Which transparency matters? Compliance with anti-corruption efforts in extractive industries

Kerem Öge*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) sets the standard in revenue transparency in 46 countries and works under the assumption that compliance with the initiative will improve transparency and curb corruption in member states. However, individual case studies raise doubts about the success of the initiative. Building upon the literatures on compliance and governance, this paper analyzes the impact of EITI membership on transparency and corruption levels between 2006 and 2013. By using interrupted time series and panel data analyses, this research makes an original contribution to show that affiliation with the EITI immediately improved overall aggregate data disclosure in member countries in this period. At the same time, the paper also shows that perceptions of corruption did not change. This outcome questions the effectiveness of promoting only a narrow definition of transparency in extractive industries as a measure to prevent corruption. The results imply that a more comprehensive treatment of transparency might be necessary; specifically to distinguish regimes that use transparency reforms for public relations purposes as opposed to genuine reformers.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)41-50
Number of pages10
JournalResources policy
Volume49
Early online date15 Apr 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2016

Keywords

  • Compliance
  • Corruption
  • Extractive Industries
  • Governance
  • International Organizations
  • Transparency

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Which transparency matters? Compliance with anti-corruption efforts in extractive industries'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this