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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
1

Politics of oil in Venezuela : a decision-making analysis of PDVSA's internationalisation policy

Baena, Cesar E. January 1997 (has links)
The high degree of international vertical integration achieved by the Venezuelan state oil enterprise, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), has placed it among the most important oil multinationals (MNs). The policy of creating downstream outlets through the establishment of foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the form of refinery assets was given the term of 'internationalisation'. By analysing PDVSA's internationalisation policy, the thesis explores the difficulties encountered by a major state-owned enterprise (SOE) from a developing country in its efforts to grow beyond national borders. The study focuses on the impact of democratic bargaining on the process of oil policymaking in Venezuela, stressing the constraints posed by politics on PDVSA's efforts to expand its foreign operations. Specifically, the study examines the intricate policymaking process that shaped the origins and the development of PDVSA's internationalisation policy, underlying the events and factors that influenced each one of its three distinguishable phases: adoption, formulation, and implementation. The tensions between politics and corporate strategy are highlighted at the core of the policymaking process. The study also looks at the relationship between the oil industry and the other two key decision-making centres involved in the oil policymaking process: the executive and Congress. In exploring the ways in which each one of them sought to influence policy outcome, the study attempts to gain insight into the main factors that prompted the tensions among the policy actors involved. Three environments, or pressure-generating centres, constantly exert influence on the oil industry: the oil market, the political context and the government's financial situation. By seeking to determine the industry's response to their pervasive influence on policy formulation and implementation, this research ascertains the extent to which these variables influenced the decision-making process that characterised PDVSA's internationalisation policy. Being too powerful a company in a developing country context where the executive and the legislature find it increasingly difficult to exert their means of control over it had the effect of minimising some of PDVSA's characteristics as SOE: accountability to Congress and subordination to the executive. The thesis argues that as a result of its role as oil MN PDVSA has minimised some of its attributes as SOE. In turn, the more PDVSA has diminished its status as SOE, the more the government has increased its dependence over it. The successful accomplishment of PDVSA's internationalisation policy has stressed this equation, highlighting the contentious interaction between an excessively dependent govemment and a company struggling to reconcile its roles as both a SOE and a MN. By examining the policy process that brought about the international expansion of a large SOE from a developing country, the findings of the thesis contribute significantly to the political science and public administration literatures and suggests new paths for further research in the area of public policymaking processes.
2

Global coal trade : an international political economy approach

Parker, Paul Kenneth January 1990 (has links)
This thesis argues that to better understand global coal trade, the conventional economic model of trade needs to be replaced with a more comprehensive international political economy model of trade. The rapid growth of global coal trade during the 1970s and 1980s is disaggregated by coal type, source and destination. The extent and adequacy of various data sets are assessed and contract data are selected as the source of greatest information. The limitations of the conventional least cost trade model are then evaluated using detailed Japanese and European trade data. The global coal trade is found not to conform with a uniform commodity market model, but to be fragmented. A new international political economy model is then developed to explain and evaluate the structures which create a fragmented coal trade. The importance of security, production, financial and information structures are each examined in turn. The security structure identifies the policies and decisions of the state and their importance in shaping trade. Important state initiatives include the protection of domestic industry and the promotion of diverse supply sources. Governments also enter bilateral trade and investment agreements and form international entities like the International Energy Agency which affect coal trade. Most studies of the coal trade concentrate on the production structure where investment in mines creates the productive capacity of the industry. Particular attention is paid to investment where mines are integrated either horizontally or vertically into large productive units which may effect bargaining power in the trade. The financial structure grew in importance in the 1970s and 1980s. Coal mines are increasingly financed on an independent project basis. However, loan finance is not necessarily independent of traditional investors. Linkages among loans to established joint venture partners or parent corporations and long term contracts are shown to be strong. The information structure is rarely studied, but essential to the trade process. Specialised information institutions have evolved to facilitate the reliable and coordinated control over trade flows. Japanese trading houses, sogo shosha, are shown to have an especially strong role in global coal trade. This pattern is contrasted with the declining and specialised role of European coal traders. The comparison of Japanese and European trade patterns and the attitudes of regional consumers offers a better understanding of global trade patterns than that offered by simple competitive models. The result is not only more detailed insight into trade patterns, but a better understanding of the resource trade process.
3

The Royal Mint Refinery : a business adapting to change, 1919-1968

Blagg, Michele January 2013 (has links)
The thesis charts the business history of the Royal Mint Refinery (RMR), a bullion refinery operated by the London merchant bank, N M Rothschild & Sons, between 1852 and 1968. Through analysis of business records key events that changed the trading direction of the operation are identified: increased international competition, innovations and technological breakthroughs, diversification and expansion into light engineering, evolving administrative systems and management styles, changes in employer and worker relations, and the sale of the enterprise- set against a backdrop of international financial crises, two world wars, decolonisation and Britain’s changed relationship to Empire gold. Gold is a commodity like no other; in the twentieth century gold held a unique position at the heart of international relations and financial flows in monetary systems around the world. Rothschild assumed an administrative monopoly of the London gold market; as agents to the Bank of England, Chair of the London Gold Fixing and the Bank’s varied business portfolio, which included a myriad of international investments. Ownership of RMR complemented and reinforced this position. Rothschild, through its connection to the refinery, gained access to and control over Empire gold, which in 1914 accounted for 70 per cent. of world output; the majority of which was shipped to London and treated at the Rothschild refinery. The ‘RMR’ brand was internationally recognised and accepted by Central Banks and private investors as good delivery. The profitability of the operation reflected the strong global demand for gold by jewellers, industrial sectors and investors; gold was considered a safe haven especially in times of economic crises or war. Post-1945 London’s decline as a financial centre affected the future of RMR and the operation diverted into light engineering. The thesis links past with present; it charts the rise and fall of the operation and Rothschild’s pursuit of profitability.
4

The impact of Middle East oil on world oil prices 1973-83

Zainabdin, A. S. January 1977 (has links)
This study is an analysis of recent developments in the world oil market. It examines the likely trends for the future and their implications. It is assumed that during the period under study, 1973-1983, no major political upheavals in the Middle East, no major slump in world economic activities, no major oil discoveries outside the Middle East region and no significant technological breakthrough in energy production or consumption will take place. Attention is focussed on the major Middle East Arab oil producers for whom oil is decisive in their social and economic destinies. The study is particularly concerned with the three major oil-consuming markets: the United states, Western Europe and Japan. It provides estimates for the prospective demand for OPSC oil for their markets in physical and money terms. It is divided into five chapters. Chapter I discusses the economic impact of the oil industry on Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Emirates. The role of the oil industry on the Iraqi economy and the objectives of Iraq oil policy are discussed in Chapter II. An analysis of the main features of the international oil market in the 1970's is included in Chapter III. Chapter IV analyses the developments in Middle East crude oil prices since the beginning of the seventies and until the present. The final chapter provides projections of the oil demand of the major oil consumers and estimates of OPEC oil revenues in 1983 under various sets of assumptions. It was found out that demand for oil under any assumption will continue to be large and that until the industrialized world develops alternative sources to oil, and this cannot be realized in the short term, the consuming countries will continue to rely heavily on the Miliddle East area as their obvious source of supply.
5

A view from below : tradition, experience & nationalisation in the South Wales coalfield, 1937-1957

Howels, Kim January 1979 (has links)
This thesis attempts to place a halt sign before the glib generalisations which so frequently are employed to describe what are termed "traditionally militant" workforces. It focuses on the mines and communities of the South Wales coalfield during the period 1937 to 1957 and examines the way in which issues at the coalface combined regularly with an inherited and often unique set of local circumstances to confound the directives and analyses of the central executives of the political parties and of the trade unions. It concerns itself primarily with the symbiotic relationship which existed between the politics of the pit and those of the miners' elected leaders. The work is divided into four chronological parts. The first sets out to construct an image of the coalmining industry in South Wales as it attempted to recover from the enormous setbacks which it suffered during the market depression of the early l930s. The second deals with the war years and their immediate aftermath; the third with the onset of nationalisation, and the fourth with the years of Conservative government from 1951 until the sharp downturn in the demand for coal in 1957/58. The records of the South Wales miners' lodges and those of the union's area and national executives provided my main sources of information. These were greatly supplemented by the detailed reports of the Ministry of Labour's Industrial Relations Officers as well as by the political and industrial columns of local and national newspapers and trade journals. Much valuable material was found amongst the mass of information published by the National Coal Board after l97 and, wherever possible, I have made extensive use of the large and growing collection of tape-recorded oral testimony housed at the South Wales Miners' Library in Swansea.
6

Precious stones, black gold and the extractive industries : accounting for the institutional design of multi-stakeholder initiatives

Kantz, Carola January 2008 (has links)
Why was the Kimberley Process (KP) able to devise a soft law institution 'with teeth' whereas the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) failed. In various policy fields and particularly in the extractive industries, multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) are becoming more important for regulating business behaviour. However, International Relations (IR) has as yet failed to explain why some succeeded in designing a strong international institution whereas others failed. To answer the research question the thesis first establishes a methodology for assessing strong and weak institutionalisation of MSIs. I argue that functional regime theory is inadequate at assessing MSIs as it does not capture institutional variety within soft law. Based on the Global Governance literature, the thesis establishes four indicators - membership, obligation, monitoring and enforcement, which allow us to evaluate the degree of institutionalisation. How can we account for institutional variety of MSIs. Mainstream IR theories are not able to explain the differences between the two case studies as they gloss over the differences in normative and material structures assuming that complete rationality and concerns for efficiency are critical when determining institutional design. I argue that norm entrepreneurs push for strong institutionalisation by the social mechanism of norm diffusion. Succeeding in diffusing the norm by using political strategies such as framing and structural power galvanises support for strong institutionalisation. Nevertheless, norm diffusion can fail when political opportunity structures empower norm opponents rather than norm entrepreneurs. I argue that the impact of norms varies, depending on distinct structural settings. Thus I unveil the circumstances under which new norms do not gain acceptance from the international community. In summary, when accounting for the MSI institutionalisation process, we not only need to pay attention to political strategy and agents, but must include in the analysis normative and material structures as drivers of or constraints to norm diffusion.
7

Towards a functional petroleum industry in Nigeria : a critical analysis of Nigeria's petroleum industry reform

Subai, Pereowei January 2014 (has links)
This thesis seeks to enquire into the role of law in the reform programme for the Nigerian petroleum industry (NPI), in order to determine the extent to which it can be utilised to actualise a functional petroleum industry. The thesis will seek to test the hypothesis that an effectively managed petroleum industry will be efficiently regulated, have a significant local content, and will invariably be dependent on how sustainable and efficient petroleum revenues are distributed. My significant contribution to knowledge is that Nigeria should seek to develop local content and industry regulation, and aim to effectively distribute petroleum revenues, by pursuing industry reforms as an integrated whole. To that extent, it would require a coherent legal framework, and the development of policies that recognise the interconnectedness and interdependency of several factors in the petroleum industry. To that extent, a suitable and strategic legal architecture should be erected in Nigeria: one that will give room for co-operation without stifling independence and innovation. This thesis also notes that the development of a viable National oil company is imperative and should be anchored around which other industry reforms should revolve. Such a firm should however be privatised in a manner that guarantees its performance and promotes good corporate governance, whilst limiting avenues for external interference. It advocates that Nigeria should seek a national oil company model that is deliberately tailored to restrain ‘external interference’ in the daily workings of the NOC. Finally, this thesis argues that for an efficient regulation and management of the industry will require the active participation of all actors in the industry, and that the government should not have prerogative over the industry, especially in the light of past failures to effectively turn the industry around. There should thus be a deliberate effort to restrain government interference in the NOC, empower citizens in regulation and encourage the development of indigenous petroleum exploration and production companies (PEPCs), while in utilization of petroleum resources; there should be direct citizenship participation.
8

The development of the Iranian oil industry 1901-71

Fesharaki, Fereidun January 1974 (has links)
No description available.
9

Price and determination and economic mechanisms in the European oil industry, 1964-71

O'Carroll, F. M. January 1974 (has links)
No description available.
10

Has the Nigerian oil and gas local content development policy had any impact on the indigenisation of employment and job creation? : a stakeholder analysis

Lagoke, Oluwatosin January 2014 (has links)
In the early 2000s, the Federal Government of Nigeria introduced the oil and gas local content development (LCD) policy so as to develop in-country capacity and indigenous capabilities and participation. Yet, the literature on Nigeria’s LCD appraisal remains scant. Indeed, to the author’s knowledge, to date, no study has investigated the extent to which the policy has fostered indigenised employment and job creation. This PhD study aims to fill this gap by undertaking an initial attempt to appraise the extent to which the Nigerian LCD policy has had an impact on indigenous employment and job creation in the oil and gas industry. To this end, we adopt a stakeholder theory evaluative framework articulated around six criteria: i) value added; (ii) dynamism of HE curriculum vs industry demands; (iii) suitability and employability of graduates; (iv) ‘payment’ for LCD; (v) emergence of in-country entrepreneurs; (vi) domiciliation vs indigenisation. Following the identification and categorisation of the main stakeholders in the oil and gas industry (Government; International Oil and gas Companies; Indigenous operators; Multinational oil and gas service providers; Indigenous oil and gas service providers; EPC contractors and fabricators; and HE institutions), application of a full Social Network Analysis (SNA) and Actor Linkage Matrix (ALM) reveals that: • Most of the relationships present within the stakeholder network are uni- rather that bi-directional, with the latter being limited to the relationship between the government and International oil and gas companies (IOCs); • The IOCs emerge as the stakeholder group exhibiting global centrality within the network, indicating that this group pivotally determines the activities of the Nigerian oil and gas industry; • There exists a significant disjoint between HE institutions and other stakeholder groups within the network; • The ‘interconnectedness’ of the stakeholder network identified, as measured by the mean density index (59.5%), displays at best a moderate level of connectivity. Furthermore, evidence obtained by means of a mixed method inquiry approach that uses semi-structured interviews, documentary material and statistical data in relation to the criteria of the framework developed to evaluate the impact of the LCD policy on indigenous employment and job creation, points to the following findings: • Value added: Value has been added in various areas viz indigenous employment, contract and sub contract awards, domiciliation of OEM activities and international partnerships. However, considerable external support is still required thus making a case for extending the waiver window; • Dynamism of HE curriculum vs industry demands: Limited collaboration between academia and industry, hence HE curriculum is not in tandem with industry requirements (not fit for purpose); • Suitability and employability of graduates: Employees are lacking in core technical skills, but still generally suitable following additional training upon employment. Ascension to supervisory and managerial positions was mainly attributed to on-the-job experience acquired over time; • ‘Payment’ for LCD: This is a joint responsibility with all the stakeholders’ contribution to be seen as necessary yet singularly insufficient to pay for LCD. The government should realise that industry players are businesses which are profit driven and as such, be conscious of their responsibility to champion the cause of LCD as regulators; • Emergence of in-country’ entrepreneurs: LCD has led to the proliferation of indigenous oil and gas firms. Competitiveness and implementation of ISO standards is expected to resolve the issue of quality service and on-time delivery; • Domiciliation vs indigenisation: Both domiciliation and indigenisation of oil and gas services bear their usefulness in various respects. However, for domiciliation to work, basic amenities (power, water and access to good transportation) and security of lives and property should be put in place. Overall, these findings - which are obtained from the very first application of stakeholder analysis to LCD policy - make a significant contribution to scholars’ knowledge. Important implications and valuable recommendations for many stakeholders flow from the insights gained.

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