The second edition of this landmark book explores how natural resources contribute to development in poor economies.

Edward B. Barbier is a Professor in the Department of Economics and a Senior Scholar in the School of Global Environmental Sustainability at Colorado State University. A highly cited author and a leading global expert on international environmental policy, he is also a Fellow of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economics.

Introduction; Part I. Overview: 1. Natural resources and developing countries: an overview; 2. Natural resource-based economic development in history; 3. Does natural resource dependence hinder economic development?; 4. Frontier expansion and economic development; Part II. Land and Water Use Change: 5. Explaining land use change in developing countries; 6. The economics of land conversion; 7. Does water availability constrain economic development?; Part III. Policies for Sustainable Resource-Based Economic-Based Development?: 8. Rural poverty and resource degradation; 9. Can resource-based development be successful?; 10. Policies for sustainable resource-based development in poor economies.