Governing African Gold Mining (eBook)

Ainsley Elbra is a Lecturer at the University of Sydney, Australia. Prior to commencing her academic career she was a corporate banker with one of Australia’s largest financial institutions.

Preface and Acknowledgements 7
Contents 9
List of Abbreviations 10
List of Figures 12
List of Tables 13
Chapter 1: Introduction 14
The Resource Curse Theory 17
SSA’s Gold Curse 18
The Choice of Countries 20
Ghana 21
South Africa 23
Tanzania 26
A Growing Role for the Private Sector 28
Research Questions and Approach 33
Institutionalist Perspectives 34
Book Outline 39
Conclusion 41
Notes 42
References 42
Chapter 2: Theoretical Explanations for Firm-Led Governance 47
Introduction 47
Defining the Resource Curse 49
Dutch Disease 50
The Impacts of Volatility 51
The Rentier State 52
Is the Resource Curse a Deterministic Phenomenon? 56
Globalisation: Towards a New Understanding of Governance 58
Private Authority and Private Governance 63
The Role of Firms in Emerging Norms 66
A New Framework for Analysis 67
Conclusion 70
Notes 71
References 72
Chapter 3: A History of Gold Mining in South Africa, Ghana and Tanzania 78
Introduction 78
The Relevance of Gold Mining 80
Ghana 83
Ghanaian Gold Mining in the Twenty-First Century 88
South Africa 92
The Contemporary Structure of South Africa’s Mining Industry 96
Tanzania 99
Growing Dissatisfaction with Contemporary Tanzanian Mining 103
Conclusion 107
Notes 110
References 110
Chapter 4: Private Governance in the Gold Mining Sector 115
Introduction 115
Why Do Firms Develop Private Governance Initiatives? 116
The Emergence of Mining Private Governance Initiatives 120
Three Tiers of Private Governance 123
Self-Regulation by Firms 126
Cross-Industry Bodies 127
World Gold Council 127
International Council on Mining and Metals 128
Chamber of Mines 130
Public Private Partnerships/Multistakeholder Initiatives 131
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative 132
United Nations Global Compact 135
Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights 138
Global Reporting Initiative 139
International Organisation for Standardisation—14000 Family of Standards 140
Conclusion 142
Note 143
References 143
Chapter 5: Firms’ Rationales: Public Reporting 148
Profitability 169
Response to Tougher Regulatory Environment 170
Minimise Risk 171
Obtaining/Maintaining a Social License to Operate 172
Normative Factors in Detail 173
Obligation to Mining Community 174
Desire for Enhanced Transparency 175
Commitment to Best Practice 176
Meeting Stakeholder Expectations 176
Conclusions 178
Notes 179
References 180
Chapter 6: The Discursive Power of Firms 184
Introduction 184
Three Faces of Power 186
Interviews 189
Instrumental Power 191
Structural Power 194
Discursive Power 198
Conclusion 206
Notes 208
References 208
Chapter 7: Private Governance as a Solution to the Resource Curse 210
Empirical Findings 211
Ghana 211
South Africa 213
Tanzania 214
Findings in Respect of Firms 216
What Does This Tell Us About Private Governance as a Solution to the Resource Curse? 221
Future Research Questions 224
Conclusion 227
References 228
Appendix A: Millennium Development Goals 229
Appendix B: Coding Rules 232
Strategic Codes 233
Normative Codes 233
Appendix C: Interview Questions 235
Version 1 235
Version 2 237
Index 240