Huge industrial disasters usually happen because both companies and the government made the 'smart' choice to hide bad news.
March 26, 2026
Original Paper
The Rational Cover-Up
SSRN · 6342878
The Takeaway
Analyzing a massive copper mine disaster, this essay reveals a 'governance architecture' where everyone, including the state, benefit from ignoring safety permits in exchange for production gains. This makes catastrophic failure a predictable part of the business model rather than a result of 'bad apple' employees.
From the abstract
Six workers dead. Thirty months of altered and incomplete technical reports submitted to the mining regulator-with entire mine sectors operating without permits deleted from official filings. Five of the six victims died in exactly the zone that was concealed from inspectors. And a distributed benefit of US$830 to US$920 million among all stakeholders, including the very State that was supposed to oversee. <div> What happened at Codelco's El Teniente mine, the world's largest underground copper