Development economist · Oxford · World Bank
I study the economic consequences of natural resource discoveries — and why so many resource-rich countries grow slower than they should.
Working paper · 2022
Africa's 2004–2014 commodity boom brought its resource-rich countries faster growth and bigger revenues, but many consumed the windfall rather than investing it, and growth collapsed when prices fell.
James Cust, Alexis Rivera Ballesteros, Albert G. Zeufack
Journal of the European Economic Association · 2020
Oil companies drill far more on the better-governed side of a national border, so where oil is found depends on institutions as well as geology.
James Cust, Torfinn Harding
Working paper · 2017
Giant oil and gas discoveries raise expectations of faster growth. In countries with weak institutions, growth falls short of those expectations, before a single barrel is produced.
James Cust, David Mihalyi
Critical minerals and development — World Bank research agenda
Managing Mining, Oil and Gas for National Development — executive education, Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford
Jim Cust is a development economist at the World Bank and affiliated researcher at the University of Oxford. His research focuses on natural resources, critical minerals, the energy transition, and industrial policy in low- and middle-income countries.
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