Conflicts, Power and Environmental Institutions: The Case of Social Unrest on Palawan (Philippines) due Mining External Effects

Table of Contents

1 Introduction

1.1 The Background and the Research Subject

1.2 The Analytical Focus

1.3 Methodology and Study Plan

2 Theories, Definitions and Models

2.1 On the Theory of External Effects

2.1.1 An Attempt to Define External Effects

2.1.2 Classification of External Effects

2.1.3 External Effects Regarding Conflicts

2.2 Institutions and Conflicts

2.2.1 Behavioral Assumptions

2.2.1.1 Bounded Rationality

2.2.1.2 Opportunism

2.2.2 Institutions

2.2.3 Conflicts

2.2.3.1 The Inherent Conflictive Nature of Distributions Applied to Externalities

2.2.3.2 Institutions Shaping Behavior of Actors and Actors Shaping Institutions

2.2.4 A Bargaining Model of Institutional Emergence and Factors Featuring Individual Interaction

2.3 The Property Rights Approach

2.3.1 Property Rights

2.3.2 Types of Property Rights Regimes

2.3.3 Elements of Property Rights Regimes

2.3.4 Some Implications

2.3.4.1 When Property Rights do not Exist

2.3.4.2 When Property Rights do Exist

2.4 The Theory of Contracts: A Transaction Costs Economic Approach

2.5 Understanding Public Servants in Representative Democracies

2.5.1 The Behavior of Politicians in Representative Democracies

2.5.2 The Behavior of Bureaucrats in Representative Democracies

2.6 Extending the Theory of Conflicts

2.6.1 The Case of Perceived Institutional or Implementation Failure

2.6.2 Factors Influencing the Attitudes toward Institutional or Implementing Failure

3 Methodological Framework

3.1 The Analytic Narratives Approach

3.1.1 Building Analytic Narratives

3.1.2 Testing Analytic Narratives

3.2 The Field Work

3.2.1 Gathering Information

3.2.1.1 Semi-Structured Interviews

3.2.1.2 The Exercise of Discriminating and Processing Information

3.2.2 Location: Palawan, the Last Frontier

4 Case Study

4.1 The Background: The Mining Project and the Protests

4.1.1 The Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation

4.1.2 The Hydrometallurgical Processing Plant

4.2 Narratives and Models

4.2.1 Narrative: The Onset of an Ongoing Relationship

4.2.2 Models and Explanation: Initial expectations, a Coordination Problem and a Contract of Promise

4.2.3 Narrative: The Complex Net of Environmental Institutions and the Presence of Externalities

4.2.4 Models and Explanations: Not just a Problem of Coordination

4.2.5 Narrative: The Grant of the Environmental Compliance Certificate

4.2.6 Models and Explanations: On Environmental Bureaucracies and Behavioral Assumptions

4.2.6.1 Strategies of the Philippine Environmental Bureaucracies

4.2.6.2 Strategies of the Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation

4.2.7 Narrative: The NGOs and the Evaluation of a Toxicologist

4.2.8 Models and Explanations: The Limited Cognition

4.2.9 Narrative: The Interests of the Philippine Government

4.2.10 Models and Explanations: The Interests of the State and Conflicts over Formal Institutions

4.2.11 Narrative: Coming Back to the Protest

4.2.12 Models and Explanations: The Choice between Exit, Voice, Silence and Dirty Hands

5 Conclusions

6 Summary

Research Objectives and Thematic Focus

This document aims to analyze the social unrest on the Philippine island of Palawan, specifically concerning mining activities and negative external effects. By applying political and economic theories, the study explores how institutional arrangements, power asymmetries, and the strategic behavior of stakeholders—such as the Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation, the Philippine government, and local NGOs—contribute to conflict and impact the implementation of environmental regulations.

• Political economy of mining-related externalities and social conflict.
• Application of the analytic narratives approach to understand stakeholder decision-making.
• Role of institutions, property rights, and transaction costs in conflict resolution.
• Interaction between environmental bureaucracies, politicians, and corporate interests.
• Strategic behavioral options of marginalized local populations in response to perceived institutional failures.

Excerpt from the Book

Summary of Chapters

1 Introduction: Introduces the background of the conflict between the Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation and the local population, outlining the research questions and analytical focus.

2 Theories, Definitions and Models: Establishes the theoretical foundation, covering external effects, institutions, property rights, contract theory, and public choice perspectives regarding public servants.

3 Methodological Framework: Describes the use of analytic narratives and the qualitative fieldwork approach applied to gather empirical data.

4 Case Study: Provides a detailed narration and modeling of events, analyzing the mining project, the Environmental Compliance Certificate process, stakeholder strategies, and the conflict dynamics on Palawan.

5 Conclusions: Synthesizes findings regarding the role of bounded rationality, power asymmetries, and informal institutional arrangements in creating and perpetuating distributional conflicts.

6 Summary: Provides an overview of the analysis, the methodology, and the key conclusions regarding the determinants of the social conflict.

Keywords

Palawan, Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation, external effects, externalities, institutional economics, political economy, social conflict, property rights, transaction costs, public choice, environmental management, bargaining power, stakeholders, Bataraza, analytic narratives.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the core focus of this research paper?

The paper examines the socio-political and economic conflicts on the Philippine island of Palawan arising from negative externalities caused by long-term mining operations.

Which theoretical frameworks are primarily utilized?

The research integrates institutional economics, transaction cost theory, property rights theory, public choice theory, and the analytical narratives approach to model actor interactions.

What is the primary research objective?

The goal is to determine the factors influencing stakeholder decisions and to evaluate how institutions—and the power asymmetries within them—shape behavioral outcomes in the context of environmental conflicts.

Which scientific method is employed for the study?

The author employs the analytic narratives approach, combining qualitative interviews and document analysis to understand specific sequence-based events through deterministic economic models.

What does the main body of the work cover?

It details the history of the mining project, the emergence of environmental rules, the bureaucratic processes behind regulatory approvals, and the strategic reactions of NGOs and local communities.

What characterises this study's key themes?

The research is characterized by themes of institutional failure, distributional conflict, asymmetric information, and the influence of corporate and governmental power on the enforcement of environmental regulations.

Why was the "contract of promise" considered inappropriate?

The study argues that the initial informal agreement failed because it did not account for bounded rationality or the uncertainty of future negative environmental impacts, necessitating more complex governance structures.

How does the author define the role of environmental bureaucracies?

Environmental bureaucracies are viewed not as passive agents but as self-interested actors whose behavior is constrained by the interests of their sponsors—the politicians—and their own desire for budgetary and political maximization.

What is the significance of the "social acceptability" requirement?

It serves as a critical, yet often bypassed, institutional safeguard in Philippine law designed to ensure that projects impacting indigenous communities and environments receive informed consent from the affected populations.