Extraction of natural gas from shale rock in the United States (US) is one of the landmark events in the 21st century. The combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing can extract huge quantities of natural gas from impermeable shale formations, which were previously thought to be either impossible or uneconomic to produce. This review offers a comprehensive insight into US shale gas opportunities, appraising the evolution, evidence and the challenges of shale gas production in the US. The history of US shale gas in this article is divided into three periods and based on the change of oil price (i.e., the period before the 1970s oil crisis, the period from 1970s to 2000, and the period since 2000), the US has moved from being one of the world's biggest importers of gas to being self-sufficient in less than a decade, with the shale gas production increasing 12-fold (from 2000 to 2010). The US domestic natural gas price hit a 10-year low in 2012. The US domestic natural gas price in the first half of 2012 was about $2 per million British Thermal Unit (BTU), compared with Brent crude, the world benchmark price for oil, now about $ 80–100/barrel, or $14–17 per million BTU. Partly due to an increase in gas-fired power generation in response to low gas prices, US carbon emissions from fossil-fuel combustion fell by 430 million ton CO 2 – more than any other country – between 2006 and 2011. Shale gas also stimulated economic growth, creating 600,000 new jobs in the US by 2010. However, the US shale gas revolution would be curbed, if the environmental risks posed by hydraulic fracturing are not managed effectively. The hydraulic fracturing is water intensive, and can cause pollution in the marine environment, with implications for long-term environmental sustainability in several ways. Also, large amounts of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, can be emitted during the shale gas exploration and production. Hydraulic fracturing also may induce earthquakes. These environmental risks need to be managed by good practices which is not being applied by all the producers in all the locations. Enforcing stronger regulations are necessary to minimize risk to the environment and on human health. Robust regulatory oversight can however increase the cost of extraction, but stringent regulations can foster an historic opportunity to provide cheaper and cleaner gas to meet the consumer demand, as well as to usher in the future growth of the industry.

Natural gas from shale formation – The evolution, evidences and challenges of shale gas revolution in United States

Human Development Report 2006

ธรรมาภบาลของภาครฐเปนหนงในปจจยสำคญทสงอทธพลตอการพฒนาเศรษฐกจและสงคมของประเทศ บทความเรองนไดทำการพจารณาธรรมาภบาลของภาครฐใน 213 ประเทศทวโลก ซงแบงออกเปน 6 มต ไดแก การควบคมการคอรปชนความมประสทธผลของภาครฐ การปราศจากความรนแรงและการกอการรายคณภาพในการควบคม การบงคบใชกฎหมาย และเสรภาพของประชาชนในการแสดงความคดเหน ซงทำการศกษาโดยธนาคารโลกภายใตโครงการ Worldwide Governance Indicators จากการพจารณาพบวาประเทศทพฒนาแลวมธรรมาภบาลของ ภาครฐสงกวาประเทศกำลงพฒนาเปนอยางมาก สะทอนใหเหนวา ธรรมาภบาลของภาครฐคอหนงในปจจยทชวยขบเคลอนการพฒนาเศรษฐกจและสงคมของประเทศนอกจากนยงพบวาประเทศไทยยงไมสามารถพงพอใจกบระดบของธรรมาภบาลของประเทศในปจจบนได เนองจากยงอยในระดบคอนขางตา Government Governance: An Implication from Worldwide Governance Indicators Government governance is one of the major determinants of the economic and social development of the nations. This article reviewed government governance of 213 countries worldwide which was categorized into six dimensions, including control of corruption, government effectiveness, political stability and absence of violence/terrorism, regulatory quality, rule of law and voice and accountability, based on the study of the World Bank under Worldwide Governance Indicators project. After the revision, it was found that developed countries had far higher government governance than developing countries, implying that government governance is one of the factors which drive the economic and social development of the nations. Moreover, Thailand could not yet be satisfied with its current government governance since its rank was quite low.

ธรรมาภิบาลของภาครัฐ: นัยจาก Worldwide Governance Indicators

Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice is the bestselling, definitive text for all HRM students and professionals. Providing a complete resource for understanding and implementing HR in relation to the needs of the business as a whole, it contains in-depth coverage of all the key areas essential to the HR function such as employment law, employee relations, learning and development, performance and reward. Accessible and to the point as ever, this fully updated 14th edition includes emerging theory and practice, embracing the most current thinking on engagement, talent management and leadership development. With updated case studies and references to academic journals, professional magazines and recent research and surveys, it also includes coverage of new approaches to topics such as job evaluation and pay structures. 
 
 Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice is aligned with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) professional map and standards, with the sections meeting CIPD learning outcomes now even clearer than before. Comprehensive online support material for instructors, students and HR managers are included. Resources for students and professionals include multiple-choice-questions, flash cards, case studies, further reading and a glossary of HRM terms. The lecturers' manual contains session notes, discussion questions, a literature review and a complete set of PowerPoint slides.

Armstrong\'s handbook of human resource management practice / Michael Armstrong

Part 1: country size and efficiency constraints on resource-based industrialization harnessing mineral enclaves - export base, mineral boom and RBI literature. Part 2 Potential and actual RBI resource rent: the potential stimulus from resource processing in the base case - a large efficient developing country the country size constraint on RBI extent and external causes of RBI resource rent overstimation. Part 3 Implementation efficiency: political constraints on macro-economic efficieny - oil windfall deployment in the low absorbing countries macro-economic constraints on the high-absorbing oil-exporting countries micro-efficiency - firm performance in RBI micro efficiency - RBI sectoral performance. Part 4 RBI impact: the impact of RBI on economic growth and structural change RBI's spatial impact - the lagged economic stimulus. Part 5 Conclusion and policy implications: a model of RBI and some policy implications conclusions - RBI risk.

Resource-Based Industrialization: Sowing the Oil in Eight Developing Countries

http://www.erutledge.com/media/E.J.Rutledge--2007--EE-29-2--329-347.pdf

Oil and gas markets in the UK : Evidence from a cointegrating approach

© 2010, The Author Journal Compilation © 2010, Middle East Policy Council The growing level of national unemployment in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries remains one of the region’s key domestic policy challenges. This is clear, even if one does not share the hyperbolic depiction of it as an “impending time bomb” that could culminate in “armed insurrection.” In order to provide adequate (and productive) employment opportunities for all nationals, not only is a major overhaul of educational systems required; there also needs to be a renewed focus on policies designed to facilitate economic diversification that generates the sorts of jobs nationals consider appropriate. Moreover, the region’s ruling elites need to modify and then recommunicate their respective social contracts (“ruling bargains”). These, in many senses, lie at the heart of the issue. For it is the way in which oil wealth has been historically distributed that has led to a situation in which nationals choose to remain unemployed until they obtain a government job. It is the primary transmission mechanism of the social contract — the provision of well-remunerated publicsector jobs — that, albeit unwittingly, has caused GCC labor markets to become so highly segmented. The concomitant laissez faire approach to the private-sector labor market has further exacerbated distortions. From the 1960s onward, an influx of expatriate workers, while pivotal to the impressive and rapid transformation of the region’s infrastructure, accepted wages at levels far below those being offered to nationals in the public sector. There is, it seems now, a growing realization within the region that public-sector bureaucracies have reached the saturation point. They can no longer act as employer of first and last resort. It is therefore likely that, in the coming period, both perceptions of entitlement and the manner in which hydrocarbon wealth is distributed will need to be reconsidered, regardless of the predicted rebound in oil prices (see Chart 1). For Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia, where per capita oil revenues are much lower, the imperative to address this issue is considerably greater (see Table 1). Nevertheless, many citizens, especially those who operate local businesses, have a vested interest in the status quo. Unemployment in the GUlf: time to Update the “Social contract”

Unemployment in the Gulf: Time to Update the“Social Contract”

The GCC's “Demographic Imbalance”: Perceptions, Realities and Policy Options

The Arab Gulf's labour market is being overhauled. The private sector is increasingly being ‘obliged’ to more actively support nationalisation programmes. This study seeks to quantitatively determine the recruitment decisions of the employers. We collated the views of just under 250 UAE-based HRM personnel, in order to identify which factors (social, cultural, economic, regulatory, educational and motivational) are most significant as cited in the relevant literature. Not having the necessary educational qualifications and high reservation wage demands were found to have less of a bearing than does the perceived lack of vocationally orientated motivation and the ambiguities over the differing rights afforded to employees.

Emiratisation: determining the factors that influence the recruitment decisions of employers in the UAE

Growing levels of national unemployment constitute one of the Arab Gulf's key domestic policy challenges and not least because the majority of new jobs will need to be created in the skilled private sector. We demonstrate that while female nationals obtain proportionately more of the vocationally orientated, tertiary level qualifications that this sector requires, structural issues and cultural attitudes continue to act as barriers. Based on the findings of interviews with policymakers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, we contend that while incumbent labour nationalization policies have led to marginal increases in female participation rates, more systemic labour market reforms will be needed in order to better capitalize on the ‘valuable human resource asset’ that they represent.

/pdf/women-labour-market-nationalization-policies-and-human-1u3urx7jli.pdf

Emilie Rutledge

Papers

Oil and gas markets in the UK : Evidence from a cointegrating approach

Unemployment in the Gulf: Time to Update the“Social Contract”

The GCC's “Demographic Imbalance”: Perceptions, Realities and Policy Options

Emiratisation: determining the factors that influence the recruitment decisions of employers in the UAE

Women, labour market nationalization policies and human resource development in the Arab Gulf states