Resource Curse: the Relationship between Natural Resource Abundance and Poverty in Iran

Iran has got the third largest oil reserves in the world and despite this natural wealth، it’s economic conditions in comparison to many poor countries، is undesirable and it seems in the case of resource curse is true. It is believed that resource abundance affect the poor by instability in the export price of primary resources، increase in inequality، decrease in growth rate، governance and political structure، Dutch Disease and internal war. ARDL approach is used to examine the relationship between abundance of natural resources and poverty over period (1981-2007). According to our findings، we cannot impute poverty to resources abundance. Studies that have used abundance measure (per capita natural resource) in spite of presence of poverty and inequality in natural resources- rich countries cannot confirm the relationship between poverty and inequality، and natural resources abundance. These researches point out institutions convert wealth to curse instead of blessed.