Historically Norway's growth and prosperity has to a large extent been based on natural resources. Nowadays oil is the natural resource that generates highest income. The resource curse with internal conflicts and low growth has plagued many countries rich on resources. Why is that? What characterize countries that have been able to avoid the resource curse?

Researchers at the Department of Economics are also working on utilization of renewable resources. What is efficient management of fish stocks, rivers with Atlantic salmon, and reindeer grazing land? How should one handle conflicts between wild animals and farmers?

The huge inequality in living standards across countries calls for analyses of why economic development has been so weak, in particular in Sub-Saharan Africa. A main hypothesis is that institutional quality drives economic growth. But what determines institutional quality? Other questions that are being examined are technology adoption, why the return on investment is often very low in developing countries, why and when aid is efficient, and how trade barriers affect economic development.