Publications

 

Concession Stands: How Mining Investments Incite Protest in Africa

Published Date: 
May, 2018
Publisher: 
International Organization

This research contributes to the literature on natural resources and conflict. Christensen shows that the probability of a protest or riot in a locality roughly doubles where a commercial mine starts production. By contrast, he sees no effect on the likelihood of rebel activity or armed conflict.

The paper finds that the usual grievance-based explanations, such as environmental issues, in-migration, displacement, inequality and corruption, do little to predict where and when protests occur. Instead,

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An analysis of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative implementation process

Published Date: 
April, 2018
Publisher: 
World Development

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has become an international hallmark of the efforts to promote better extractive-sector management and improved societal development in natural resource-rich countries. Since its establishment in 2003, a large number of resource-dependent countries have committed to the EITI Standard, and support of the EITI from donors, nongovernmental organizations, and extractive industry companies has been vast. To understand whether and how adherence to the EITI Standard can affect resource governance and development,

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The role of country-level institutional factors in escaping the natural resource curse: insights from Ghana.

Published Date: 
March, 2018
Publisher: 
Resources Policy

Empirical research shows that developing countries that are rich in natural resources tend to suffer slow economic growth and development due to various factors such as quality of institutions, governance, among others. The phenomenon of slow growth is widely known as the ‘natural resource-curse’ within the energy sector literature, and past research suggests that the membership of international non-governmental organisations and transparency are key factors in supporting economic development. However,

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The (Dis)empowering Effects of Transparency Beyond Information Disclosure: The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in Myanmar

Published Date: 
February, 2018
Publisher: 
Global Environmental Politics

This article provides theoretical and empirical insights into the effects of transparency on civil society empowerment by analyzing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in Myanmar. It identifies three processes through which the EITI (dis)empowers civil society: constituting, using, and debating transparency. Whereas most transparency literature focuses on the effects of information disclosure—(using transparency)–the empowering effects of constituting and debating transparency are, for the EITI in Myanmar, much greater.

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Integrating a gender perspective into transparency and accountability initiatives: three case studies

Published Date: 
November, 2017
Publisher: 
Gender & Development

AbstractNatural resource wealth is not shared equally by all. While elites may capture the profits disproportionately in many contexts, marginalised social groups – including women – are less likely to experience the benefits of extraction, and are affected differently by virtue of their gendered roles in the economy and society. Women also tend to be less able to participate in decision-making forums relating to extractive questions.

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The Rise and Limits of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

Published Date: 
November, 2017
Publisher: 
Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

AbstractThe rise of the transparency agenda in the extractive industries and the creation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) are often explained as a product of global civil society activism, as a product of corporate social responsibility or as a consequence of the emergence of good governance norms and a growing awareness among policy makers of the resource curse thesis (Haufler 2010; David-Barrett and Okamura 2013; Van Alstine 2014). This chapter argues that while all these factors did play a part in promoting the transparency agenda,

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The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI): The latest attempt at governing the extractive industries in Chad

Published Date: 
November, 2017
Publisher: 
The Extractive Industries and Society

AbstractFor over a decade, Chad has embraced the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), one of the most widely-adopted interventions aimed at improving knowledge of revenue distribution in the mining and oil and gas sectors worldwide. In Chad, the EITI provides a foundation for dialogue between various stakeholders and has thus become an important entry point for examining the social and economic impacts of oil in the country. This paper provides an extended analysis of the EITI experience in the country,

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Pioneering extractive sector transparency. A PWYP perspective on 15 Years of EITI

Published Date: 
October, 2017
Publisher: 
The Extractive Industries and Society

The EITI went from being a loose set of reporting requirements to a comprehensive and well respected standard of disclosure.PWYP played a major part in continuously strengthening the EITI as a normative trend setter in the extractive industries.Citizen uptake of EITI data remains a key challenge to delivering impact on the ground in resource rich countries.

AbstractThe EITI progressively went from being a loose set of reporting requirements to a comprehensive and well respected standard of disclosure. As a global coalition,

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Regulatory structures and challenges to developmental extractives - Some practical observations from Ghana

Published Date: 
October, 2017
Publisher: 
United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research

Abstract: At the heart of an effective extractive resource-based economic transformation and development is an effective regulatory framework that guides the promotion of investments into the sector, the procedure for responsible extraction, and the management of the utilization of such resources. Ghana’s endowment with significant amount of ferrous and non-ferrous minerals, including gold, bauxite, manganese, diamonds, and iron ore, as well as hydrocarbons, is well known. The country has been mining gold for over a century, ranking second in production in Africa.

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Enhancing citizen engagement in natural resource governance: Scope, content and input in the operation of the extractive industries transparency initiative

Published Date: 
October, 2017
Publisher: 
The Extractive Industries and Society

Abstract: This opinion piece (discussion paper) examines citizen engagement in natural resource governance under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Building on earlier discussions of citizen engagement, it examines how the EITI can engender the interest and hence involvement of citizens in resource governance. While acknowledging the significance of reforms in the 2016 standard, this discussion seeks to provoke thought and discussion on the participation of citizens in the operation of the governance mechanism, with respect to the scope of EITI reporting,

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