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.

Cristian Candia

Head at CRiSS-LAB, School of Engineering and School of Government, Universidad del Desarrollo, Chile.

My research interests include collective behavior, collective and artificial, network science, and business analytics.