ABSTRACT
This work conducts a comparative analysis on how diamonds and petroleum produce differing types of economic inequality in resource curse states, contributing to institutional entropy. By arguing for the causal primacy of resources in types of eventuated curses, this approach posits the concept of a “resource class” in diamond- and petroleum-producing resource curse states. Strength tests of resource classes against a variety of independent variables finds that petroleum-based resource classes funnel revenues to fewer, more powerful individuals than diamond-based classes, at the expense of currency stability, equal opportunity for women and minorities, and competing interest groups. Conversely, diamond resource classes tend to be more egalitarian, yet a negative correlation is observed between the market economy and diamond production among cursed states.
