ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the effect of major resource production on the economic development of the rural regions. It summarizes about economic development and draws implications for economic development in rural Alaska. The chapter examines the effect of Prudhoe Bay petroleum development on the economy of the North Slope region of Alaska and develop a model of this interaction. It also examines some potential future resource developments in rural Alaska and their possible consequences for economic development. Understanding the process of underdevelopment is helpful in describing the relation between rural development and natural resource production, since most Third World countries entered the world economy as producers of primary products to be exported. Dependency defines economic development not just in terms of growth but in the quality of the process of growth. The connection between resource development and economic development may not be as direct as a policy based on resource development assumes.
