A1 Journal article (refereed)
National level paths to the mining industry’s Social Licence to Operate (SLO) in Northern Europe : the case of Finland (2020)

Jartti, T., Litmanen, T., Lacey, J., & Moffat, K. (2020). National level paths to the mining industry’s Social Licence to Operate (SLO) in Northern Europe : the case of Finland. The Extractive Industries and Society, 7(1), 97-109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2020.01.006

The research was funded by Strategic Research Council at the Research Council of Finland.

JYU authors or editors

Jartti, Tuija
Litmanen, Tapio

Publication details

All authors or editors: Jartti, Tuija; Litmanen, Tapio; Lacey, Justine; Moffat, Kieren

Journal or series: The Extractive Industries and Society

ISSN: 2214-790X

eISSN: 2214-7918

Publication year: 2020

Volume: 7

Issue number: 1

Pages range: 97-109

Publisher: Elsevier

Publication country: Netherlands

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2020.01.006

Publication open access: Not open

Publication channel open access:

Abstract

Research on the social licence to operate (SLO) has traditionally focused on local communities directly affected by mining operations. There has been a lack of systematic research exploring attitudes to mining among the public at large. Based on a national survey (N = 1091) of Finns’ attitudes towards mining conducted in 2016, we test a theoretical model using path analysis to examine the factors affecting the social licence to operate (SLO) of mining in Finland. The aim is to shed light on the factors affecting SLO at national level in Finland and to add to the growing body of research seeking to understand the mining industry’s SLO at national level in diverse social, economic and political settings. The results show that among the Finnish public the factors having the greatest influence on the mining SLO (directly or indirectly) are balance of benefits over impacts, governance capacity, procedural fairness, distributive fairness, resource nationalism and trust in the mining industry. Our findings support the crucial role of trust for SLO, but additionally highlight the importance of balance over benefits. The results suggest that building trust and SLO requires more than just the actions of either the industry or governments alone – a social licence requires joint efforts.

Keywords: mining industry; mining activity; acceptability; public opinion

Free keywords: social licence to operate; path analysis; public opinion; acceptance; Finland

Fields of science: