Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Property rights, nationalisation and
extractive industries in Bolivia and
Ecuador
Murat Arsel
1
, Carlos Mena
2
, Lorenzo Pellegrini
3
&
Isabella Radhuber
4
Abstract
Since the election of the left-leaning leaders Morales in Bolivia and Correa
in Ecuador, there have been highly contested changes regarding the role of the state in
the extractive industries of these countries. While the content of these changes differ
and have manifested themselves over different timescales and political approaches, they
fall within the context of the politically charged and equivocal rubric of 'nationalisa-
tion'. In both countries the place of extractive industries in socioeconomic development
has been acknowledged as central to understanding the nature of the ongoing changes.
While the existing literature has made sweeping generalisations about the character
of these new regimes, this chapter aims to bring an empirically grounded analysis of
the transformation of property rights structures associated with nationalisation in the
extractive sectors of Bolivia and Ecuador. Focusing primarily on the minerals sector,
the chapter demonstrates that there have been shifts and swings in the property rights
regimes of both countries at the 'operational level'. While these changes have indeed
strengthened the role of the state, hence conforming to our definition of nationalisa-
tion, the most significant changes relate to changes in property rights at the level of
'collective-choice' rights that concern the future shape of development in these two
countries.
Keywords
Extractive industries, nationalisation, property rights, Bolivia, Ecuador.
7.1 INTRODUCTION
For the past decade, several Latin American nations have undergone major politi-
cal and economic changes that have significantly altered their development politics
and policies. Taken together, these transformations have opened up debates regarding
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