This study investigates the dualistic impact of natural-resource wealth on corporate innovation using a panel of 2570 firm-year observations from 53 countries (2000–2023). A two-step System-GMM design addresses endogeneity by regressing R&D on balance-sheet Natural-Resource-Assets. The baseline result shows a significant negative coefficient, confirming a micro-level resource curse. The effect is heterogeneous: strongly negative for small and young firms, but mildly positive for low-profit firms. Older firms show a neutral-to-positive association. Managerial discipline is a critical moderator, as the relationship turns positive under high restructuring intensity, indicating that credible cost-cutting can redirect rents toward innovation. Corporate governance adds nuance; the resource-R&D link is positive with larger boards but negative with smaller ones. These findings reconcile mixed macro evidence by framing resource wealth as a contingent asset, a drag for slack-rich incumbents, but a catalyst under binding financing constraints or credible discipline. Consequently, policy should target organizational slack through conditional R&D credits and restructuring-linked incentives, rather than blanket rent taxes. The results directly inform strategies for achieving SDGs 7, 9, and 13.