The Basilicata Wealth Fund: resource policy and long-run economic development in Southern Italy

Iacono, Roberto and Viccaro, Mauro (2016): The Basilicata Wealth Fund: resource policy and long-run economic development in Southern Italy.

Abstract

This paper posits a novel resource policy for the resource-rich southern Italian region of Basilicata. The policy consists of establishing a regionally owned wealth fund (the Basilicata Wealth Fund), in which royalty revenues from natural resources in Basilicata can be stored as low-risk financial assets. The paper pins down and simulates the dynamics of different fiscal expenditure rules. The Basilicata Wealth Fund strengthens long-run economic development and fosters higher accountability, hence avoiding misuse of resource revenues for myopic fiscal spending. The Basilicata Wealth Fund constitutes a novel approach that can be followed by other resource-rich regions.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Resource policy, Regional wealth fund, Basilicata, Resource windfall.
• Subjects: O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O13 - Agriculture ; Natural Resources ; Energy ; Environment ; Other Primary Products; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q3 - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation > Q32 - Exhaustible Resources and Economic Development; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R11 - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R5 - Regional Government Analysis > R58 - Regional Development Planning and Policy

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