新形势下中国石油企业海外天然气业务发展策略思考

从全球看,天然气资源的发现、液化天然气技术的进步,促进了全球天然气市场的联动,高溢价现象得到抑制,在各国政府的支持下天然气迎来了政策机遇期,长期前景看好;从公司看,国际大石油公司积极布局天然气时代,及时主动向拥有天然气资产转型;从中国看,能源绿色转型压力需要大力提高天然气消费所占比例,国内相关支持政策也密集出台,天然气消费迎来爆发式增长,同时逐年提高的天然气对外依存度对供应安全形成了挑战.中国石油企业海外天然气发展还存在规模与趋势不匹配、天然气资产组合亟需优化、天然气价值链布局滞后等问题,这主要是因为天然气发展理念、对行业周期的认识、能力建设等方面存在不足.在新形势下,中国石油企业需要强长板、补短板,积极转变海外天然气发展理念,打造全球供应与销售网络,推进天然气产业链优化拓展,持续加强支撑海外天然气业务的能力建设.     

Corruption: Theory and evidence from the Russian Federation

In this paper, we provide theory and evidence on the problem of corruption in the Russian Federation. Our theoretical model indicates that in the presence of official corruption, the numbers of tax inspection (collection) employees could be inversely related to per capita tax collection. Our empirical analysis supports our theoretical model, shedding light on one of the most intractable problems in the Russian Federation.     

How corruption affects bank lending in Russia

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of corruption on bank lending in Russia. This issue is of major interest in order to understand the causes of financial underdevelopment and the effects of corruption in Russia. We use regional measures of corruption and bank-level data to perform this investigation. Our main estimations show that corruption hampers bank lending in Russia. We investigate whether this negative role of corruption is influenced by the degree of bank risk aversion, but find no effect. The detrimental effect of corruption is only observed for loans to households and firms, in opposition to loans to government. Additional controls confirm the detrimental impact of corruption on bank lending. Therefore, our results provide motivations to fight corruption to favor bank lending in Russia.     

Do farmers really like farming? Indian farmers in transition

Few studies of agrarian transition examine what farmers themselves feel about farming. Are they cultivating out of choice or a lack of options? What distinguishes farmers who like farming from those who do not: their personal/household characteristics and endowments? The local ecology and regional economy? Or a mix of these and other factors? Understanding farmer satisfaction is important not only for assessing citizen wellbeing but also for agricultural productivity, since occupational satisfaction can affect a farmer’s incentive to invest and reveal production constraints. Using a unique all-India data-set which asked farmers, ‘Do you like farming?’ this paper provides answers and policy pointers, contributing a little-studied dimension to debates on the smallholder’s future and subjective wellbeing.