Resource rents, institutions and growth in Sub-Saharan African OIC countries: a panel quantile analysis

This research investigates the nexus among natural resource rents, control of corruption, and GDP per capita growth in 21 Sub-Saharan African OIC member states for the period 2005–2024. Using panel Fixed Effects estimation and panel quantile regression (25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles), the study assesses heterogeneity and the growth distribution. The findings indicate that control of corruption is positively associated with GDP per capita growth across the estimated specifications. The interaction between natural resource rents and corruption control is consistently negative, suggesting that the positive association between corruption control and growth weakens as resource dependence increases. The interaction is statistically significant in the fixed-effects and panel quantile specifications and marginally significant at the 10% level in the Driscoll–Kraay specification. Panel quantile regression further reveals substantial heterogeneity across the growth distribution: the negative association between natural resource rents and growth is strongest at the lower quantile, while foreign direct investment is positively associated with growth mainly at the median and upper quantiles.