Poverty Maps and Darkness

From the updated OxCARRE paper [pdf, oxcarre.ox.ac.uk], Left in the Dark of Brock Smith [brockdsmith.com] and Sam Wills [wordpress.com] come these interesting maps on rural poverty.

Read on at Sam's website [wordpress.com]

New OxCARRE Research: Left in the Dark? Oil and Rural Poverty

OxCARRE's Sam Wills [wordpress.com] and Brock Smith [brockdsmith.com] brought a new research paper,

Left in the Dark? Oil and Rural Poverty

Abstract

Oil booms do not benefit the rural poor. To show this we combine data on night-time lights and population at a very fine (1 km2) resolution to construct global measures of rural poverty from 2000-2013. We find that oil booms, due either to high prices or new discoveries, increase GDP per capita. However, the increase in output is limited to cities and towns, and does not benefit the rural poor. We also find that while urbanization is occurring throughout the developing world, it is not being hastened by oil wealth.

Available here [oxcarre.ox.ac.uk, pdf].

New Research: The Local Impact of Mining on Poverty and Inequality: Evidence from the Commodity Boom in Peru

Norman Loayza [worldbank.org] (World Bank) Jamele Rigolini [iza.org] (IZA) write on

The Local Impact of Mining on Poverty and Inequality: Evidence from the Commodity Boom in Peru
Abstract:

This paper studies the impact of mining activity on socioeconomic outcomes in local communities in Peru. In the last two decades, the value of Peruvian mining exports has grown by fifteen times; and since a decade ago, one-half of fiscal revenues from mining have been devolved to local governments in producing regions. Has this boom benefitted people in local communities? We find evidence that producing districts have larger consumption per capita and lower poverty rates than otherwise similar districts. However, these positive impacts decrease drastically with administrative and geographic distance from mining centers. Moreover, consumption inequality within producing districts is higher than in comparable nonproducing districts. This dual effect of mining is partially accounted for by the better educated immigrants required and attracted by mining activity. The inequalizing impact of mining, both across and within districts, may explain the social discontent with mining in Peru, despite its enormous revenues.

Full paper here [perueconomics.org]

Which adds to the stock of papers on local impact and resource extraction, reviewed in a paper discussed last week [oxcarre.blogspot.co.uk]. See also the meta-analysis on mining and poverty, discussed here [oxcarre.blogspot.co.uk].

New Research: Extractive industries and poverty: A review of recent findings and linkage mechanisms

A meta-study on the connection between poverty and mining comes out particularly depressing, "we find industrial mining to be more frequently associated with poverty exacerbation".

Extractive industries and poverty: A review of recent findings and linkage mechanisms

by Jonathan Gamu [ubc.ca], Philippe Le Billon [ubc.ac] (both Liu Institute for Global Issues, UBC) and Samuel Spiegel [ed.ac.uk] (University of Edinburgh)

Abstract

This article surveys fifty-two empirical studies on relationships between extractive industries and poverty, addressing both poverty impacts and possible linkage mechanisms. Distinguishing these studies by mode of resource extraction, we find industrial mining to be more frequently associated with poverty exacerbation, and artisanal mining with poverty reduction. Poverty exacerbation findings are more pronounced in cross-national statistical studies and ethnographic local case studies, especially when relative deprivation and longer-term impacts are taken into account; while sub-national census-based studies tend to show lower poverty levels in areas with extractive sector activities. A review of thirteen specific linkages between extractive industries and poverty highlights the importance of governance institutions and the limited effects of Corporate Social Responsibility activities. Methodologically, our survey points to the dominance of industrial mining-related data in cross-national and sub-national studies and the overlooked effects of artisanal and small-scale mining on poverty reduction at analytical scales larger than community-level. Such findings call for integrated studies assessing effects on poverty at various scales and attending to the specificities of mining-related livelihoods. Nested mixed-methods including place-based ethnographic observation, longitudinal surveys, as well as socioeconomic and political analysis across multiple scales are needed to provide more robust contextual understandings of the relationships between extractive sectors and poverty.

Read further here [sciencedirect.com].