From oil rents to inclusive growth: Lessons from the MENA region

In Chapter 8, Hassan Hakimian re-examines the oil curse from the perspective of the possibilities oil-exporters potentially have to transform their oil rents into inclusive growth. A copious literature on resource curse correlates these rents with poor economic outcomes in resource-rich economies. The common yardstick for evaluating economic performance is generally GDP growth rates. This chapter focuses on the broader question of whether the experience of MENA oil-exporters has been conducive to inclusive growth both over time and in a comparative context. To find out if these countries have been successful in turning their hydrocarbon wealth into the wider benefit of their population, Hakimian computes a novel Inclusive Growth Index and associated rankings for 154 countries. The results show a marked deterioration in the case of MENA’s oil-exporting countries over the periods of 2001–05 and 2006–10, particularly marred by a poor record in job creation especially for the young population.