The evolution of the Russian oil governance structure: an interpretation in neo-institutional terms.

Summary This thesis discusses the changing organizational and institutional framework of the Russian oil industry during the period 1992-2012. Its objective is to characterize and interpret the increased role of the majority state-owned oil companies, Rosneft and Gazpromneft, in upstream oil operations that has been observed since the mid-2000s. Within this theoretical framework of New Institutional Economics, our thesis argues that the increased role of Russian state-owned oil companies marks a shift from a liberal to a hybrid oil governance structure. This should be interpreted as a feasible response by the federal authorities to the inconsistency between the liberal oil governance structure defined at the beginning of the transition process and the prevailing institutional environment in Russia.