Extracting the Maximum from the EITI

Dilan Ölcer

No 276, OECD Development Centre Working Papers from OECD, Development Centre

Abstract: For many countries rich in oil, gas and minerals, development remains an elusive goal. The rich get richer, the poor stay poor, inequality rises, economies stagnate, corruption flourishes and conflict deepens. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has helped to direct attention towards this sector, which has traditionally been shrouded in secrecy. It is one of the international “soft law” tools supported by the international development community to curb corruption and help resource-rich countries benefit from the revenues from their soil. However, corruption indicators show that EITI countries are not really improving their scores. Does this suggest that there should be a scaling down of expectations about what the EITI could deliver or can it be made more effective? This paper highlights deficiencies in the way the EITI works and makes recommendations that seek to increase the effectiveness of this initiative.
Pour beaucoup de pays riches en pétrole, en gaz ou en minerais, le développement semble hors d’atteinte : les riches s’enrichissent, les pauvres restent pauvres, les inégalités augmentent, l’économie stagne, la corruption s’étend et les conflits s’aggravent. L’initiative pour la transparence dans les industries extractives (ITIE) a contribué à mettre en lumière un secteur longtemps resté dans l’ombre. C’est un des instruments de soft law de la communauté internationale pour lutter contre la corruption et aider les pays riches en matières premières à bénéficier des revenus de leur sol. Néanmoins, les indicateurs de corruption montrent que les pays qui ont adopté l’ITIE n’ont pas vraiment amélioré leur performance en la matière. Faut-il alors attendre moins de l’ITIE ? Peut-elle être plus efficace ? Ce papier souligne certaines limites du fonctionnement de l’ITIE et formule des recommandations pour renforcer son efficacité.

Keywords: corruption; EITI; natural resources; transparency; corruption; ITIE; matières premières; transparence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M14 Q32 Q38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene
Date: 2009-03-11

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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oec:devaaa:276-en

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