Why are countries in the Global North waste dumping in the Global South? Are they really even allowed? In this article, authors Chaminda Wijethilake, Pawan Adhikari, and Bedanand Upadhaya explore these questions and more by examining the case of Sri Lanka. Check out the abstract below, and then click through to the main article to learn more:
Regulatory Capture in Transboundary Waste Dumping: (Lack of) Accountability in the Global North–South Context
Peer-reviewed research by: Chaminda Wijethilake, Pawan Adhikari, and Bedanand Upadhaya. Article abstract submitted to Knowledge Stitch by Chaminda Wijethilake.
How organizations involved in transboundary movements of solid waste in the Global South violate the ethic of accountability? By showcasing Sri Lanka’s repatriation of hazardous hospital waste to the United Kingdom, this paper explores how the transboundary movement of waste management business model functions in the Global South. It builds on a framework that integrates the market and legal modes of accountability, regulatory capture, and an ethic of accountability. The study demonstrates how the adherence to market and legal modes of accountability and the violation of an ethic of accountability have created loopholes for actors to capture regulatory and institutional provisions, making the transboundary waste management business redundant in the Global South. The traditional business model pursued in waste management has proved inadequate in realizing reciprocal societal rights and responsibilities and promoting public well-being. This has resulted in an erosion of public trust in government and state agencies. Thus, we argue that accountability-based accounting and the ethic of accountability can potentially mitigate the opportunities for regulatory capture, serve the public interests, and protect the ecosystem.
Click here to read the full open-access article, published in 2024 in the journal Organization & Environment.
Full Reference //
Wijethilake, C., Adhikari, P., & Upadhaya, B. (2024). Regulatory Capture in Transboundary Waste Dumping: (Lack of) Accountability in the Global North–South Context. Organization & Environment, 37(1), 84-116.
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
Knowledge Stitch amplifies academic research. If you have research you would like readers to check out, click here to suggest your work.