Commodity Based Sovereign Wealth Funds: An Alternative Path to Economic Development
Abstract
Natural
resource
producing
countries
struggle
with
issues
about
how
to
make
use
of
their
natural
resources
properly,
allocate
the
funds
from
these
resources
and
how
to
ensure
continuity
of
these
resources
and
their
effects
through
the
years.
Commodity
based
sovereign
wealth
funds
offer
a
channel
through
which
these
can
be
achieved.
This
dissertation
studies
these
funds
with
respect
to
how
they
can
be
used
to
finance
development
in
resource
rich
countries.
Each
chapter
examines
natural
resource
funded
sovereign
wealth
funds
called
commodity
based
sovereign
wealth
funds
(CBSWF),
from
different
angles.
This
includes
analyses
of
what
these
funds
are,
how
they
are
currently
used,
the
dangers
in
the
current
savings-‐like
investment
strategy
and
then
proposes
new
real
investment
strategies
that
can
encourage
growth
for
these
countries.
The
aim
of
these
analyses
is
to
suggest
these
funds
as
an
alternative
path
towards
growth
and
development
in
natural
resource
owning
economies.
To
achieve
this,
we
look
at
the
pre-‐
and
post-‐
CBSWF
era
of
some
CBSWF
owning
countries
except
for
Iraq,
Iran
and
Libya,
which
have
recently
experienced wars
that
have
disrupted
these
economies
and
countries.
Some
of
the
countries
being
studied
have
recently
adopted
these
funds
or
have
not
done
anything
with
these
funds.
Thus,
it
is
difficult
to
analyze
the
effects
of
these
funds
in
these
countries.
We
compare
these
countries’
Gross
Development
Product
(GDP)
and
their
Human
Development
Indicators
(HDI).
We
analyze
these
data
before
and
after
these
funds
were
adopted
in
these
countries
to
see
how
effective
these
funds
have
been
with
respect
to
economic
growth
and
development.
We
take
a
look
at
the
failures
of
the
current
savings
led
investment
strategy
of
some
countries
that
have
adopted
these
funds.
Then
we
propose
alternative
real
sector
development
financing
that
ensures
sustainable
growth
in
these
countries.
This
is
done
in
order
to
advocate
for
a
real
investment
led
growth
in
natural
resource
owning
countries.
Table of Contents
Introduction -- How these funds are spent -- Financialization and risks -- Sustainable development policy options -- Vision 2030 and development paths in Sub-Saharan Africa -- Conclusion and directions for future research
Degree
Ph.D.