IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jrpoli/v70y2021ics0301420720309247.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How much do artisanal miners earn? An inquiry among Congolese gold miners

Author

Listed:
  • Geenen, Sara
  • Stoop, Nik
  • Verpoorten, Marijke

Abstract

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is acknowledged to provide incomes to tens of millions of individuals around the world, yet systematic data on miners' earnings are lacking. We developed a sampling method and survey tools suited for systematic data collection and applied it to a stratified random sample of 453 miners in the largest mining town in Congo's South Kivu province. Our research design allows us to study how much artisanal gold miners earn, and what determines their earnings. In doing so, we assess the financial attractiveness of artisanal mining, and uncover whether earnings from artisanal mining are merit-based, i.e. determined by experience, expertise and risk-taking behavior, or identity-based. This allows us to test the claim that artisanal mining has a social-levelling effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Geenen, Sara & Stoop, Nik & Verpoorten, Marijke, 2021. "How much do artisanal miners earn? An inquiry among Congolese gold miners," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:70:y:2021:i:c:s0301420720309247
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101893
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301420720309247
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101893?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Banchirigah, Sadia Mohammed, 2008. "Challenges with eradicating illegal mining in Ghana: A perspective from the grassroots," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 29-38, March.
    2. Tschakert, Petra, 2009. "Recognizing and nurturing artisanal mining as a viable livelihood," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1-2), pages 24-31.
    3. Remi Bazillier & Victoire Girard, 2020. "The gold digger and the machine. Evidence on the distributive effect of the artisanal and industrial gold rushes in Burkina Faso," Post-Print hal-03533228, HAL.
    4. Gavin Hilson & Mark Hirons & Laurent E. Cartier & Michael Bürge, 2011. "Agriculture And Artisanal Gold Mining In Sierra Leone: Alternatives Or Complements?," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(8), pages 1080-1099, November.
    5. Hilson, Gavin, 2019. "Why is there a large-scale mining ‘bias’ in sub-Saharan Africa?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 852-861.
    6. Bansah, K.J., 2019. "From diurnal to nocturnal: Surviving in a chaotic artisanal and small-scale mining sector," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    7. Bazillier, Remi & Girard, Victoire, 2020. "The gold digger and the machine. Evidence on the distributive effect of the artisanal and industrial gold rushes in Burkina Faso," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    8. Gavin Hilson, 2005. "Strengthening artisanal mining research and policy through baseline census activities," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 29(2), pages 144-153, May.
    9. Gavin Hilson & Mark Hirons & Gavin Hilson, 2011. "Artisanal Mining, Smallholder Farming And Livelihood Diversification In Rural Sub‐Saharan Africa: An Introduction," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(8), pages 1031-1041, November.
    10. Radley, Ben, 2020. "A distributional analysis of artisanal and industrial wage levels and expenditure in the Congolese mining sector," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 106512, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Sadia Banchirigah & Gavin Hilson, 2010. "De-agrarianization, re-agrarianization and local economic development: Re-orientating livelihoods in African artisanal mining communities," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 43(2), pages 157-180, June.
    12. Bryceson, Deborah Fahy & Jønsson, Jesper Bosse, 2010. "Gold Digging Careers in Rural East Africa: Small-Scale Miners' Livelihood Choices," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 379-392, March.
    13. Kilosho Buraye, Janvier & Stoop, Nik & Verpoorten, Marijke, 2017. "Defusing the social minefield of gold sites in Kamituga, South Kivu. From legal pluralism to the re-making of institutions?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 356-368.
    14. Stoop, Nik & Verpoorten, Marijke & van der Windt, Peter, 2019. "Artisanal or industrial conflict minerals? Evidence from Eastern Congo," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 660-674.
    15. Nik Stoop & Marijke Verpoorten, 2020. "Risk, Envy and Magic in the Artisanal Mining Sector of South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 51(5), pages 1199-1224, September.
    16. Stoop, Nik & Verpoorten, Marijke & van der Windt, Peter, 2019. "Artisanal or industrial conflict minerals?," IOB Analyses & Policy Briefs 39, Universiteit Antwerpen, Institute of Development Policy (IOB).
    17. Frank Van Acker, 2005. "Where did all the land go? Enclosure & social struggle in Kivu (D.R.Congo)," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(103), pages 79-98, March.
    18. Ben Radley, 2020. "A Distributional Analysis of Artisanal and Industrial Wage Levels and Expenditure in the Congolese Mining Sector," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(10), pages 1964-1979, October.
    19. Fisher, Eleanor & Mwaipopo, Rosemarie & Mutagwaba, Wilson & Nyange, David & Yaron, Gil, 2009. ""The ladder that sends us to wealth": Artisanal mining and poverty reduction in Tanzania," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1-2), pages 32-38.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Anni Orola & Anna Härri & Jarkko Levänen & Ville Uusitalo & Stig Irving Olsen, 2022. "Assessing WELBY Social Life Cycle Assessment Approach through Cobalt Mining Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-26, September.
    2. Goetz, Julian M., 2022. "What do we know about rural and informal non-farming labour? Evidence from a mixed methods study of artisanal and small-scale mining in Northwest Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Geenen, Sara, 2014. "Dispossession, displacement and resistance: Artisanal miners in a gold concession in South-Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 90-99.
    2. Poignant, Adrian, 2023. "Small-scale mining and agriculture: Evidence from northwestern Tanzania," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. Van Bockstael, Steven, 2019. "Land grabbing “from below”? Illicit artisanal gold mining and access to land in post-conflict Côte d’Ivoire," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 904-914.
    4. Maleke Fourati & Victoire Girard & Jeremy Laurent-Lucchetti, 2021. "Sexual violence as a weapon of war," NOVAFRICA Working Paper Series wp2103, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics, NOVAFRICA.
    5. Hilson, Gavin & Hilson, Abigail & Maconachie, Roy, 2018. "Opportunity or necessity? Conceptualizing entrepreneurship at African small-scale mines," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 286-302.
    6. Bashwira, Marie-Rose & Cuvelier, Jeroen & Hilhorst, Dorothea & van der Haar, Gemma, 2014. "Not only a man's world: Women's involvement in artisanal mining in eastern DRC," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 109-116.
    7. Fernando Morante-Carballo & Néstor Montalván-Burbano & Maribel Aguilar-Aguilar & Paúl Carrión-Mero, 2022. "A Bibliometric Analysis of the Scientific Research on Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-29, July.
    8. Stoop, Nik & Verpoorten, Marijke & van der Windt, Peter, 2019. "Artisanal or industrial conflict minerals? Evidence from Eastern Congo," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 660-674.
    9. Pokorny, Benno & von Lübke, Christian & Dayamba, Sidzabda Djibril & Dickow, Helga, 2019. "All the gold for nothing? Impacts of mining on rural livelihoods in Northern Burkina Faso," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 23-39.
    10. Baffour-Kyei, Vasco & Mensah, Amos & Owusu, Victor & Horlu, Godwin S.A.K., 2021. "Artisanal small-scale mining and livelihood assets in rural southern Ghana," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    11. Sauerwein, Titus, 2020. "Gold mining and development in Côte d’Ivoire: Trajectories, opportunities and oversights," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    12. Arthur-Holmes, Francis & Ofosu, George, 2024. "Rethinking state-led formalisation of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM): Towards mining licence categorisation, women empowerment and environmental sustainability," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    13. Kilosho Buraye, Janvier & Stoop, Nik & Verpoorten, Marijke, 2017. "Defusing the social minefield of gold sites in Kamituga, South Kivu. From legal pluralism to the re-making of institutions?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 356-368.
    14. Katherine C. Malpeli & Peter G. Chirico, 2013. "The influence of geomorphology on the role of women at artisanal and small‐scale mine sites," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 37(1), pages 43-54, February.
    15. Saldarriaga-Isaza, Adrián & Villegas-Palacio, Clara & Arango, Santiago, 2013. "The public good dilemma of a non-renewable common resource: A look at the facts of artisanal gold mining," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 224-232.
    16. Goetz, Julian M., 2022. "What do we know about rural and informal non-farming labour? Evidence from a mixed methods study of artisanal and small-scale mining in Northwest Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    17. Bazillier, Rémi & Gibertini, Beatrice & Jackson, Stephen, 2023. "Gold and diamond artisanal mining in Liberia: Under the umbrella of (in)formality?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PB).
    18. Nik Stoop & Marijke Verpoorten, 2020. "Risk, Envy and Magic in the Artisanal Mining Sector of South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 51(5), pages 1199-1224, September.
    19. Rejoice Selorm Wireko-Gyebi & Michael Osei Asibey & Owusu Amponsah & Rudith Sylvana King & Imoro Braimah & Godfred Darko & Anne Mette Lykke, 2020. "Perception of Small-Scale Miners on Interventions to Eradicate Illegal Small-Scale Mining in Ghana," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, October.
    20. Hilson, Gavin, 2012. "Family Hardship and Cultural Values: Child Labor in Malian Small-Scale Gold Mining Communities," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1663-1674.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:70:y:2021:i:c:s0301420720309247. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30467 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.