Christa Noel Brunnschweiler

About

I am a Professor in Economics at the Department of Economics at NTNU in Trondheim. I was previously an Associate Professor in Economics at the School of Economics of the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom. Before that, I was a Research Associate Professor at the Department of Economics at NTNU, and a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at the Center of Economic Research at ETH Zurich in Switzerland. I got my PhD in economics from the University of Zurich. I am an affiliate with the CESifo Network, a member of CSERGE at UEA, a researcher with the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, a member of the Committee for Environmental and Resource Economics of the German Economic Association (Verein für Socialpolitik), and an External Research Associate at OxCarre, University of Oxford (UK). I am Co-Editor and Editorial Board Member for the journal Environmental and Resource Economics, Associate Editor for the Frontiers in Environmental Economics section on Resource Economics, and co-editor (with P. Lujala and D. Vela Almeida) of the Handbook of Transparency and Accountability in Natural Resource Governance, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (due for publication in 2026).

My personal webpage is available here.

Research

My research interests are in applied economics. I've mainly explored topics in economic growth and development, particularly in resource economics and conflict studies, but also in political economy. A main area of my research looks at the natural resource curse, and I've recently been studying how we can change attitudes and behaviour for better natural resource (revenue) management using behavioural economics, for example by using videos and role models. I use secondary data, as well as primary data gathered through surveys, field experiments, lab-in-the-field experiments, and survey experiments. I'm also fascinated by history and how it helps us understand present-day economic and political activities, and I love delving into old books and archives.

You can find current working papers, research projects and datasets on my personal webpage here.

Publications

Articles in peer-reviewed journals

Brunnschweiler, Christa, Deanna Karapetyan and Päivi Lujala (2024), Opportunities and risks of small-scale and artisanal gold mining for local communities: Survey evidence from Ghana, The Extractive Industries and Society 17: 101403 . doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2024.101403 Replication files

Brunnschweiler, Christa and Steven Poelhekke (2021), Pushing One's Luck: Petroleum ownership and discoveries, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 109: 102506. [WP version: CESifo WP n. 9169; older versions: UEA School of Economics Working Paper 2019-01; OxCarre working paper]. doi: 10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102506 Replication files

Brunnschweiler, Christa, Ishmael Edjekumhene, and Päivi Lujala (2021), Does information matter? Transparency and demand for accountability in Ghana's natural resource revenue management, Ecological Economics, vol 181. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106903 Replication files
This is the second paper from a field experiment on transparency in resource revenue management in Ghana. It looks at another set of results from our baseline survey conducted in summer 2016.

Brunnschweiler, Christa N., Pietro Peretto, and Simone Valente (2021), Wealth Creation, Wealth Dilution and Population Dynamics, Journal of Monetary Economics 171: 441-459. doi: 10.1016/j.jmoneco.2020.02.002 Online Appendix Data and codes

Lujala, Päivi, Christa Brunnschweiler, and Ishmael Edjekumhene (2020), Transparent for whom? Dissemination of information on Ghana’s petroleum and mining revenue management, Journal of Development Studies, 56 (12): 2135-2153. DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2020.1746276. Online Appendix Replication data
This is the first paper from a field experiment on transparency in resource revenue management in Ghana. It looks at results from our baseline survey conducted in summer 2016.

Brunnschweiler, Christa N. and Päivi Lujala (2019), Economic Backwardness and Social Tension, Scandinavian Journal of Economics 121(2), 482–516. doi: 10.1111/sjoe.12281 Online Appendix Dataset in Stata14 format Stata replication do file

Brunnschweiler, Christa N. and Päivi Lujala (2017), Income and armed civil conflict: An instrumental variables approach, Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy 23 (4). doi: 10.1515/peps-2017-0024 Dataset in Stata14 format Stata replication do file

Brunnschweiler, Christa N., Colin Jennings and Ian A. MacKenzie (2014), A study of expressive choice and strikes, European Journal of Political Economy 34: 111–125. doi: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2014.01.004

Brunnschweiler, Christa N. (2010), Finance for Renewable Energy: An Empirical Analysis of Developing and Transition Economies, Environment and Development Economics 15 (3): 241-274. doi:10.1017/S1355770X1000001X Dataset in Excel format

Brunnschweiler, Christa N. and Erwin H. Bulte (2009), Natural Resources and Violent Conflict: Resource Abundance, Dependence and the Onset of Civil Wars, Oxford Economic Papers 61 (4): 651-674. doi:10.1093/oep/gpp024 Online Appendix Dataset in Excel format

Brunnschweiler, Christa N. and Erwin H. Bulte (2008), The resource curse revisited and revised: A tale of paradoxes and red herrings, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 55 (3): 248-264 (among the journal's most downloaded and most cited articles published since 2008, winner of the Erik Kempe Award). doi: 10.1016/j.jeem.2007.08.004 Online Appendix Dataset in Excel format

Brunnschweiler, Christa N. and Erwin H. Bulte (2008), Linking Natural Resources to Slow Growth and More Conflict, Science 320 (5876): pp. 616 - 617 (in the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric). Online Appendix

Brunnschweiler, Christa N. (2008), Cursing the blessings? Natural resource abundance, institutions, and economic growth, World Development 36 (3): 399-419. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2007.03.004

Book chapters

Luisetti, Tiziana, Ellen McHarg, Glen Smith, Christa Brunnschweiler, Ruth Parker, Meri Juntti, and Lisa Benson (2023), Blue carbon: challenges for definition, valuation and governance, in: Dan Baird and Mike Elliott (eds.), Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Sciences, Volume 7: Values and governance of estuaries and coasts, 2nd ed., Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-90798-9.00059-7

Brunnschweiler, Christa N. and Tiziana Luisetti (2021), Can blue carbon initiatives help conserve mangroves in developing countries?, in: Dirk Rübbelke and Anil Markandya (eds.): Climate and Development, World Scientific Series on Environmental, Energy and Climate Economics (WSSEECE), World Scientific. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789811240553_0013

Other publications

Contributor (with Päivi Lujala) to the Dictionary of Ecological Economics (ed. G. Dale), Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (2023). Entries: Accountability, Transparency.

Edjekumhene, Ishmael, Maarten Voors, Päivi Lujala, Christa Brunnschweiler, Charles Kofi Owusu, Andy Nyamekye (2019), Impacts of key provisions in Ghana’s Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 3ie Impact Evaluation Report 94.
This is the full report on a field experiment on transparency in resource revenue management in Ghana conducted between 2016-2017. We have also written some policy briefs on this project: Policy Brief #1: Transparent for whom? Dissemination of information on Ghana's petroleum and mining revenue management; Policy Brief #2: Transparency and accountability in Ghana's petroleum revenue management: Evidence from a field experiment; Policy Brief #3: Has Ghana's petroleum revenue management act (PRMA) been able to ensure transparent, efficient and accountable management of petrodollars? Evidence from a process evaluation of two provisions of PRMA . Here is a short description of the project that I wrote for UEA's research page.

Brunnschweiler, Christa and Erwin Bulte (2012), The on-going debate on natural resources and development, VoxEU.org, May 28 2012.

Bretschger, Lucas, Christa Brunnschweiler, Lisa Leinert, Karen Pittel, und Therese Werner (2010), Preisentwicklung bei natürlichen Ressourcen: Vergleich von Theorie und Empirie, Umwelt-Wissen Nr. 1001, Bern: Bundesamt für Umwelt.

Bretschger, Lucas and Christa Brunnschweiler (2010), The Swiss Approach to Sustainability: Challenges for Environmental, Energy, Land Use, and Transport Policies, Policy Brief Series 10/2, ETH Zurich . Also appeared in: Ernst Baltensperger, Dirk Niepelt and Boris Zürcher (eds.), Wirtschaftspolitik nach der Krise, Study Center Gerzensee / Avenir Suisse.

2025

Clarke, Joanne; Simpson, Nicholas P.; Haour, Anne; Morel, Hana; Forster, Johanna; Orlove, Ben. (2025) Curating transformation can strengthen adaptation and minimise losses and damages. npj Climate Action
Short communication
Brunnschweiler Valente, Christa Noel; Lujala, Paivi; Scherzer, Sabrina Stefanie Claudia; Putri, Primi; Kurdiawan, Nanang; Wardhani, Indah Surya. (2025) The right to benefit: Using videos to encourage citizen involvement in resource revenue management. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
Academic article
Brunnschweiler Valente, Christa Noel; Lujala, Paivi; Putri, Primi; Scherzer, Sabrina Stefanie Claudia; Wardhani, Indah. (2025) When petroleum revenue transparency policy meets citizen engagement reality: Survey evidence from Indonesia. Ecological Economics
Academic article

2014

Brunnschweiler, Christa N.; MacKenzie, Ian Alexander; Jennings, Colin. (2014) A study of expressive choice and strikes. European Journal of Political Economy
Academic article

2013

Hansteen, Anja Ulsom; Brunnschweiler, Christa N.. (2013) Oil Abundance, Ethnic Minority Rule, and Civil War An Emprical Study. NTNU- Institutt for samfunnsøkonomi
Masters thesis

2010

Brunnschweiler, Christa N.. (2010) Finance for Renewable Energy: An Empirical Analysis of Developing and Transition Economies. Environment and Development Economics
Academic article

2009

Brunnschweiler, Christa N.; Bulte, Erwin H.. (2009) Natural Resources and Violent Conflict: Resource Abundance, Dependence and the Onset of Civil Wars. Oxford Economic Papers
Academic article

2008

Brunnschweiler, Christa N.. (2008) Cursing the blessings? Natural resource abundance, institutions, and economic growth. World Development
Academic article
Brunnschweiler, Christa N.; Bulte, Erwin H.. (2008) Linking Natural Resources to Slow Growth and More Conflict. Science
Academic article
Brunnschweiler, Christa N.; Bulte, Erwin H.. (2008) The resource curse revisited and revised: A tale of paradoxes and red herrings. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management
Academic article

Journal publications

Clarke, Joanne; Simpson, Nicholas P.; Haour, Anne; Morel, Hana; Forster, Johanna; Orlove, Ben. (2025) Curating transformation can strengthen adaptation and minimise losses and damages. npj Climate Action
Short communication
Brunnschweiler Valente, Christa Noel; Lujala, Paivi; Scherzer, Sabrina Stefanie Claudia; Putri, Primi; Kurdiawan, Nanang; Wardhani, Indah Surya. (2025) The right to benefit: Using videos to encourage citizen involvement in resource revenue management. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
Academic article
Brunnschweiler Valente, Christa Noel; Lujala, Paivi; Putri, Primi; Scherzer, Sabrina Stefanie Claudia; Wardhani, Indah. (2025) When petroleum revenue transparency policy meets citizen engagement reality: Survey evidence from Indonesia. Ecological Economics
Academic article
Brunnschweiler, Christa Noel; Karapetyan, Deanna; Lujala, Paivi. (2024) Opportunities and risks of small-scale and artisanal gold mining for local communities: Survey evidence from Ghana. The Extractive Industries and Society
Academic article
Brunnschweiler, Christa Noel; Edjekumhene, Ishmael; Lujala, Päivi; Scherzer, Sabrina Stefanie Claudia. (2024) “You need to have this information!”: Using videos to increase demand for accountability on public revenue management. World Development
Academic article
Brunnschweiler , Christa Noel; Poelhekke, Steven. (2021) Pushing One's Luck: Petroleum ownership and discoveries. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management
Academic article
Brunnschweiler , Christa Noel; Peretto, Pietro; Valente, Simone. (2021) Wealth Creation, Wealth Dilution and Population Dynamics. Journal of Monetary Economics
Academic article
Brunnschweiler, Christa Noel; Lujala, Paivi; Edjekumhene, Ishmael. (2021) Does information matter? Transparency and demand for accountability in Ghana's natural resource revenue management. Ecological Economics
Academic article
Lujala, Päivi; Valente, Christa B.; Edjekumhene, Ishmael. (2020) Transparent for Whom? Dissemination of Information on Ghana’s Petroleum and Mining Revenue Management. Journal of Development Studies
Academic article
Valente, Christa B.; Lujala, Päivi. (2017) Economic Backwardness and Social Tension. The Scandinavian Journal of Economics
Academic article
Valente, Christa B.; Lujala, Päivi. (2017) Income and armed civil conflict: An instrumental variables approach. Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy
Academic article
Brunnschweiler, Christa N.; MacKenzie, Ian Alexander; Jennings, Colin. (2014) A study of expressive choice and strikes. European Journal of Political Economy
Academic article
Brunnschweiler, Christa N.. (2010) Finance for Renewable Energy: An Empirical Analysis of Developing and Transition Economies. Environment and Development Economics
Academic article
Brunnschweiler, Christa N.; Bulte, Erwin H.. (2009) Natural Resources and Violent Conflict: Resource Abundance, Dependence and the Onset of Civil Wars. Oxford Economic Papers
Academic article
Brunnschweiler, Christa N.. (2008) Cursing the blessings? Natural resource abundance, institutions, and economic growth. World Development
Academic article
Brunnschweiler, Christa N.; Bulte, Erwin H.. (2008) Linking Natural Resources to Slow Growth and More Conflict. Science
Academic article
Brunnschweiler, Christa N.; Bulte, Erwin H.. (2008) The resource curse revisited and revised: A tale of paradoxes and red herrings. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management
Academic article

Report

Hansteen, Anja Ulsom; Brunnschweiler, Christa N.. (2013) Oil Abundance, Ethnic Minority Rule, and Civil War An Emprical Study. NTNU- Institutt for samfunnsøkonomi
Masters thesis

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