A Measure of the Social License to Operate for Infrastructure and Extractive Projects

Abstract

The social license to operate was defined according to the Thomson and Boutilier (2011), which emphasizes perceptions of trust and justice in the relationship with the project proponent. Agree-disagree statements were presented to stakeholders of mining and infrastructure projects in diverse countries over a period of several years. Factor analyses were used to repeatedly reduce the set of statements to a homogeneous core set of 12 items with high internally consistency. The set was validated against qualitative estimates of the social license and the utility of the measure in producing stakeholder relations strategies that reduce socio-political risk for projects.

Keywords: Social Licence, Social License, Measurement, Mining Industry, Infrastructure Management, Stakeholder Management