Political economy and governance

This paper reviews the political economy of extractive resources and the associated resources sector governance agenda. The consensus that good sector governance improves the developmental impacts of extractive resources exploitation is premised on the understanding that institutions matter for development. However, there is no straightforward answer to the question of what exactly 'institutions' are, how they change, or how they can be made to change to become more supportive of an extractives-led development agenda. The paper suggests reframing the political economy of extractive resources away from the negative question how can poor outcomes be prevented? and towards the positive question how can positive institutional change for better outcomes be brought about? It organizes and presents the main strands of a substantial body of literature that can help to inform answers to these questions

Inter-sectoral economic linkages in the mining industries of Botswana and Tanzania:Analysis using partial hypothetical extraction method

Fiscal and local content policies aimed at promoting linkages between mining and other economic sectors have been informed by theories built on historical observations dating back to the 1950s. This paper contends that there is a need to rethink theories about mining-based economic linkages and the prospects for structural change based on an improved understanding of existing and potential inter-sectoral linkages. Using the input–output tables for Tanzania and Botswana, we apply the Partial Hypothetical Extraction Method within the Leontief and Gosh input–output frameworks to examine the linkages between the mining and quarrying sector and other economic sectors within these two economies. We find that, for Botswana, possible linkage pathways lie in scaling-up coal, soda ash and salt mining and investing in glass, polymer, and chemicals manufacturing. For Tanzania, opportunities for linkage pathways lie with the mining and manufacturing of non-metallic and construction materials as well as metallic minerals and natural gas. For both countries, the prospects for transforming their economies away from a heavy reliance on mineral extraction hinges on leveraging extractives for infrastructure, innovative technology, and technical skills, as well as capturing business opportunities, knowledge, and financial returns to invest in more diversified economic activities.</p

The Resource Curse and Rentier States in the Caspian Region : A Need for Context Analysis

Although much attention is paid to the Caspian region with regard to energy issues, the domestic consequences of the region’s resource production have so far constituted a neglected field of research. A systematic survey of the latest research trends in the economic and political causalities of the resource curse and of rentier states reveals that there is a need for context analysis. In reference to this, the paper traces any shortcomings and promising approaches in the existent body of literature on the Caspian region. Following on from this, the paper then proposes a new approach; specifically, one in which any differences and similarities in the context conditions are captured. This enables a more precise exploration of the exact ways in which they form contemporary post-Soviet Caspian rentier states.Obwohl der Region am Kaspischen Meer im Zuge von Energiediskursen große Aufmerksamkeit zuteil wird, stellen die innerstaatlichen Folgen der Ressourcenproduktion in der Region ein bislang vernachlässigtes Forschungsfeld dar. Ein systematischer Überblick über die jüngsten Forschungstrends zu wirtschaftlichen und politischen Kausalzusammenhängen des Ressourcenfluchs und zu Rentierstaaten offenbart die Notwendigkeit von Kontextanalysen. Hierauf Bezug nehmend, analysiert der Aufsatz sowohl die Mängel als auch viel versprechende Ansätze in der betreffenden Literatur zur Region am Kaspischen Meer. Der Aufsatz stellt letztendlich einen neuen Ansatz vor, der Unterschiede und Gemeinsamkeiten in den Kontextbedingungen erfasst, um zu erforschen, wie diese die gegenwärtigen post-sowjetischen Rentierstaaten in der Region am Kaspischen Meer tatsächlich prägen

Taxing extractive resources in the transition to a low-carbon future

This paper explores the potential impacts of the transition to a low-carbon future for the taxation of extractive resources. The global debate on climate change has firmly moved on from the question of whether countries ought to shift towards such a future to that of how they are going to achieve it. Offering a succinct summary of the global community's collective understanding of the challenge at stake and the policy options that are on the table for advancing the transition within the geographic boundaries of their sovereign countries, the paper highlights the overbearing dichotomy that is playing out between the environmental awareness and concerns of high-income and resources-consuming advanced economies and the developmental aspirations of low-income and emerging market economies. It reflects on the global imperative to further the low-carbon transition by means of nation-states pursuing carbon pricing and other downstreamfocused policy measures for domestic revenue mobilization in low-income countries

New industrial policy and the extractive industries

Industrial policy is back. Advocates for industrial policy argue that the important question is not whether such policies should be applied at all, but how to design and implement them. For the extractive industries this development poses a challenge. First, there is the argument that host countries should reduce their dependence on the extractive resources sector and diversify their economies. But there is little consensus over how countries should go about this. Second, there is the universal climate agreement reached at the Paris COP21 in November 2015 which mandates that all economies have to move towards more sustainable and resource-efficient growth, with (green) industrial policy playing a critical part in achieving this structural transformation. Third, the liberal capitalist system underpinning the current global economy is under pressure with some political forces now making the case for more inward-looking economic policies and protectionism. This paper explores the new debate on industrial policy in relation to the extractive industries and the extractives-led development agenda

Is gender-fair langauge needed? How grammatical gender influencesrepresentations of discourse referents

The use of gender-fair language is an important measure to boost gender equality. However, there is wide-spreadscepticism as to the usefulness of avoiding male bias in language, even in gendered languages. For instance, in German allnouns carry grammatical gender, and role names are considered generic, even when their gender is masculine. We used asentence-picture matching task to test whether male references in language induce gendered representations. After presentinga sentence with a role name, a picture of a person was shown. In 48 trials, the factors gender of the role name (masculinevs. feminine) and sex of the person in the picture (woman vs. man) were crossed. The results of 40 participants showed thatwomen after masculine referents were more readily accepted than men after feminine referents, but reaction times increased.Thus, readers interpret some masculine forms as generic, but only with considerable cognitive effort