Policy Fluctuations in the Resource Sector of a Small Developing Country: The Case of the Bauxite Industry of Guyana

This chapter examines the bauxite industry in Guyana. The Guyanese case is especially unique. Since its independence from Britain in 1966, this country has pursued a disparate range of policies fluctuating from pro-market, investment-friendly policies on the one hand, to state-centred, socialist policies, which culminated in the nationalisation of this industry, on the other. Not surprisingly, the government’s strategies for the bauxite industry and the accompanying institutional framework created to support these strategies altered in concert with these policy changes. Moreover, the fluctuations in these policies were accompanied by changes in the manner in which the state, through its institutions, was embedded with the private sector. The impact that these varying policies, strategies, institutions and degrees of embeddedness have had on resource-driven, FDI-facilitated development will be analysed in this chapter. However, it will begin with an examination of the historical evolution of the bauxite industry in Guyana.