Employment from Mining Investments in Land for Agriculture
- Lead PI:
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Unit Affiliation: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI)
- Unknown start date - Ongoing
- Active
- Project Type: Research
DESCRIPTION: The employment potential of investments in extractive industry projects and land acquisitions for agriculture is often touted both by governments and by companies in support of investor-friendly policies and large-scale investments in natural resources. However, many have noted that the number of local jobs created by these investments rarely meets the numbers promised, and the jobs that are created are often low-skill. In order to assess the potential employment impacts of these sectors, and whether and how employment from natural resource investments contributes to sustainable economic development, a more critical look at local employment impacts is needed.
OUTCOMES: in July 2016, CCSI released “Employment from Mining and Agricultural Investments: How Much Myth, How Much Reality?”, a report that aims to clarify the processes and impacts of job creation driven by large-scale mining and agricultural investments, and to suggest how policies can improve employment outcomes. The executive summary is available here (http://ccsi.columbia.edu/files/2014/11/Employment-impact-mining-and-ag-Executive-summary-CCSI-2016.pdf).
In addition, CCSI continues to research other ways to leverage extractive industries to enhance the economic capability of the host countries. For more information, see our pages on Downstream Beneficiation of Extractive Resources, Fostering Knowledge and Technology Spillovers of Extractive Industries, Local Content Laws & Contractual Provisions, and Conceptualizing Economic Linkages to the Resource Sector. Also see our pages on the Mine of the Future to understand the future of linkages under automation, and the impact of trade and investment treaties constraining the policy space on linkage creation.