Governance and Accountability in Extractive Industries: Theory and Practice at the World Bank

The efforts of international financial institutions such as the World Bank to support countries in the effective capture and use of revenues from extractive industries have focused increasingly on transparency, notably through the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. In this article, we outline the limitations in policy thinking that result from an overemphasis on transparency alone. We develop a theoretical framework for building accountability, emphasising political, legal and economic institutions, social processes, and historical legacies. We then outline how this framework is relevant to practical development challenges, exploring the case of the World Bank's responses to the limitations of traditional extractive industries policy frameworks and its emergent turn to strengthen accountability.