Natural resource policies and standard of living in Kazakhstan

Sakal H. B.

CENTRAL ASIAN SURVEY, vol.34, no.2, pp.237-254, 2015 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 34 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2015
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/02634937.2014.987970
  • Journal Name: CENTRAL ASIAN SURVEY
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Educational research abstracts (ERA), Geobase, Historical Abstracts, Humanities Abstracts, Index Islamicus, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, PAIS International, Political Science Complete, Public Affairs Index, Social services abstracts, Sociological abstracts, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.237-254
  • Keywords: Kazakhstan oil, poverty reduction, Central Asia, Kazakhstan economy, Nursultan Nazarbayev, development economics, oil wealth distribution, NATIONALISM, RUSSIA, WEALTH
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This paper evaluates Kazakhstan's natural resource policies and their impact on the standard of living of the Kazakhstan population within the framework of three determinative factors: globalization and international markets; Soviet legacy and 'resource nationalism'; and Nursultan Nazarbayev and his authoritarian leadership. It argues that natural resource policies of Kazakhstan failed to improve the living standards of the majority of people in Kazakhstan, especially the poor and those living in oil-producing and rural areas, despite increasing oil prices and revenues. The argument will be supported with an analysis of Kazakhstan's oil wealth distribution in light of global initiatives as well as with evidence derived from official reports and statistical data to find out whether Nazarbayev's widely discussed 'resource nationalism' is 'nationalistic' enough to favour the whole nation.