Norm Diffusion and Reputation: The Rise of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

Abstract

Transparency in the extractives sector is widely seen as an important tool for improving accountability and deterring corruption. Yet for those very reasons, it is a puzzle that so many governments in corruption‐prone countries have voluntarily signed up to greater scrutiny in this area by joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). We argue that EITI serves as a reputational intermediary, whereby reformers can signal good intentions and international actors can reward achievement. International and domestic actors thus utilize EITI to diffuse the norm of resource transparency and to advance reformist aims in a highly problematic policy area.

Regulating lobbying activities in the European Union: A voluntary club perspective

“…), or multi‐party global sectoral programs like the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (see e.g. Haufler ; David‐Barrett & Okamura ).…”

Business unusual: collective action against bribery in international business

“…Second, the presence of international actors with an interest in encouraging domestic actors to join the club creates a much richer and more complex set of membership benefits. This includes non-material benefits associated with building a reputation and demonstrating adherence to international norms and is often related to performance on certain governance indicators [15,[20][21][22]. Third, the international dimension increases the possibilities for monitoring and enforcement, by introducing an independent thirdparty aspect to monitoring, i.e., the existence of a 'principled principal' embedded in a different set of norms and reputational considerations.…”

“…The EITI has become a key tool for signalling commitment to improved governance in the extractives sector and this brings many reputational benefits in international spheres. DavidBarrett and Okamura [20] find that donors value EITI implementation as a step towards improved natural resource governance and that countries are rewarded for progress in implementing the EITI standard with increased aid flows. Government proponents argue that EITI membership helps countries to secure other benefits such as debt relief, access to credit, and foreign investment.…”

Does Hypocrisy Matter? National Reputational Damage and British Anti-Corruption Mentoring in the Balkans

“…The tendency for states to bandwagon around the policies of powerful actors is further encouraged by the imperative on decision-makers of recipient states to look for shortcuts as a means of dealing with information overload, drawing them towards reforms that are more familiar rather than necessarily more appropriate for adoption. Additionally, the efficacy of policy transfer also depends on the level of insulation of national decision-making structures from exogenous pressures, national as well as international (Schrad 2010, David-Barrett andOkamura 2016), and on a state's capacity to implement the necessary changes to both policy and related practice (Jones and Newburn 2007, Börzel and Risse 2003, Lord 2014. Capacity itself is a highly complex quality to evaluate; aside from the practical matter of appropriate types of institutional frameworks and levels of resources to fulfill the demands of policy implementation, there is the matter of the degree of cognitive attachment felt by those tasked with undertaking reform that will also influence the depth and reach of change, even if such sentiment can ultimately be cultivated over time (Risse and Sikkink 1999).…”