ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the role of cultural familiarity, particularly the culture of patronage that is common among many countries in Southeast Asia. It offers a brief review of the patronage literature, and explores patronage linkages that exist between local, Malaysian and Singaporean plantation companies, with Indonesian government elites. The chapter explores how these patronage linkages have been instrumental in weakening state capacity to make and implement effective policies related to land use and fires, enabling companies to develop fire-prone peatlands and to use fire as a cost-effective way to clear land, with little fear of prosecution. The prevalence of relationship-based instead of rules-based economies in Southeast Asia encourages the persistence of patronage types of relationships. The chapter identifies patronage as a common business culture among Southeast Asian states, and shows that patronage politics has not only been instrumental in encouraging the regionalization of the sector but also has been an important driver of transboundary haze.
