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Paper short abstract:

This dissertation argues that the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative has failed to meaningfully improve governance outcomes in the extractive industry in Zambia because three necessary scope conditions (transparency, publicity, accountability) are not sufficiently present.

Paper long abstract:

The Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) is the leading global transparency standard for the extractive industry (EI). It aims to improve governance standards in the EI, by providing a public platform for information sharing and multi-stakeholder dialogue. However, the success of the initiative has been brought into question by numerous scholars. This dissertation aims to shed new light on this work by presenting a unique analytical framework, based on Mackie’s idea of INUS conditions. The framework hypothesises that improved transparency, through the EITI, can lead to improved EI governance: increased accountability, reduced corruption and increased trust. However, this improvement of governance can only take place when combined with three scope conditions: 1) transparency condition, 2) publicity condition, and 3) accountability condition. The dissertation applies this framework to the single case study of Zambia, and finds that the EITI has failed to meaningfully improve these three governance outcomes in the EI in Zambia. The dissertation argues that the reason for this is that none of the three necessary scope conditions are sufficiently present. The dissertation advocates for policy-makers to support the growth of these three conditions in contexts of poor EI governance, to ensure transparency standards have meaningful impact.