This paper examines the relationship between natural resource rents and new business formation (a critical measure of entrepreneurship) using a panel dataset of 28 African countries covering the period 2002–2014. The paper finds robust evidence that nations with high resource rents (i.e., resource rents exceeding 30% of GDP) significantly exhibit less entrepreneurial activity. This result is consistent with the hypothesis that high resource rents significantly promote rent-seeking behavior at the expense of entrepreneurship. Policies that reward productive entrepreneurship and reduce incentives for rent-seeking behavior are therefore important for reversing this negative relationship in African countries with high natural resource-derived income.

本文使用涵盖2002年至2014年期间的28个非洲国家的面板数据，研究了自然资源租金与新业务形成（企业家精神的一项关键指标）之间的关系。本文发现有力的证据表明，资源租金高的国家（即资源租金超过GDP的30％）显着减少了企业家活动。这一结果与以下假设相符：高资源租金显着促进了以企业家精神为代价的寻租行为。因此，奖励生产型企业家精神并减少对寻租行为的奖励的政策对于扭转自然资源衍生收入高的非洲国家的这种消极关系至关重要。