Natural Resource Rents and Social Capital Interaction: New Evidence on the Role of Financial Development

The varied opinions on financial developmental impacts on growth in different economies have been the subject of considerable debates among economists during the last two decades, especially in natural-resource-rich countries. However, the role of financial development on a crucial channel of growth, i.e. social capital, has been neglected. Unlike previous studies, the level of income in resource-based economies has been considered an important factor influencing the way financial development affects social capital-resource rents’ interactions. Thus, in this paper, the impact of financial development as an infrastructure to turn natural capital into social capital has been investigated in two groups of resource-abundant countries using a panel data model during 2009:Q1-2016:Q4. The empirical results in the case of high-income economies show that a high level of financial development can ensure resource rents, positively influencing social capital. However, findings indicate an adverse impact of natural resource rents on social capital in medium-income countries.