Date of Award

Spring 2026

Degree Type

Thesis

Department

Moore School of Business

Director of Thesis

Gerald McDermott

Second Reader

Andrew Spicer

Abstract

Through the analysis of the natural resource curse, the development of institutional frameworks in societal contexts, the nature of natural resource-based industry value chains, and value creation through institutions and value chains, all in the context of Argentina’s lithium industry, this paper finds that Argentina has failed to implement the necessary institutions and promote proper policy to promote value addition and real economic growth through the conduit of the development of the lithium industry, yet it is not actively a victim of the natural resource curse. In the hierarchical nature of mining value chains, Argentina has permitted their vast lithium endowments to be extracted by foreign multinational corporations with limited guidelines in place to ensure there is value and technical capability generation kept within Argentina. This is compared with the lithium industries of Bolivia and Chile; it is found that Bolivia has done a worse job at developing its industry through poor programs to develop capabilities; Chile has had the most success out of the three because of its public-private partnership model that develops capabilities in Chile and ensures that the revenues are kept within Chile. Argentina’s more liberal model avoids the overgovernance fate of Bolivia yet fails to generate abilities and revenues like Chile’s model; Chile’s governance style is a model for how Argentina can develop a more capable industry that benefits the people.

First Page

1

Last Page

107

Rights

© 2026, Colby Greene

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