Industrialist John Paul Getty famously quipped, “The meek shall inherit the earth, but not its mineral rights.” Throughout history, natural resources have been sources of wealth and power and catalysts for war and peace. The case studies gathered in this innovative volume examine how the intersection of ideas, interest groups, international institutions, and political systems gave birth to distinctive regulatory regimes at various times and places in the modern world. Spanning seven continents and focusing on both advanced and developing economies, it offers unique insights into why some resource-rich countries have flourished while others have been mired in poverty and corruption.

Andreas R. Dugstad Sanders' profile page

Pål R. Sandvik's profile page

Espen Storli's profile page

Andreas R.D. Sanders is a postdoctoral researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, with a PhD from the European University Institute in Florence. His research focuses on resource nationalism in Sweden and Norway in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He has published a number of articles and chapters on natural resource regulations and business-government relations.

Pål Thonstad Stadnik is a professor in economic history at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He has published widely in economic history on topics such as state regulation of the economy, the relationship between multinationals and small states, and the development of resource-based industries. He is currently leading a research project on the political regulation of natural resources. His most recent book is an economic history of Norway.

Espen Storli is an associate professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He was a Harvard-Newcomen Fellow in Business History at Harvard Business School. He has published widely in the field of international business history, on subjects such as government-business relations, international cartels, and the development of extractive industries. His publications include two edited volumes on the global history of the tin and bauxite industries. He is currently leading a research project on the development of global commodity traders after 1945.