China’s Resource Curse: Minerals, Local Governance and Development

Zhan reveals the micro-foundations of the resource curse through a detailed study on China. Based on case studies of multiple mining areas and longitudinal and cross-regional statistical analysis on Chinese localities, this book examines how resource endowment affects local governance and consequently development. The central argument is that mineral resources pose a curse on development by adversely affecting the mode and quality of local governance. It is not a simple confirmation of existing theories of the resource curse, but emphasizes the role of the state, especially the local state, as a crucial intermediate variable between resources and development.

This book sheds new light on the long-lasting debate on the resource curse using new empirical evidence from China. It highlights the importance of local governance in the causal chain between resources and development. Moreover, it helps us better understand the political economy of the resource sector and its impacts on local governance and development in China. The lessons learned are useful for sound resource management and policymaking not only in China but also in other developing countries. This material also advances the existing resource curse research from primarily country-level analysis to a subnational level, which helps address the institutional heterogeneity problems with cross-national studies.