Oil is Not a Curse: Ownership Structure and Institutions in the
Soviet Successor States  Author(s): Pauline Jones Luong, Erika
Weinthal  Oil Is Not a Curse   This 2010 book makes two central
claims: first, that mineral-rich states are cursed not by their
wealth but, rather, by the ownership structure they choose to
manage their mineral wealth and second, that weak institutions
are not inevitable in mineral-rich states. Each represents a
significant departure from the conventional resource curse
literature, which has treated ownership structure as a constant
across time and space and has presumed that mineral-rich
countries are incapable of either building or sustaining strong
institutions - particularly fiscal regimes. The experience of
the five petroleum-rich Soviet successor states (Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Turkmenistan, and
Uzbekistan) provides a clear challenge to both of these
assumptions. Their respective developmental trajectories since
independence demonstrate not only that owne