TY - JOUR
T1 - The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and corruption in Latin America
T2 - Evidence from Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago
AU - López-Cazar, Ibeth
AU - Papyrakis, Elissaios
AU - Pellegrini, Lorenzo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s)
PY - 2021/3
Y1 - 2021/3
N2 - The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), launched in 2002, has been promoted as an international anti-corruption tool. Several empirical evaluations on the effectiveness of the EITI scheme provide average estimates based on cross-country analysis. However, little empirical work has been conducted on individual case studies, especially in the context of Latin America. Our study uses a Synthetic Control Methodology (SCM) to measure the EITI's impact on several measures of corruption in the first five Latin American countries to join the initiative: Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago. The method allows us to assess the magnitude and statistical significance of the EITI's effect on perceived corruption at each stage of implementation. Our results cast doubt on how decisive the scheme has been in combatting corruption. In the vast majority of cases, participation in the scheme either had no statistically significant effect or even coincided with marginally increased corruption levels (only in very few cases it was associated with temporary minor improvements). Taken together, the results indicate that joining EITI did not lead to a substantial decrease of corruption in any of the countries under scrutiny.
AB - The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), launched in 2002, has been promoted as an international anti-corruption tool. Several empirical evaluations on the effectiveness of the EITI scheme provide average estimates based on cross-country analysis. However, little empirical work has been conducted on individual case studies, especially in the context of Latin America. Our study uses a Synthetic Control Methodology (SCM) to measure the EITI's impact on several measures of corruption in the first five Latin American countries to join the initiative: Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago. The method allows us to assess the magnitude and statistical significance of the EITI's effect on perceived corruption at each stage of implementation. Our results cast doubt on how decisive the scheme has been in combatting corruption. In the vast majority of cases, participation in the scheme either had no statistically significant effect or even coincided with marginally increased corruption levels (only in very few cases it was associated with temporary minor improvements). Taken together, the results indicate that joining EITI did not lead to a substantial decrease of corruption in any of the countries under scrutiny.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097469775&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/1765/133382
U2 - 10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101907
DO - 10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101907
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85097469775
SN - 0301-4207
VL - 70
JO - Resources Policy
JF - Resources Policy
M1 - 101907
ER -