Top publication by Paul Pelzl

16 March 2021 12:10

Top publication by Paul Pelzl

The article "Good mine, bad mine: Natural resource heterogeneity and Dutch disease in Indonesia" has been published in Journal of International Economics.

Journal of International Economics is on level 4 in the ABS Academic Journal Guide.

Pelzl, Paul, and Steven Poelhekke: Good mine, bad mine: Natural resource heterogeneity and Dutch disease in Indonesia, Journal of International Economics, 2021, 103457, Online 13.03.2021.

Abstract

We analyze the local effect of exogenous shocks to the value of mineral deposits on a panel of manufacturing plants in Indonesia. We introduce heterogeneity in natural resource extraction methods, which helps to explain the mixed evidence found in the ‘Dutch disease’ literature.

In districts where mineral extraction is relatively capital intensive, mining booms cause virtually no upward pressure on manufacturing wages, and both producers of more heavily traded and relatively less-traded manufacturing goods benefit from mining booms in terms of employment. In contrast, labor-intensive mining booms drive up local wages such that heavily traded goods producers respond by reducing employment.