=res

Mineral resources and the salience of ethnic identities

By:	Nicolas Berman (AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR); Mathieu Couttenier (GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon - Saint-Etienne - ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR); Victoire Girard (NOVA SBE - NOVA - School of Business and Economics - NOVA - Universidade Nova de Lisboa = NOVA University Lisbon, LEO - Laboratoire d'Économie d'Orleans [2022-...] - UO - Université d'Orléans - UT - Université de Tours - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne)
Abstract:	This paper shows how ethnic identities may become more salient due to natural resources extraction. We combine individual data on the strength of ethnic—relative to national—identities with geo-localised information on the contours of ethnic homelands, and on the timing and location of mineral resources exploitation in 25 African countries, from 2005 to 2015. Our strategy takes advantage of several dimensions of exposure to resources exploitation: time, spatial proximity and ethnic proximity. We find that the strength of an ethnic group identity increases when mineral resource exploitation in that group's historical homeland intensifies. We argue that this result is at least partly rooted in feelings of relative deprivation associated with the exploitation of the resources. We show that such exploitation has limited positive economic spillovers, especially for members of the indigenous ethnic group; and that the link between mineral resources and the salience of ethnic identities is reinforced among members of powerless ethnic groups and groups with strong baseline identity feelings or living in poorer areas, or areas with a history of conflict. Put together, these findings suggest a new dimension of the natural resource curse: the fragmentation of identities, between ethnic groups and nations.
Keywords:	identity, ethnicity, natural resources
Date:	2023–07
URL:	http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04135257&r=res

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