DOES THE RENEWABLE RESOURCE CURSE EXIST? UNDERSTANDING THE EFFECTS OF WIND FARMS ON MUNICIPAL FINANCES AND SOCIAL INDICATORS IN NORTHEAST BRAZIL
resource curse; wind farms; staggered difference-in-differences.
The resource curse theory suggested that there may be a negative relationship between the abundance or dependency on natural resources and socioeconomic development in many countries (Sachs and Warner, 1995). Progressions and new considerations regarding this theory have pointed out that part of the problem may be related to the local technical-political composition (Brollo et al., 2013) and that renewable resources could mitigate its presence (Memegaki, 2013). What has also advanced in the recent years, especially in northeastern Brazil, were the installations and operations of wind farms, with this region coming to represent 92% of the country’s wind energy production (ABEEólica, 2024). With that in mind, this study aims to analyze the effects of the presence of wind farms on the finances, public accounts and social indicators of municipalities in northeastern Brazil that have received them, from the perspective of the resource curse theory. In order to do this, the econometric method of staggered difference-in-differences proposed by Callaway and Sant’anna (2021) was employed, since the wind farms began operations at different times for each municipality, this is the method that best suits the analysis of causality regarding the effects in question. The observed period covers the years from 2010 to 2023, given the boom in wind farms in the northeastern region during this period.