However, the dominant rentier state theory does not offer clear. A theory of civil conflict and democracy in rentier states. Resource curse, aid curse and the rentier state robert t. Although a coherent rentier state theory does not exist, the description above. Abstract this article aims to analyze the implications of the arab uprisings on the rentier state theory rst.
Hence, this study will target to prove that a critical reading of the. A more theoretical approach to rentier state theory in the middle east and international relations. In current politicalscience and internationalrelations theory, a rentier state is a state which derives all or a substantial portion of its national revenues from the rent of indigenous resources to external clients. At the level of explanation, i propose a rentier theory of subnational democracy, which shifts the focus of the rentierstate literature up by climbing sartoris ladder of abstraction from the concept of resource rents to that of fiscal rents. The aforementioned calls for a deeper understanding of such variations as the classic rentier state theory provides static tenets for rentierism as a one size fits all labeling mechanism. The resource curse and rentier states in the caspian region. The arab spring, increasing oil prices, and the theory of the rentier state the notion of a rentier state implies that a governmentstate hierarchy is dependent upon the accumulation of predominantly natural resource in this case oil derived revenue in order to sustain itself. Refinancing the rentier state dspace at aus american. To date, rentier state theory, including recent refinements, has not considered. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext.
First, the rentierstate theory cannot explain the longrun variation and change in growth of mineral abundant economies eg, botswana, malaysia, venezuela and nigeria. This article shall focus on the political aspects of the resource curse theory, in particular the rentier state theory as a sub theory of the resource curse. The political economy theory of the rentier state, as sketched by mahdavy in 1970 and expanded by beblawi and luciani in 1987, holds that the massive influx of oilrent plays a large, perhaps dominant, role in shaping the political and social relationships between state and society. Part ii illustrates the theory of the rentier state, and in particular, how the rentier system affects the economics of the state and work mentality. A rentier state would be one where rent income encompasses most government revenue, and has been discussed in detail earlier in this article. A postrentier state is one in which expenditure outstrips rent income, and there is not enough supply of the rent commodity remaining for the deficit to ever be made up. The rentier state is a political economy theory that seeks to account for state society. Although the central economic factor of an abundant reserve of natural resources remains the constant element around. The ratio of state to societal resources, however, is speci. Income measurement in arab states 2 the rentier state in. It also discusses particular growth strategies that have been effective in producing longrun economic growth in mineral and fuelabundant developing countries.
Rentier state theory rst remains the dominant literature on. Todays examples of rentier states include gulf nations such as qatar, bahrain, saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, kuwait, and oman, where governments reap massive international revenues rents from oil exportation. Rentierism, far from being saddled with being the sole explanatory tenet for the entirety of the middle eastern political universe, should instead be treated as a trait of gulf politics introduction. Economic rent is viewed as unearned revenue, whereas economic profit is a narrower term describing surplus income greater than the next best riskadjusted alternative. Rentier state theory rst is a political economy theory that seeks to explain state society relations in states that generate a large proportion of their income from rents, or externallyderived, unproductivelyearned payments. Wider working paper 201710 natural resources impact on. The framework has since been applied to understand the politics of resourcerich countries in latin america, asia and africa, with proponents arguing that rentier. A theory of late rentierism in the arab states of the gulf. In the timorese context, the state has become a rentier state because the government is the primary recipient of petroleum revenues beblawi 1987. Because the government in a rentier state plays the role of benefactor, citizens will. French, from rente, yearly income, from old french. The rentier state theory rst and its limits the theory of the rentier state started to emerge in the late 1960s, became fully formed in the 1980s, and has since undergone some adjustments. Silje aslaksen and ragnar torvik department of economics norwegian university of science and technology n7491 trondheim norway emails. The paper argues that fragile rentier states such as sudan are structurally susceptible to fragmentary conflicts.
It was, in the words of one gulf scholar, red meat to the sectarian radicals. Rentier state theory claims that resource abundance causes weak and predatory state institutions. The west became involved with irans oil in the following way. Economic adjustment and reform in the context of a rentier. In relation to rentier state, the creuseurs do not pay the newly revised rent or royalties to the state but instead pay a flat value added tax rate.
A post rentier state is one in which expenditure outstrips rent income, and there is not enough supply of the rent commodity remaining for the deficit to ever be made up. Rentier definition of rentier by the free dictionary. Defining rents as effortlessly accrued income streams, rentier states can be seen as those whose economies are dependent on substantial external rent for state revenues schwarz, 2012. The response earned no point for the statement that a rentier state is a state in which the government gets help from other nations. Dangers of splitting a fragile rentier state files. Oil, aid, regimetype rentier state theory grew out of an attempt to understand political development in the oilrich states of the middle east. The rentier state theory has informed much scholarly research on the middle east and north africa mena region. The term rentier state has been used since the 20th century, in a number of ways. The first phase of the debate was concerned with oil resources and oil and gasrich states. Pdf this article aims to analyze the implications of the arab uprisings on the rentier state theory rst. Today gulfs oil monarchies, archetypes within the rentier state theory are, in contrast. This phase is tied to dangers of splitting a fragile rentier state.
Introduction the focus of this study is on the rentier character of state and economy in relation to capital accumulation during the period of 19601997 in iran. Oct 11, 20 rentier state theory, therefore, asserts that a populations political loyalty can be commoditized and purchased. Introduction1 the present paper aims to arrive at a set of guidelines that help to study state formation, state reformation and state deformation processes in the postcolonial states of the arab middle east. State formation in iraq has followed the path of many developing states in its struggle against a major foreign power great britain and the attempt to create a modern state administration and representative institutions. First, the rentier state theory cannot explain the longrun variation and change in growth of mineral abundant economies eg, botswana, malaysia, venezuela and nigeria. In short, it remains the conventional and convenient recourse for assessing this regions economic and sociopolitical developments. Extractive economies and conflicts in the global south. Rentier state theory, therefore, asserts that a populations political loyalty can be commoditized and purchased. Sectoral transformations in neopatrimonial rentier states. Rent seeking and the resource curse rune jansen hagen2017 rents and the political economy of development aid both in.
The rentier state theory originally developed in relation to irans mid20 th century economy. The observed tendency towards structural fissure and implosive fragmentation is a virus that could threaten the security and stability of southern sudan if the dysfunctional political economy of rent that infests the larger sudanese. Mar, 2014 development of rentierism posted on march, 2014 by john dudovskiy rentier state theory is a political economy theory that seeks to explain statesociety relations in states that generate a large proportion of their income from rents, or externallyderived, unproductivelyearned payments gray, 2011, p. Revising rentier state theory for the modern arab states of the gulf.
At the level of explanation, i propose a rentier theory of subnational democracy, which shifts the focus of the rentierstate literature up by climbing sartoris ladder of abstraction from the. Rentier state theory rst is a political economy theory that seeks to explain state. Here is a broad, over simplified definition for you. Although the central economic factor of an abundant reserve of natural resources remains the.
The disproportionate role of state resources in gcc nationals lives is re. Economic adjustment and reform in the context of a rentier state bassam fattouh presented at the graduate institute geneva, september 2017 oxford institute for energy studies. Is rentier state theory sufficient to explain the politics. The theory of the rentier state started to emerge in the late 1960s, became.
The rentier state theory is also a concern of this study since it is not only the first initiative that aims to define the different structures of those states but also since it opened the way for analyzing these states as exceptional. The increased taxation, resulting from the recent code update on strategic substances like cobalt, is passed on to the purchasers of the artisanal cobalt who buy cobalt ore in depots, or openair. Companion to the political economy of rent seeking. Development of rentierism posted on march, 2014 by john dudovskiy rentier state theory is a political economy theory that seeks to explain statesociety relations in states that generate a large proportion of their income from rents, or externally. The political economy of subsidy reform in the persian. From rentier state to failed state 6 the iraqi state was created in 1920 in the aftermath of world war i. View rentier state theory research papers on academia. Tourism development and state policy in egypt thomas richter and christian steiner article outline 1. First, the institutional capacitystate capacity argument seems rel evant.
A person who lives on income from property or investments. The contributions and limitations of rentier state theory in the gulf were the focus of a workshop. Frontiers an obsolescing bargain in a rentier state. The people who are important to the idea of the rentier state paradigm are said to include mahdavy 1970, bablawi 1987, luciani 1987, so they seem to be the people who were instrumental in the origins of the idea. Oil and the rentier state loyola university chicago. An appraisal article pdf available in uluslararasi iliskiler ssci11. The rentier state theory revisited nishad sanzagiri. Unlike economic profit, economic rent cannot be theoretically eliminated by competition, since all value from natural resources and locations yields economic rent. This article will discuss how the rentier state contributes to the survival of arab absolute monarchies despite the various challenges to their rule. The toppling of qaddafi, which was the result of cooperation between local op position and external intervention forces, seems to contribute to the debate about rentier states in several ways. The rentier state theory rst has received renewed academic traction in its ability to explicate.
Nevertheless, not all rentier cases suffer from the same socioeconomic issues or react similarly to international oil price fluctuations. The origins of the two lefts in latin america raul l. Rentier state theory has long been able to explain the relationship. The implications of the rentier state theory regarding the. Oct 25, 2012 the people who are important to the idea of the rentier state paradigm are said to include mahdavy 1970, bablawi 1987, luciani 1987, so they seem to be the people who were instrumental in the origins of the idea. Fourth, a corollary of the role of the few, in a rentier state the government is the principal recipient of the external rent. Introduction1 the present paper aims to arrive at a set of guidelines that help to study stateformation, state reformation and state deformation processes in the postcolonial states of the arab middle east.
Initial conceptualization of rentier state was based on the impact of externally generated oil revenues on the economic development as. Secondly, the variation and change in economic growth in nonmineral rich economies is. The theory of the rentier state suggests that countries that derive the majority of government funds from nontax sources of revenue, such as oil exports, are fundamentally different from countries without such a resource base beblawi and luciani, 1987. One point was earned for identifying nigeria as a rentier state, but no point was earned for describing a problem that a rentier state faces and the impact of that problem on economic development. The origin of the rentier model in the middle east ifri. A main theorist of the rentier state theories argues that in a rentier state, the government is the principal recipient of the external rent in the economy. In a rentier state, the government collects oil revenues and distributes the proceeds to the population. The aim of this essay is to discuss the term rentier state and elaborate on how useful the concept is in explaining the politics of oil producing arab states. The population relies on their government for food, shelter, income, and job opportunities. The resource curse thesis claims that oil rents generate economic stagnation, authoritarianism, and heightened vulnerability to civil war. Seventeen indices of different aspects of democracy were derived from this dataset. Observing the rents accrued by the governments of gulf states, the allure of implementing rentier state theory rst in explaining their politics is easy to comprehend. The rentier state theory situates the state as the unit of analysis by explaining how petroleum dependency shapes the states relations with society and its role in economic development.