A Historical Mirror? The Saltpetre and the Lithium Eras in Chile
(2022) EKHS42 20221Department of Economic History
- Abstract
- The current Lithium Era of Chile shares many similarities with the Saltpetre Era that took place in the country decades ago. To understand whether there is a historical mirror between both, this paper uses a synthetic control method to carry out a regional comparison of the effect of saltpetre mining, and several forecasts to anticipate what to expect from the development of the lithium sector in Chile.
Overall, results support a positive view of the effects of saltpetre in the country, with a milder impact in the region where it was developed Norte Grande than has been assumed so far. For its part, Chile's lithium production is expected to increase, but predictions also alert that it will entail negative socio-environmental... (More) - The current Lithium Era of Chile shares many similarities with the Saltpetre Era that took place in the country decades ago. To understand whether there is a historical mirror between both, this paper uses a synthetic control method to carry out a regional comparison of the effect of saltpetre mining, and several forecasts to anticipate what to expect from the development of the lithium sector in Chile.
Overall, results support a positive view of the effects of saltpetre in the country, with a milder impact in the region where it was developed Norte Grande than has been assumed so far. For its part, Chile's lithium production is expected to increase, but predictions also alert that it will entail negative socio-environmental externalities.
Although the Lithium Era closely resembles the Saltpetre Cycle, Chile still has a chance to learn from the past. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9090673
- author
- Rodríguez-Morales, Alejandra LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- EKHS42 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Energy transition, green economy, neo-extractivism, Chile, natural resources, lithium, saltpetre, synthetic control method, forecasting.
- language
- English
- id
- 9090673
- date added to LUP
- 2022-06-28 10:16:51
- date last changed
- 2022-06-28 10:16:51
@misc{9090673, abstract = {{The current Lithium Era of Chile shares many similarities with the Saltpetre Era that took place in the country decades ago. To understand whether there is a historical mirror between both, this paper uses a synthetic control method to carry out a regional comparison of the effect of saltpetre mining, and several forecasts to anticipate what to expect from the development of the lithium sector in Chile. Overall, results support a positive view of the effects of saltpetre in the country, with a milder impact in the region where it was developed Norte Grande than has been assumed so far. For its part, Chile's lithium production is expected to increase, but predictions also alert that it will entail negative socio-environmental externalities. Although the Lithium Era closely resembles the Saltpetre Cycle, Chile still has a chance to learn from the past.}}, author = {{Rodríguez-Morales, Alejandra}}, language = {{eng}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, title = {{A Historical Mirror? The Saltpetre and the Lithium Eras in Chile}}, year = {{2022}}, }