مقاله انگلیسی رایگان در مورد بررسی قراردادها در استخراج مواد معدنی با نظریه بازی و تصمیم گیری چند معیاره – الزویر 2022

Abstract

     This research takes a novel approach to analyzing impact and benefit agreements (IBA) using multiple-criteria decision making (MCDM) and game theory. Local communities, which are often Indigenous communities, face with difficult decisions regarding the trade-offs of impacts vs. benefits from mineral resource development. Analyses of IBAs typically focus on their economic benefits but fail to consider environmental, socio-cultural, and other sustainability criteria. By not considering these criteria, current methods struggle to predict if an IBA is adequate or if it will be accepted. This research develops a model with MCDM that balances complex sustainability trade-offs for communities during mineral development negotiations. Bargaining positions of companies or impacted communities are also an essential, yet understudied factor in IBA analyses. Game theory is employed to show how bargaining positions can affect the compensation included in an IBA. In all, this research develops a model that can consider different criteria, value systems, and the implications of cooperation or competition to predict if an IBA will be accepted. This study provides recommendations, which can be applied other resource development projects which impact communities. The model shows the importance of flexibility in design, power dynamics in bargaining, cooperation, and knowledge sharing.

Introduction

     The mining industry is at a crossroads. Society’s growing demand for minerals continues to push for more mines, but many projects struggle to secure permits due to opposition from impacted Indigenous communities and other stakeholders. The continued growth of the mining industry impacts communities on countless socio-environmental levels, which are not easily accounted for during project evaluation. Impact and benefit agreements (IBAs) were developed to create collaborative solutions to balance the impacts and benefits of mineral development for communities. IBAs are contracts between impacted groups and project proponents that typically outline the benefits the community will receive, in terms of compensation and economic opportunities, as well as the strategies for impact mitigation (Gibson and O’Faircheallaigh, 2015). IBAs formalize a company-community partnership with the goal of reducing project delays and disruptions from protests, blockades, or legal opposition (Ali, 2003). The issue is that it is not well understood what exactly should be included in IBAs to balance the impacts vs. benefits of a project (Cascadden et al., 2021). There are several guidelines created for IBAs, e.g., Gibson and O’Faircheallaigh (2015), but there is a critical lack of formalized methods that can incorporate community values and predict if IBAs will be accepted and successful. The main questions of this research are: How can we predict if an IBA will be accepted? What are the main factors for a successful IBA? How can IBAs be better aligned to the wants, needs, and values of communities? And, what are the sustainability challenges with IBAs for mineral development projects? To better understand these questions, this research’s goal is to create a new method to analyze IBAs.

Conclusion and recommendations

     To summarize, the following list provides several key recommendations uncovered from this research for individuals looking to develop IBAs or predict if it will be accepted:

A project which provides alternatives which can trade-off between all important criteria, can make a project more likely to be accepted.

Before negotiations, bargaining factors should be analyzed to understand which group will potentially be at an advantage. The main factors–patience, knowledge, uncertainty, and power to make proposals–should be discussed and mediated.

Mineral policies should require proponents to provide flexible alternatives for all important criteria to communities.