Political Regulation of Natural Resources 1870-2010, Global Experiences

This project analyzes how countries and international institutions have regulated natural resources between 1870 and 2010. Our case studies include regulation of land, minerals and hydropower in Scandinavia, Australia and the Americas in the late 19th and early 20th century, colonial resource policy in British Africa and New Caledonia, and the contemporary resource policies in Norway, the Americas, Russia, Zambia, Nigeria and Ghana. This is the first comparative research project on the the historical development of national regulatory systems. We published the anthology "The political economy of natural resources, an international and comparative history 1870-2010" at the University of British Columbia Press in 2019. The research project includes a PhD- and a postdoc-scholarship. The PhD-thesis analyzes the political regulation of he copper industry in present day Zambia around independence. The post doc analyzes the evolution of mineral regulation the world from 1850 to 1939, with particular regard to the ability of the state to secure resource rent and implement resource nationalist policy.

Økt forståelse for hvordan naturressursenes politiske økonomi har vært viktig for fremveksten av den moderne kapitalismen.

The project examines how countries and international bodies have regulated natural resources and how states have avoided the so-called "resource curse". It is based on the scholarly curiosity, expertise and networks of the economic history and the Africanist sections of the Department of Historical Studies (IHS) at NTNU. We will identify key characteristics of the main historical types of resource regulation, and how these types have varied across geographic regions. By examining and comparing a number of carefully selected case studies covering 140 years and bringing together experiences in more successful regimes and less successful regimes, the project will elucidate how underdevelopment traps were avoided, as well as how successful regimes were established and then maintained over long time periods. We will focus on contingent historical situations involving institutional change, ranging chronologically from mineral and hydropower regulation in Scandinavia, Australia and the Americas in the late 19th and early 20th century, colonial resource policy in British West Africa and New Caledonia, to the contemporary oil policies in Norway, the Americas, Russia, Nigeria and Ghana. These experiences will also be analyzed against the project's study of the evolution of multilateral agreements and UN policies on resource development. It examines how changing international regimes have affected nation states as well as indigenous peoples. This is the first comparative research project on the the historical development of national as well as international regulatory systems. The project will thus enhance our understanding of the challenges, as well as potential for policy improvements, in resource-rich and resource-stricken countries.