A Study of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Using Azerbaijan as a Case Study.

This thesis examines the effectiveness of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in reducing corruption in the extractive industries sector, based on a case study of Azerbaijan. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part considers the vast literature on corruption in the past twenty years and ascertains the characteristics of this phenomenon. The research identifies transparency as one of possible solutions to corruption. The second part is based on the examination of the EITI, which adopts transparency as a measure to combat corruption in the extractive industries sector through revenue disclosure. The study is based on an empirical survey of participants to the EITI in Azerbaijan. The survey identifies the limitations of the EITI, and suggests possible solutions