Oil abundance and growth

The aim of this paper is to investigate the following questions: Is an abundance of oil, a curse or a blessing? What are the effects of oil abundance on growth and economic development, as seen in the level of income per capita? Our estimation results, using the real value of oil production or rent as a proxy for resource endowment, indicate that oil abundance does not seem to be a curse, exhibited through both the long-run and the short-run effects. Whether or not oil abundant countries could be richer and provide a better living standard to their population than what is observed is a different issue, but oil abundance does not seem to damper economic growth.