Drivers of Conflict in Developing Country Infrastructure Projects: Experience from the Water and Pipeline Sectors
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 137, Issue 7
Abstract
Despite the considerable scholarship focused on infrastructure investment in the developing world and the substantial sums of money spent each year on developing-country infrastructure, little attention has been given to understanding the drivers of conflict that shape the trajectory and cost structures of these massive investments. The manifestation of conflict among stakeholders in infrastructure projects ranges from the renegotiation of contract terms by project partners to popular protests among consumers of privatized services. The principal objective of this research is to identify combinations of country, project, and stakeholder factors that are associated with the emergence of legal and political conflict within natural gas and oil pipeline projects and water supply concessions and leases. The analysis includes data from 26 infrastructure projects spanning 31 countries and uses an analytical approach derived from Boolean algebra. Country-level characteristics, such as extent of democracy and rate of international NGO membership, are found to be important elements in the recipes for conflict among water supply projects but not for pipeline projects. Local impacts such as service price increases (water supply) and limited provision of oil and gas to the project host country (pipelines) are also important drivers of conflict for both subsectors. The involvement of one or more international financial institutions is also associated with the emergence of conflict in projects. Contrary to expectations, public consultation is associated with conflict in both subsectors. Overall, the study findings suggest that several factors associated with conflict in infrastructure projects can be minimized with careful project design.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This work was funded by the Presidential Find for Innovation in International Studies (PFIIS) and the Collaboratory for Research on Global Projects, both of Stanford University. H. Boudet was further supported by Emmett-IPER program of Stanford University. The writers are most grateful for the extensive contributions made by Ray Levitt, Richard Scott, Doug McAdam, Ryan Orr, Charles Ragin, and Richard Burt to the research undertaking. Henry Chan, Cheryl Chi, Mo Peng, Andrew Peterman, Linh Pham, Amanda Sharkey, Meg Waltner, and Amy Javernick Will provided excellent research assistance throughout the project. Attorney Gregory Keever and the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, provided valuable inputs on the coding of legal conflict of the cases. The research team further thanks the staff of the NGOs, lending agencies, and international development organizations who shared their time and information with us through surveys and interviews. Finally, the team is indebted to two anonymous reviewers for helpful feedback on the original manuscript.
References
Aminzade, R. R., and McAdam, D. (2001). “Emotions and contentious politics.” Silence and voice in the study of contentious politics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Banks, A. S. (2009). Cross-National Time-Series Data Archive. Databanks International.
Beierle, T. C., and Cayford, J. (2002). Democracy in practice: Public participation in environmental decision making, Resources For the Future, Washington, D.C.
Brook Cowen, P. J., and Cowen, T. (1998). “Deregulated private water supply: A policy option for developing countries.” Cato J., 18, 21–41.
Boli, J., and Thomas, G. M. (1997). “World culture in the world polity: A century of international non-governmental organization.” Am. Socio. Rev., 62, 171–90.
Calabres, D. (2008). “Strategic communication for privatization, public-private partnerships, and private participation in infrastructure projects.” Working Paper 139, World Bank, Washington, D.C.
Carmichael, D. (2002). Disputes and international projects, Taylor and Francis, New York.
Carmin, J. (2003). “Resources, opportunities and local environmental action in the democratic transition and early consolidation periods of the Czech Republic.” Environ. Polit., 12(3), 42–64.
Davis, J. (2005). “Private-sector participation in the water and sanitation sector.” Annu. Rev. Environ. Resourc., 30, 145–183.
Dixit, S., et al. (2001). “The real challenge in power sector restructuring: Instilling public control through transparency, accountability and public participation (TAP).” Energy Sustainable Dev., 5(3), 95–102.
Dumol, M. (2000). “The Manila water concession: A key government official’s diary of the world’s largest water privatization.” Directions in development, World Bank, Washington, D.C.
Eckstein, R. (1997). Nuclear power and social power, Temple University Press, Philadelphia.
Environment Division (1998). Doing better business through effective public consultation and disclosure: A good practice manual. International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC.
Estache, A. (2004). “Emerging infrastructure policy issues in developing countries—A survey of the recent economic literature.” Policy, Research Working Paper No. WPS 3442, World Bank, Washington, D.C.
Fredriksson, T. (2007). World investment report 2007, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, New York.
Freudenburg, N. (1984). “Citizen action for environmental health: Report on a survey of community organizations.” Am. J. Publ. Health, 74(5), 444–448.
Grimsey, D., and Lewis, M. K. (2002). “Evaluating the risks of public private partnerships for infrastructure partnerships.” Int. J. Proj. Manage., 20(2), 107–118.
Gunatilake, H., and Carangal-San Jose, M. J. (2008). “Privatization revisited: Lessons from private sector participation in water supply and sanitation in developing countries.” ERD Working Paper Series No 115, Economics and Research Department, Asian Development Bank, Manila.
Harris, C. (2003). “Private participation in infrastructure in developing countries: Trends, impacts, and policy lessons.” World Bank Working Paper No 5, World Bank, Washington, D.C.
Human Development Report Office (2009). Human Development Index, United Nations Development Program, New York.
Javier, D., and Beato, P. (2003). “Private sector participation in water and sanitation services in Cartagena de Indias.” Working Paper, Infrastructure and Financial Markets Division, Sustainable Development Department, Inter-American Development Bank.
Jehn, K. (1997). “A qualitative analysis of conflict types and dimensions in organizational groups.” Admin. Sci. Quarterly, 42(3), 530–557
Kasperson, R. E. (1992). The social amplification of risk: Progress in developing an integrative framework. Social theories of risk, S. K. D . Golding, ed., Praeger, Westport, CT, 153–178.
Khagram, S. (2004). Dams and development: Transnational struggles for water and power, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.
Kikeri, S. (1998). “Privatization and labor: What happens to workers when governments divest?” Technical Paper No. 396, World Bank, Washington DC.
Kramer, A. E. (2006). “Under pressure from Moscow, Shell offers to sell stake in big oil and gas project.” New York Times, C4.
Marshall, M. G., and Jaggers, K. (2009). Polity IV Project, Center for Systemic Peace, George Mason University.
McAdam, D. (1999). Political process and the development of black insurgency, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1930–1970.
McCarthy, J. D., and Zald, M. N. (1977). “Resource mobilization and social movements: A partial theory.” Am. J. Sociol., 82(6), 1212–41.
Meyer, J. W., and Jepperson, R. (2000). The ‘actors’ of modern society: The cultural construction of social agency. Socio. Theory, 18, 101–20.
Meyer, J. W., Boli, J., Thomas, G., and Ramirez, F. O. (1997). “World society and the nation state.” Am. J. Sociol., 103, 144.
Nickson, A. (2001). Establishing and implementing a joint venture: Water and sanitation services in Cartagena, Colombia, GHK International, London.
Nickson, A., and Vargas, C. (2002). “The limitations of water regulation: The failure of the Cochabamba concession in Bolivia.” Bull. Lat. Am. Res., 21(1), 99–120.
Olivera, O., and Lewis, T. (2004). Cochabamba! Water war in Bolivia, South End Press, Cambridge, MA.
Orr, R. J., and Scott, W. R. (2008). “Institutional exceptions on global projects: A process model.” J. Int. Bus. Stud., 39(4), 562–588
Orr, R. J., and Kennedy, R. J. (2008). “Highlights of recent trends in global infrastructure: New players and revised game rules.” Transnational Corporations, 17(1), 95–130.
Picciotto, R. (1995). “Putting institutional economics to work: from participation to governance.” World Bank Discussion Papers 304, World Bank, Washington D.C.
Pidgeon, N., et al. (2003). The social amplification of risk, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI). (2008). “The Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) project database, World Bank and PPIAF.” 〈http://ppi.worldbank.org〉.
Project Finance International (PFI). (2008). “Project pipeline and completed deals project databases, Project Finance International (PFI).” 〈http://www.pfie.com/〉.
Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) and World Bank (WB). (2006). Approaches to private participation in water services: A toolkit, Washington, D.C.
Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU). (2002). “Water privatisation and restructuring in Central and Eastern Europe,” University of Greenwich, 〈http://www.psiru.org/reportsindex.asp〉.
Ragin, C. C. (1987). The comparative method: Moving beyond qualitative and quantitative strategies, The University of California Press, Berkeley, CA
Ragin, C. C. (2000). Fuzzy-set social science, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Ragin, C. C. (2008). “Qualitative comparative analysis using fuzzy sets (fsQCA).” Configurational Comparative Analysis, B. Rihoux and C. Ragin, eds., Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Ramirez, F., and Boli, J. (1987). “The political construction of mass schooling: European origins and worldwide institutionalization.” Sociol. Ed., 60, 2–17.
Shugart, Chris (2004). “Brief case studies: Sofia and Brno,” Private sector participation in water and wastewater services in Central and Eastern Europe, World Bank, Washington D.C.
Simdex (2010). “Future pipeline projects worldwide guide,” 〈http://www.simdex.com/future_pipeline_projects/index.htm〉.
Union of International Associations (1998). Yearbook of International Organizations, K. G. Saur, ed., Vol. 2,Munich, Germany.
Walsh, E. J., and Warland, R. H. (1983). “Social movement involvement in wake of a nuclear accident: Activists and free riders in the TMI area.” Am. Socio. Rev., 48, 764–780.
Walsh, E. J., et al. (1993). “Backyards, NIMBY’s, and incinerator sitings: Implications for social movement theory.” Social problems, 40(1), 25–38.
World Bank (2009). Atlas of global development: A visual guide to the world's greatest challenges, 2nd Ed., Washington, DC.
World Bank. (2005). “Operational manual OP 4.10—Indigenous peoples,” 〈http://go.worldbank.org/DO3BSC7H70〉.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 137 • Issue 7 • July 2011
Pages: 498 - 511
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 5, 2010
Accepted: Dec 2, 2010
Published online: Jun 15, 2011
Published in print: Jul 1, 2011
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.