Divisive Riches: Resource Ownership, Economic Disparities, and Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa

One of the main problems in the analysis of the resource-conflict nexus is the heterogeneity of the ownership structures and the extraction sites profitability for the same natural resources even within the same state. We contend that the reliance on national-level resource income data biases the extent of income redistribution within a society and the level of conflict needed to sustain it. Focusing on oil-fields and diamond mines in sub-Saharan countries, we offer a GIS-based analysis of the effects of natural resources on the sub-national and national economy and society. We employ an instrumental variable approach to disentangle for the past twenty years the growth and conflict effects that major oil fields and diamond mines have in the extraction region and the capitals of the examined countries. The preliminary analysis shows that especially public diamond ownership has positive growth effects in the extracting region, while onshore oilfields increase the risk of conflict.