Oil, Population Growth, and the Resource Curse

Abstract

I find indications that an increase in a country’s oil endowment results in an increase in its population growth rate, an increase in its fertility and birth rates, and a decrease in its mortality rate. To explain these results, I conjecture that an increase in oil endowment results in reduced female labor force participation, which increases the population growth rate. Additionally, I find no significant, negative relationship between a country’s per capita GDP growth rate and its oil endowment, when variations in the population growth rate are controlled. This result and others affect the interpretation of the “resource curse” concept.