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Approaching the Study of Corruption and Natural Resources through Qualitative System Dynamics

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  • Johanna Gisladottir

    (Faculty of Political Science, University of Iceland, 102 Reykjavik, Iceland
    Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
    Institute of Earth Science, University of Iceland, 102 Reykjavik, Iceland)

  • Sigurbjörg Sigurgeirsdottir

    (Faculty of Political Science, University of Iceland, 102 Reykjavik, Iceland)

  • Ingrid Stjernquist

    (Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Kristin Vala Ragnarsdottir

    (Institute of Earth Science, University of Iceland, 102 Reykjavik, Iceland)

Abstract

The complexity and scale of the challenges posed by the climate crisis demand knowledge sharing and collaboration between a variety of academic disciplines to address them. In that regard, the way in which natural resources are used matters, and more information is needed on which regulatory framework and policy instruments foster their sustainable management. There is consensus that corruption can seriously obstruct social, economic, and political development. However, research on corruption has tended to be fragmented and investigating the concept itself is a challenging endeavor. Due to the complexity of corruption as a research subject, we argue that in seeking to explore and understand corruption, researchers would benefit from using a framework that facilitates an interdisciplinary and process-oriented approach. This paper suggests that the method of system dynamics can be applied to advance the academic discourse on corruption in relation to natural resources, since it seeks to improve understanding and learning in complex systems in an illustrative manner. More specifically, it offers a platform to explore feedback processes between the different social, economic, and ecological dimensions which ultimately produce undesirable behavior or patterns. The paper outlines how corruption has been approached previously in the academic discourse. It then offers a tool to bridge knowledge from different fields on natural resources, in a way that allows for research from different fields to be integrated, and thus gaps are better identified. A process-oriented approach to exploring corruption in natural resource systems based on qualitative system dynamics methods can inform new questions and thus improve understanding about the conditions under which corruption occurs or corrupt behavior thrives.

Suggested Citation

  • Johanna Gisladottir & Sigurbjörg Sigurgeirsdottir & Ingrid Stjernquist & Kristin Vala Ragnarsdottir, 2022. "Approaching the Study of Corruption and Natural Resources through Qualitative System Dynamics," Resources, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-15, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jresou:v:11:y:2022:i:8:p:69-:d:873896
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Petr Wawrosz, 2022. "How Corruption Is and Should Be Investigated by Economic Theory," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-23, December.

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