Theoretical and Practical Motives for Participation Obstacles in Resettlement Programs. Review from the Mining Perspective

Studies on the rationale for effective involvement of affected population in resettlement programs have increased significantly in recent years. Yet, practical aspects of handling participation challenges remain under researched. This paper assesses the effectiveness of livelihood-promoting interventions in mining-induced resettlement programs using case evidences from the literature. The paper first reviews the historical background of the concept and other ideas that have come to brand the practice over time. It further justifies the discussion in the context of the mining industry. Thirdly, the paper adopts the concept of territorial governance to provide a theoretical base for the focus of the paper. After the theoretical justification, the paper reviews case evidences in context of engagement prospects and challenges in resettlement programs. Finally, the paper makes suggestions that have policy implications to help better the current resettlement practices.The paper observes that until participation challenges are overcome by resettlement practitioners,mining-induced displacement and resettlement (MIDR) programs cannot revitalise the livelihoods of the affected population as envisioned in resettlement guidelines. JEL Classification: M14, H7, D21, Keywords: Resettlement Programs, Mining Induced Displacement and Resettlement, Stakeholder Participation, participation challenge

Theoretical and practical motives for participation obstacles in resettlement programs: Review from the mining perspective

Studies on the rationale for effective involvement of affected population in resettlement programs have increased significantly in recent years. Yet, practical aspects of handling participation challenges remain under researched. This paper assesses the effectiveness of livelihood-promoting interventions in mining-induced resettlement programs using case evidences from the literature. The paper first reviews the historical background of the concept and other ideas that have come to brand the practice over time. It further justifies the discussion in the context of the mining industry. Thirdly, the paper adopts the concept of territorial governance to provide a theoretical base for the focus of the paper. After the theoretical justification, the paper reviews case evidences in context of engagement prospects and challenges in resettlement programs. Finally, the paper makes suggestions that have policy implications to help better the current resettlement practices.The paper observes that until participation challenges are overcome by resettlement practitioners, mining-induced displacement and resettlement (MIDR) programs cannot revitalise the livelihoods of the affected population as envisioned in resettlement guidelines

Towards understanding the digital divide in rural partnerships and development: a framework and evidence from rural Australia

Despite increasing recognition that the world's social and environmental problems cannot be addressed solely by business, government or society in isolation, the role of partnerships in rural development has only recently started to attract the interest of rural studies scholars. The study adds to the growing stream of research by investigating how the information age's emerging social challenge e the digital divide e influences rural partnerships and development. Burgeoning literature evidences that the digital divide encompasses not one but many discontinuities. This paper reconceptualises the digital divide concept and explores exactly how its shocks and tensions impact rural partnerships and development. Results of this research indicate that the digital divide is a threat to the performance of rural partnerships, which consequently renders rural development outcomes unsustainable, lopsided and non-participatory. This paper recommends the need for a more responsive and localised approach to rural development partnerships that can enable disadvantaged groups to participate in today's digitally connected economy and society

Gender and labour force inequality in small-scale gold mining in Ghana

Gender inequality is an inevitable concomitant of the innate poverty in humanity, a situation to which the Ghanaian society is no exception. This paper explores the underlying elements of gender inequality pertinent to women in the small-scale gold mining sector in Ghana drawing inference from a case study of the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly Area in the Western Region. The contribution of women to the smallscale gold mining sector and through that poverty reduction and national development is immense, notwithstanding a number of factors that alongside militate against their well being. The drawbacks have to do with the unregulated, dangerous and insecure conditions of the small-scale gold mining operators which, for the most part, are discriminative against women. These are in areas of the health, income and capacity building package benefits given to their labour force. The policy implication is the need for government to institute gender-sensitive workplace regulatory policies and programmes not only to be adhered to in all sectors of the economy including the small-scale mining sector. Necessarily, it is the responsibility of the local and all the other relevant regulatory authorities to ensure that the designated policies as well as the attendant rules and regulations are enforced

Modelling corporate stakeholder orientation: does the relationship between stakeholder background characteristics and corporate social performance matter?

Though corporate stakeholder orientation is connected with corporate social performance practices, there is a dearth of knowledge on the theorized assertion that background characteristics influence stakeholders’ salience and attitude towards social performance practices of firms. The aim of this paper is to measure and examine this hypothesis. To test this claim, this research uses the Surat Resource Region in Queensland, Australia, as the case study. Based on the bivariate test, age, gender, occupation type and educational status have varying statistically significant effects on stakeholders’ attitude towards corporate social practices. The multinomial logistic findings showed that only education retained a net effect on a stakeholder’s attitude to participation in corporate social practices, where those with a higher level of education are 1.388 times more likely to perceive stakeholder engagement practices as relevant, 2.864 times more likely for social impact assessment practices and 1.430 times more likely for practices aimed at rights of indigenous communities. Findings imply the need for awareness programs to be incorporated into corporate social practices, which can help promote the success of stakeholder-oriented policies. The paper further makes suggestions that have both business strategy and policy planning implication

Towards understanding stakeholder salience transition and relational approach to 'better' corporate social responsibility: a case for a proposed model in practice

Management and business literature affirm the role played by stakeholders in corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices as crucial, but what constitutes a true business–society partnership remains relatively unexplored. This paper aims to improve scholarly and management understanding beyond the usual managers’ perceptions on salience attributes, to include how stakeholders can acquire missing attributes to inform a meaningful partnership. In doing this, a model is proposed which conceptualises CSR practices and outcomes within the frameworks of stakeholder salience via empowerment, sustainable corporate social performances and partnership quality. A holistic discussion leads to generation of propositions on stakeholder salience management, corporate social performance, corporate–community partnership systems and CSR practices, which have both academic and management implications

Is regional government-governance nexus delivering on social sustainability promises? Empirical evidence from Moranbah in Australia

Social sustainability, in theory, should result in responsiveness to change, a durable sense of community trust and interdependent institutional structures. However, recent studies indicate that current sustainability efforts of regional local government are not yielding anticipated outcomes. Drawing on two social theories of Henri Lefebvre, this paper offers an empirical analysis of the ability of the government–governance nexus to deliver on social sustainability promises in Moranbah in regional Australia. Study findings revealed that the Moranbah government–governance nexus suffers from adversarial relationships between key actors that result in a distrust of politics and power, the absence of a defined governance system, community alienation, and State Government dominance and intervention. These experiences of the government–governance nexus have rendered social sustainability a distant hope for Moranbah’s residents. This paper suggests a reform in sustainability policies to improve the current situation in the case region, and theoretical propositions for future research

Digital transformation among SMEs: does gender matter?

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated some of the challenges that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face in times of crisis, disrupting their operations, weakening their financial positions, and exposing them to a wide range of financial risks. While previous studies have viewed digital transformation as a vital source of innovation and productivity growth for economic recovery in SMEs, there has been limited focus on digital transformation in the regional context, with very little attention focused on women-led enterprises. This study aims to investigate (i) the determinants of perception of digital transformation among regional SMEs, and (ii) whether the gender of the SME owner or manager has an impact on the drivers of the digital transformation experiences of SMEs operating in regional Australia. Building upon the resource-based view, this study uses a unique dataset of 281 SMEs collected from a survey conducted within a regional area of Queensland, Australia. Employing Feasible Generalised Least Squares and Generalised Least Squares estimations, the study found that the perceptions of digital transformation can be explained by the use of social network platforms, innovation processes, workplace culture, and information and communication technologies. This study also found that there is a significant difference between female-led and male-led SMEs regarding their perceptions of digital transformation. This study offers two key policy and practical insights: (i) digital transformation of regional SMEs should be used as a fundamental tool for crisis recovery strategies, and (ii) the need for policymakers to mainstream gender into post-crisis transformative interventions and policies should be fast tracked