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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
41

The Effects of Trade Liberalization Policies on Human Development in Selected Least Developed Countries

Ray, Elizabeth Thompson 12 1900 (has links)
This dissertation examines the effects of trade liberalization policies (represented by membership in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization on selected Least Developed Countries' (LDCs) human development (represented by the Human Development Index). In this dissertation, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and World Trade Organization (WTO) policies are theorized to have two distinct types of effects: their direct effect and their indirect effect. Two questions are focused on: first, what is the effect (total, direct and indirect) of WTO policies on human development for selected LDCs? Second, what is the effect (total, direct and indirect) of WTO policies on human development for selected developing/developed countries (i.e. non-LDCs) holding economic development constant? Using the dependency theory of development as a theoretical basis, this dissertation examines the assumptions of modernization-theory-based policies as expressed in trade liberalization policies (i.e. the implementation of comparative advantage and now market fundamentalism) with world-system analysis techniques. To examine these questions, four panel regression models are constructed to measure the total, direct and indirect effects of WTO policies during the near-term (1998-2003) and during a longer historical term (1975-2000). The data for the analyses are taken from seven different sources of international data. The analyses seemingly demonstrate that there are quantifiable negative effects of GATT/WTO membership (trade liberalization policies) on human development in selected LDCs. The current implementation of trade liberalization policies does not benefit the well-being of all concerned as promoted by the WTO.
42

Essays on Aid Effectiveness and Development Finance / Analyses de l'efficacité de l'aide et du financement du développement

Kilama, Eric Gabin 27 September 2013 (has links)
Etant donnée la capacité limitée de la majorité des pays en développement à mobiliser des ressources domestiques suffisantes notamment à travers la taxation, le financement extérieur du développement s’est avéré essentiel pour soutenir des programmes d’investissement publics visant à construire un capital public dans les infrastructures, la santé ou l’éducation. Ainsi, au nom du développement, les gouvernements, les institutions internationales et les citoyens des pays industrialisés se sont accordés sur le fait qu’un transfert de capitaux vers les pays en développement serait nécessaire pour les aider à financer leur développement. Les principaux flux extérieurs de capitaux pour le financement du développement sont composés de l’aide au développement, des investissements directs étrangers et des transferts de migrants (travailleurs étrangers) vers leur pays d’origine. L’impact macroéconomique de ces flux extérieurs de capitaux pour le développement est un sujet de controverse entre les économistes. L’espoir et la frustration, entourant ces flux de financement du développement étant donné leur importance en termes de croissance et de réduction de la pauvreté, ont généré une importante littérature en sciences économiques avec des recommandations de politiques économiques opposées. De manière générale, cette thèse porte sur l’efficacité de l’aide et des autres flux extérieurs de capitaux à promouvoir le développement dans les pays du SUD. Nous proposons dans cette optique une vision transversale de la question d’efficacité du financement extérieur du développement en regroupant au sein d’une même analyse les trois acteurs principaux liés à ce débat : Les pays récipiendaires, les pays donateurs et l’architecture de l’aide, et les économistes - responsables des recommandations de politiques auprès des décideurs.La première partie de cette thèse emploie la méta-analyse pour effectuer une « autopsie » du processus de recherche en analysant les études empiriques effectuées sur l’efficacité des flux externes de capitaux pour le financement du développement, afin de mettre en évidence les limites à l’origine de l’hétérogénéité des résultats obtenus par les économistes et donc les insuffisances des recommandations de politiques économiques issues de leurs travaux.La deuxième partie s’intéresse à l’influence des pays émergents dans l’architecture de l’aide au développement et leur incidence sur la qualité de l’allocation de l’aide et le comportement budgétaire des pays à faibles revenus recevant cette aide. Enfin dans la troisième partie de notre analyse nous présentons de nouvelles évidences empiriques sur l’impact des flux capitaux extérieurs et autres mesures pour le développement. Nous nous attaquons ici à l’une des difficultés majeures des actions en faveur du développement : L’évaluation d’impact des programmes et politiques mis en place. Nous proposons dans ce cadre une méthodologie d’évaluation d’impact macroéconomique que nous appliquons à l’initiative « Pays Moins Avancés » dont nous mesurons l’incidence sur la croissance et la vulnérabilité macroéconomique des pays ayant bénéficié de ce programme sur les trente dernières années.Cette coupe transversale de l’efficacité du financement du développement permet d’aborder cette problématique sous une perspective unique et intuitive. / Given the limited ability of many of these countries to raise domestic resources through taxation, external finance is essential to support a multi-year public investment program aimed at developing public capital in infrastructure, health, and education. Thus, governments, aid agencies, and citizens from industrialized countries have often transfer capital flows to those countries to help them follow a sustainable growth and finance their development. The most external financial resources for development included foreign aid, foreign direct investment and workers' remittances. The effectiveness of these external flows to sustain development has long been a hotly contested subject among economists. Hope and frustration surrounding the development finance flows and their ability to promote growth and reduce poverty, generated an important literature with conflicting policies recommendations.The broad subject of this thesis is whether foreign aid and the other External Capital Flows are effective in promoting development. We propose a transversal analysis of the effectiveness of external development financing developed around the three groups concerned by this debate: the recipients, the aid architecture and the actors of development, and the researchers - whose results influence policymakers actions. The first part uses meta-analysis methodology to draw a literature review on external development finance flows with a particular interest on the research processes follow by the empirical studies, in order to explain the conflicting results in the empirical studies. The underlying idea of meta-analysis is to subtract the empirical evidences from authors' characteristics, econometric or methodological choices, to sum up the effective knowledge from existing works. The second part focuses on recent evolutions in aid architecture with the increasing influence of emerging donors. This part of the thesis analyzes the impact of non-DAC donors’ aid allocation on government fiscal choices in recipient countries and on traditional donors' aid allocation.The third part of the thesis proposes new evidences of the impact of external capital flows for development and international measures for development. First, we propose an analysis of the link between development financing and business cycles fluctuations in developing countries. We conclude the thesis by addressing one of the major difficulties in the development assistance, that is assessing the impact of different policies and programs designed to support the less developed countries. We evaluate the impact of Least Developed Country (LDC) status on economic growth and the vulnerability to economic shocks.
43

Trade distorting provisions under the multilateral agreement on agriculture : addressing the question of Africa’s limited participation in agricultural trade

Mulenga, Chipasha 02 December 2012 (has links)
No abstract available. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted
44

L'OMC et l'accès des pays en développement au marché agricole de l'Union Européenne : entre traitement spécial et différencié et statut particulier de l'agriculture / The WTO and the access of developing countries to the EU agricultural market : between special and differential treatment and the special status of agriculture

Ngom, Abdoulaye 25 April 2017 (has links)
L’adoption par l’OMC de mesures de TSD utiles pour promouvoir l’agriculture des PED par le commerce agricole a favorisé l’accès des PED au marché rémunérateur de l’UE par des schémas multiples qui ne sont pas encore répartis équitablement entre les PED. Les préférences tarifaires de l’UE accordées aux PED figurent parmi les plus importants instruments de développement commercial utilisés par les pays développés. Cependant, l’effectivité des mesures de TSD reste relative à cause des limites inhérentes à leur contenu influencé par le statut particulier de l’agriculture à l’OMC. L’UE continue de bénéficier d’arrangements spéciaux et pratique un protectionnisme agricole très complexe et très décrié sur le plan externe. Les politiques commerciales, agricoles, sociales, environnementales et sécuritaires en vigueur dans le marché agricole européen neutralisent les efforts consentis par les PED, plus particulièrement les PMA et les pays ACP, pour exploiter les préférences. L’avenir de l’accès des PED au marché agricole de l’UE est actuellement lié à l’aboutissement incertain des négociations du Cycle Doha sur le TSD et l’agriculture. Les Conférences ministérielles de Bali (décembre 2013) et de Nairobi (décembre 2015) ont permis de mettre sur pied des accords partiels et a minima qui semblent maintenir le déséquilibre subtil entre un TSD peu contraignant et un statut particulier de l’agriculture toujours résistant à l’OMC, sans apporter une solution définitive au statu quo de l’accès des PED aux marchés agricoles des pays développés. Les enjeux et les perspectives de l’accès des PED au marché agricole de l’UE dépendent de la direction que prendront les travaux en cours pour répondre aux questions de développement et de libéralisation agricole dans le cadre d’un vrai cycle de développement. / The adoption by the WTO of special and differential treatment (SDT) measures that are useful for promoting the agriculture of developing countries through agricultural trade has favored the access of developing countries to the remunerative market of the EU through multiple schemes that are not yet evenly distributed between developing countries. EU tariff preferences for developing countries (DCs) are among the most important trade development instruments used by developed countries. However, the effectiveness of SDT measures remains relative because of the limitations inherent in their content influenced by the special status of agriculture in the WTO. The EU continues to benefit from special arrangements and practices agricultural protectionism that is very complex and highly criticized externally. The commercial, agricultural, social, environmental and security policies in force in the European agricultural market neutralize the efforts made by developing countries, in particular least developed countries (LDCs) and ACP countries, to exploit preferences.The future access of developing countries to the agricultural market of the EU is currently linked to the uncertain outcome of the Doha Round negotiations on SDT and agriculture. The Ministerial Conferences in Bali (December 2013) and Nairobi (December 2015) have led to the establishment of partial and minimum agreements that seem to maintain the subtle imbalance between a non-constraining SDT and a particular status of agriculture that is still resistant to The WTO without providing a definitive solution to the status quo of DCs access to agricultural markets in developed countries. The challenges and prospects of developing countries' access to the EU agricultural market depend on the direction of work in progress to address agricultural development and liberalization issues within a real development cycle.
45

Compulsory patent licensing and access to essential medicines in developing countries after the Doha Declaration

Adesola, Eniola Olufemi 09 July 2015 (has links)
In 2001 the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (‘Doha Declaration’), affirmed the right of member states of the World Trade Organisation (‘WTO’) to interpret and implement the TRIPS Agreement as supportive of the protection of public health and, in particular, access to medicines. While initially well-received, consternation soon arose over the interpretation of a specific paragraph in the Doha Declaration dealing with compulsory licensing. After a further two years of deliberation, the WTO Decision on the Interpretation of Paragraph 6 (‘Paragraph-6 Decision’) was announced in August 2003 specifying when countries can import drugs produced elsewhere under compulsory licence. With one third of the world's population is still denied access to essential medicines - a figure which rises to over 50 per cent in Asia and Africa - the problems facing the public health community are two-fold. The first is the capacity of developing countries (‘DCs’) actually to use the flexibilities afforded under the TRIPS Agreement, the Doha Declaration, and the Paragraph- 6 Decision amid stark inequalities in health resources and the world trading system as a whole. These include provisions for compulsory licensing, parallel importation, and addressing imbalances in research and development (‘R&D’). The pending ratification of the Paragraph-6 Decision, from an interim solution to a permanent amendment, is accompanied by considerable uncertainty: will the protections be accessible under the system currently proposed? The second problem concerns the undermining of the above hard-won flexibilities by provisions adopted under various bilateral and regional trade agreements. Known as ‘TRIPS-plus’- or ‘WTO-plus’- measures, the level of intellectual property rights (‘IPRs’) rights protection being negotiated and even adopted under other trade agreements are more restrictive as regards public health protection. These two sources of concern have led to an increase in rather than a lessening of tensions between the public health and trade policy communities. The thesis opens with a brief analysis of the interplay between patents and medicines. This includes an overview of the human rights framework and the right of access to medicines as a manifestation of human rights. The historical development of the TRIPS Agreement, its legitimacy, and the effect of the introduction of patents for pharmaceuticals are critically analysed. The terms of the Doha Declaration as it relates to public health, the Paragraph-6 Decision and its system, the December 2005 Amendment, and the progress made to date on the public health protections available under the TRIPS Agreement are reviewed and discussed in detail. The thesis describes how, despite these important clarifications, concerns as to the capacity of DCs to implement specific measures persist. This thesis further addresses the development of compulsory licensing in India and South Africa, and the legal framework for compulsory licensing in these countries. The role of competition law and constraints faced by DCs in implementing the flexibilities offered by the TRIPS Agreement and Doha Declaration are considered before turning to the threat posed by TRIPS-plus measures and calls for their critical reassessment. The thesis considers the role of the Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (IGWG), the WHO Commission on IPRs, Innovation and Public Health (CIPIH), Patent Pools, and international and multilateral donors in access to medicines. The thesis concludes by reviewing potential ways forward to ensure that access to medicines by the poor living in DCs is secured in all trade agreements. / Mercantile Law / LL.D.
46

Compulsory patent licensing and access to essential medicines in developing countries after the Doha Declaration

Adesola, Eniola Olufemi 09 July 2015 (has links)
In 2001 the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (‘Doha Declaration’), affirmed the right of member states of the World Trade Organisation (‘WTO’) to interpret and implement the TRIPS Agreement as supportive of the protection of public health and, in particular, access to medicines. While initially well-received, consternation soon arose over the interpretation of a specific paragraph in the Doha Declaration dealing with compulsory licensing. After a further two years of deliberation, the WTO Decision on the Interpretation of Paragraph 6 (‘Paragraph-6 Decision’) was announced in August 2003 specifying when countries can import drugs produced elsewhere under compulsory licence. With one third of the world's population is still denied access to essential medicines - a figure which rises to over 50 per cent in Asia and Africa - the problems facing the public health community are two-fold. The first is the capacity of developing countries (‘DCs’) actually to use the flexibilities afforded under the TRIPS Agreement, the Doha Declaration, and the Paragraph- 6 Decision amid stark inequalities in health resources and the world trading system as a whole. These include provisions for compulsory licensing, parallel importation, and addressing imbalances in research and development (‘R&D’). The pending ratification of the Paragraph-6 Decision, from an interim solution to a permanent amendment, is accompanied by considerable uncertainty: will the protections be accessible under the system currently proposed? The second problem concerns the undermining of the above hard-won flexibilities by provisions adopted under various bilateral and regional trade agreements. Known as ‘TRIPS-plus’- or ‘WTO-plus’- measures, the level of intellectual property rights (‘IPRs’) rights protection being negotiated and even adopted under other trade agreements are more restrictive as regards public health protection. These two sources of concern have led to an increase in rather than a lessening of tensions between the public health and trade policy communities. The thesis opens with a brief analysis of the interplay between patents and medicines. This includes an overview of the human rights framework and the right of access to medicines as a manifestation of human rights. The historical development of the TRIPS Agreement, its legitimacy, and the effect of the introduction of patents for pharmaceuticals are critically analysed. The terms of the Doha Declaration as it relates to public health, the Paragraph-6 Decision and its system, the December 2005 Amendment, and the progress made to date on the public health protections available under the TRIPS Agreement are reviewed and discussed in detail. The thesis describes how, despite these important clarifications, concerns as to the capacity of DCs to implement specific measures persist. This thesis further addresses the development of compulsory licensing in India and South Africa, and the legal framework for compulsory licensing in these countries. The role of competition law and constraints faced by DCs in implementing the flexibilities offered by the TRIPS Agreement and Doha Declaration are considered before turning to the threat posed by TRIPS-plus measures and calls for their critical reassessment. The thesis considers the role of the Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (IGWG), the WHO Commission on IPRs, Innovation and Public Health (CIPIH), Patent Pools, and international and multilateral donors in access to medicines. The thesis concludes by reviewing potential ways forward to ensure that access to medicines by the poor living in DCs is secured in all trade agreements. / Mercantile Law / LL.D.
47

Development aid - a perspective on the World Bank performance: Calculating the social return on investment for the least developed countries

Schäfer, Dominik 02 March 2016 (has links)
This doctoral thesis focuses on the evaluation of the World Bank (WB) performance in delivering development aid to the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). For this purpose, an extensive research was performed to analyze a set of 790 Implementation Completion and Results reports for key economic and financial indicators. Results of this research provide various insights for the appraisal and the results stage of project delivery of the LDCs in different continents. In the final part of the economic and financial analysis the minimum Social Return on Investment (SROI) of the LDCs including all project costs was calculated. This SROI ratio outcome of 1 and 1.06 in the weighted and 1.3 and 1.72 in the unweighted case indicate that projects delivered by the WB have a positive effect on the poor countries. In the second part of this research project the data set of the ICR reports was qualitatively researched for negative ratings according to 3 core assessment categories for the overall project performance: Sustainability, bank performance and borrower performance. As a result the most critical categories respectively risks were outlined. In conclusion, the research analyses and findings support the general demand to provide even more development assistance to poor countries.:Table of Tables and Figures List of Equations List of Abbreviations 1 Introduction 1.1 Introduction to the Topic 1.2 Assessing Poverty Problems and Achieving Economic Growth 1.3 Millennium Development Goals 1.4 Development Aid 2 Research Approach 2.1 Objective 2.2 Structure 2.3 Least Developed Countries 2.4 World Bank 2.5 Data Access and Relevance 2.5.1 Data Basis 2.5.2 Implementation Completion and Results Reports 2.5.3 Project Types 2.6 Term “Performance” 2.7 Study and Research Questions 2.8 Challenges of this Doctoral Thesis 2.9 Contribution of this Thesis 3 Economic and Financial Analysis 3.1 SROI Concept 3.1.1 SROI Definition 3.1.2 SROI Process and Impact Map 3.1.3 Cost-Benefit-Analysis 3.1.4 SROI Calculation 3.2 SROI of World Bank Projects 3.2.1 Purpose of the Cost-Benefit-Analysis 3.2.2 Indicators of the SROI Calculation 3.2.2.1 Net Present Value 3.2.2.2 Capital and Recurring Costs 3.2.2.3 Project Dates and Duration 3.2.2.4 NPV-horizon 3.2.2.5 Discount Rate 3.2.3 Types of NPV-Cost-Ratios 3.2.3.1 Pro-Rata-Capital-Costs Ratio 3.2.3.2 Total-Capital-Costs Ratio 3.2.3.3 Pro-Rata-Capital plus Recurring-Costs Ratio 3.2.3.4 Total-Capital plus Recurring-Costs Ratio 3.2.4 Calculation of the proper SROI Ratio 3.2.5 Portfolio Analysis 3.2.6 Sensitivity Analysis 3.3 Additional Economic and Financial Indicators 3.3.1 Economic Rate of Return 3.3.2 Benefit-Cost-Ratio 3.3.3 Net Benefit 3.3.4 Financial Net Present Value 3.3.5 Financial Rate of Return 4 Results of the Economic and Financial Analysis 4.1 Analysis Approach and Setup 4.2 NPV Outcomes at the Appraisal Stage 4.2.1 Appraisal NPVs of the LDCs 4.2.2 Appraisal NPV Continent Comparison 4.3 NPV Outcomes of the Result Stage 4.3.1 Result NPVs of the LDCs 4.3.2 Result NPV Continent Comparison 4.4 Appraisal vs. Result NPVs 4.4.1 Results of the LDCs 4.4.2 Continent Comparison 4.5 Economic Rate of Return Result Values 4.5.1 Results of the LDCs 4.5.2 Continent Comparison 4.6 Additional Economic and Financial Indicator Result Values 4.6.1 Benefit-Cost-Ratio and Net Benefit 4.6.2 Financial Net Present Value and Financial Rate of Return 4.7 Overall Project Performance 4.7.1 Definition 4.7.2 Overall Project Performance Ratings 4.7.3 Outcome Calculation for Non-Financial Indicator Projects 4.7.4 Verification of Outcomes and Conclusion 4.8 NPV-Cost-Ratios and SROI Calculation 4.8.1 NPV-Cost-Ratios of the ICR Reports 4.8.1.1 Overall Results 4.8.1.2 Continent Comparison 4.8.2 Standardized NPV-Cost-Ratios 4.8.2.1 Overall Results 4.8.2.2 Continent Comparison 4.8.3 Calculating the Minimum SROI Ratio 4.8.3.1 Overall Results of the Capital SROI Ratio 4.8.3.2 Continental Comparison of the Capital SROI Ratio 4.8.3.3 Overall Results of the Minimum SROI Ratio 4.8.3.4 Continental Comparison of the Minimum SROI Ratio 4.8.4 Making Meaning of the Results 4.9 Summary and Conclusion 5 Qualitative Data Analysis 5.1 Content Analysis 5.2 Sustainability 5.2.1 Sustainability Rating Definition 5.2.2 Sustainability Rating Categories 5.3 Bank Performance 5.3.1 Bank Performance Definition 5.3.2 Bank Performance Categories 5.4 Borrower Performance 5.4.1 Borrower Performance Definition 5.4.2 Borrower Performance Categories 6 Results of the Qualitative Data Analysis 6.1 Sustainability 6.1.1 Quantitative Assessment of Sustainability Ratings 6.1.2 Outcome of the Content Analysis 6.1.2.1 Types of Reasons 6.1.2.2 Overall Results 6.1.2.3 Results in Haiti 6.1.2.4 Continent Comparison 6.1.3 Excursus: Positive NPV Projects 6.1.4 Summary and Conclusion 6.2 Bank Performance 6.2.1 Quantitative Assessment of Bank Performance Ratings 6.2.2 Outcome of the Content Analysis 6.2.2.1 Types of Reasons 6.2.2.2 Overall Results 6.2.2.3 Results in Haiti 6.2.2.4 Continent Comparison 6.2.3 Summary and Conclusion 6.3 Borrower Performance 6.3.1 Quantitative Assessment of Borrower Performance Ratings 6.3.2 Outcome of the Content Analysis 6.3.2.1 Types of Reasons 6.3.2.2 Overall Results 6.3.2.3 Results in Haiti 6.3.2.4 Continent Comparison 6.3.3 Summary and Conclusion 7 Overall Summary and Conclusion 8 Critical Acclaim and Recommendations 9 Outlook and Future Research List of Appendices Appendix References
48

“Accumulation by Dispossession” by the Global Extractive Industry: The Case of Canada

Kinuthia, Wanyee 13 November 2013 (has links)
This thesis draws on David Harvey’s concept of “accumulation by dispossession” and an international political economy (IPE) approach centred on the institutional arrangements and power structures that privilege certain actors and values, in order to critique current capitalist practices of primitive accumulation by the global corporate extractive industry. The thesis examines how accumulation by dispossession by the global extractive industry is facilitated by the “free entry” or “free mining” principle. It does so by focusing on Canada as a leader in the global extractive industry and the spread of this country’s mining laws to other countries – in other words, the transnationalisation of norms in the global extractive industry – so as to maintain a consistent and familiar operating environment for Canadian extractive companies. The transnationalisation of norms is further promoted by key international institutions such as the World Bank, which is also the world’s largest development lender and also plays a key role in shaping the regulations that govern natural resource extraction. The thesis briefly investigates some Canadian examples of resource extraction projects, in order to demonstrate the weaknesses of Canadian mining laws, particularly the lack of protection of landowners’ rights under the free entry system and the subsequent need for “free, prior and informed consent” (FPIC). The thesis also considers some of the challenges to the adoption and implementation of the right to FPIC. These challenges include embedded institutional structures like the free entry mining system, international political economy (IPE) as shaped by international institutions and powerful corporations, as well as concerns regarding ‘local’ power structures or the legitimacy of representatives of communities affected by extractive projects. The thesis concludes that in order for Canada to be truly recognized as a leader in the global extractive industry, it must establish legal norms domestically to ensure that Canadian mining companies and residents can be held accountable when there is evidence of environmental and/or human rights violations associated with the activities of Canadian mining companies abroad. The thesis also concludes that Canada needs to address underlying structural issues such as the free entry mining system and implement FPIC, in order to curb “accumulation by dispossession” by the extractive industry, both domestically and abroad.
49

“Accumulation by Dispossession” by the Global Extractive Industry: The Case of Canada

Kinuthia, Wanyee January 2013 (has links)
This thesis draws on David Harvey’s concept of “accumulation by dispossession” and an international political economy (IPE) approach centred on the institutional arrangements and power structures that privilege certain actors and values, in order to critique current capitalist practices of primitive accumulation by the global corporate extractive industry. The thesis examines how accumulation by dispossession by the global extractive industry is facilitated by the “free entry” or “free mining” principle. It does so by focusing on Canada as a leader in the global extractive industry and the spread of this country’s mining laws to other countries – in other words, the transnationalisation of norms in the global extractive industry – so as to maintain a consistent and familiar operating environment for Canadian extractive companies. The transnationalisation of norms is further promoted by key international institutions such as the World Bank, which is also the world’s largest development lender and also plays a key role in shaping the regulations that govern natural resource extraction. The thesis briefly investigates some Canadian examples of resource extraction projects, in order to demonstrate the weaknesses of Canadian mining laws, particularly the lack of protection of landowners’ rights under the free entry system and the subsequent need for “free, prior and informed consent” (FPIC). The thesis also considers some of the challenges to the adoption and implementation of the right to FPIC. These challenges include embedded institutional structures like the free entry mining system, international political economy (IPE) as shaped by international institutions and powerful corporations, as well as concerns regarding ‘local’ power structures or the legitimacy of representatives of communities affected by extractive projects. The thesis concludes that in order for Canada to be truly recognized as a leader in the global extractive industry, it must establish legal norms domestically to ensure that Canadian mining companies and residents can be held accountable when there is evidence of environmental and/or human rights violations associated with the activities of Canadian mining companies abroad. The thesis also concludes that Canada needs to address underlying structural issues such as the free entry mining system and implement FPIC, in order to curb “accumulation by dispossession” by the extractive industry, both domestically and abroad.

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