ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the liberalisation of investment and the privatisation of many state-owned mining companies worldwide is occurring at a time of unprecedented technological and organisational change within the international mining industry. It analyses the traditional perspective of the pollution-haven hypothesis in the light of the developments, within the context of liberalisation, foreign direct investment (FDI) and enabling environments. The environmental effects of FDI in the developing world have been traditionally analysed from the perspective of the pollution-haven hypothesis. It is evident that FDI has increased economic integration into the global market. Cross-border production is taking an increasing share of world output, and the most rapid rise in global production is taking place in developing countries. The liberalisation and stabilisation of economic regimes in Latin America have underpinned the proposition that the growth impact of FDI increases with the openness of the trade regime.
