Understanding water disputes in Chile with text and data mining tools

ABSTRACT

This article provides a multidimensional study based on data and text mining of prosecuted disputes on water rights in Chile, and an analysis of the state’s capacity, particularly of the institutions related to water regulation. This study shows not only a substantial increase of legal disputes regarding water rights over the years (1981–2014), but also clear patterns in the geographic location of these conflicts, as well as in the types of legal actions, arguments and strategies used in their pursuit. Through a topic analysis, we find a growing diversification over time of the subjects contained in the legal claims, suggesting an increase in structure and complexity.

KEYWORDS:

• Text mining
• network theory
• geographic analysis
• data mining
• Chile

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the Commission for Scientific & Technological Research (CONICYT) for supporting our research funded by the Fifth National Competition for Research Centers in Priority Areas CONICYT/FONDAP/15130015; and CONICYT/FONDECYT/ Postdoctorado-3150558

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

^1. Readers of the print version can view the figures in colour in the online article at https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2019.1599774

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fifth National Competition for Research Centers in Priority Areas of National Commission for Scientific & Technological Research CONICYT/FONDAP/15130015; and CONICYT/FONDECYT/ Postdoctorado-3150558.