Transparency in Commodity-Rich Countries: Is State Ownership to Blame?

  • Domenico Valenza College of Europe
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v12i2.1182
Keywords: Transparency, State Ownership, Norway, Russia, Oil and Gas

Abstract

Since the late 1990s, transparency has emerged as a major governance pillar helping resource-rich countries improve their performance and escape the resource curse. Within this debate, a few scholars have pointed to the correlation between ownership structure and transparency, and have argued that under state ownership, transparency should not be expected, as government officials refrain from strengthening institutions to retain their discretionary power.

This study attempts to challenge scholarly existing knowledge by comparing transparency performances in two resource-rich countries with similar ownership structures, Norway and Russia. To this end, it analyses data from the Revenue Governance Index (2017). Overall, such a correlation is not confirmed. While in some cases, state ownership can in fact generate greater opacity, the example of Norway confirms that retaining control can also enhance transparency. As a result, it is suggested to look attentively at the features of state ownership, and in particular, at countries’ institutional quality.

Author Biography

Domenico Valenza, College of Europe

Domenico Valenza is a Research Fellow at the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) and a PhD candidate at Ghent University. Domenico holds an MA in European Studies from Université Paris 8 Saint Denis and Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), and an MSc in “Russia in Global Systems” from King’s College London (KCL). Prior to joining UNU-CRIS, he was a Senior Academic Assistant at the College of Europe, a Research Fellow at the Institute of European Democrats, and a Program Assistant at No Peace Without Justice. In his current research, Domenico is examining the presence and the nature of competition of cultural diplomacies between the EU and Russia in the post-Soviet space. His main research interests include Russia’s foreign policy, EU-Russia relations, the geopolitics of resources, and EU neighbourhood policy.

Published
2019-01-23
Issue
Vol 12 No 2 (2018): Fall:2018
Section
Articles

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