Natural resource funds, institutional quality and governance: A systematic literature review

In recent years, there has been an international debate on the effectiveness of resource funds in the context of the “resource curse”. One aspect of assessing the effectiveness of these funds, which is receiving increasing attention, is determining the relationship between the funds and institutional quality and governance. The objective of this study is to systematically evaluate all available evidence regarding the relationship between the ef- fectiveness of natural resource funds, institutional quality and governance in the context of countering the “resource curse”. The study employed the SLR technique to examine 40 carefully selected articles for the period 1990–2023. In order to enhance the credibility of the analysis, an up-to-date information map derived from the literature was generated using the VOSviewer software. The study found that the analysed issue is both new and relevant, with many aspects lacking unanimous solutions. It was observed that the relationship between funds and institutional quality and governance exists, as indicated by both qualitative and quantitative research. The most significant studies on this topic emerged after 2005. The literature is largely concentrated on the significance of institutional quality and governance for fund effectiveness. An area that could be explored by future researchers is the relationship between savings resource funds (funds for future generations), investment resource funds and institutional quality and governance.