nep-ara New Economics Papers
on Arab World
Issue of 2009‒09‒05
two papers chosen by
Quentin Wodon
World Bank

  1. Africa and Arab Gulf states : divergent development paths and prospects for convergence By Fofack, Hippolyte
  2. Analysis of ESCO Activities Using Country Indicators By Okay, Nesrin; Akman, Ugur

  1. By: Fofack, Hippolyte
    Abstract: In spite of the similarities between Sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab Gulf region (Gulf Cooperation Council states), development policies implemented in these two regions of the world have produced markedly different and even divergent outcomes. While Gulf Cooperation Council states have drawn on hydrocarbon revenues to dramatically transform their economic landscape, Sub-Saharan African countries have exhibited abysmal economic and social outcomes. The remarkable increase in personal income and large current account surpluses in Arab Gulf states is in sharp contrast with widespread poverty and recurrent balance of payments crises in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper reviews the possible causes of these divergent development paths and discusses the prospects for economic convergence in the new globalization landscape of growing trade ties between the two regions. In particular, it shows that development models underpinned by institutional continuity and intergenerational accountability could enhance long-run growth in Sub-Saharan Africa and income convergence between the two regions.
    Keywords: Economic Theory&Research,Emerging Markets,Currencies and Exchange Rates,Debt Markets,
    Date: 2009–08–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5025&r=ara
  2. By: Okay, Nesrin; Akman, Ugur
    Abstract: Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) are private sector instruments that offer energy-/emission-improvement (energy saving, energy efficiency, energy conservation, emission reduction) projects in the developed and in some developing countries. Literature reveals that energy-/emission-improvements of countries may be related to their innovation- and R&D-activity levels. In this work, we use a literature data on the activities and the sectors targeted by ESCOs in 38 countries, summarized in terms of the age of ESCO market (AEM), number of ESCO companies (NE), and total value of ESCO projects (VE). Along with the Global Innovation Index (GII) data of the countries, we investigate the relationships among the ESCO Indicators (EIs: AEM, NE, VE, sectors targeted by ESCOs), and the Country Indicators (CIs: GII and per-capita GDP, energy consumption, CO2 emission). We observe noteworthy dependencies between the EIs and CIs. Using the simple trend equations we estimate the missing VEs in the original data. We also project, as a hint for the size and orientation of the upcoming Turkish ESCO market, the set of EIs and the distribution of the sectors that are likely to be targeted by ESCOs in Turkey.
    Keywords: Energy service companies; ESCO; Global Innovation Index; GDP; Energy consumption; Greenhouse-gas (CO2) emission; R&D
    JEL: O1 Q55 L52 O3 Q43 Q4 Q58
    Date: 2009–08–29
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:17012&r=ara

This nep-ara issue is ©2009 by Quentin Wodon. It is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. It may be freely redistributed in whole or in part for any purpose. If distributed in part, please include this notice.
General information on the NEP project can be found at http://nep.repec.org. For comments please write to the director of NEP, Marco Novarese at <director@nep.repec.org>. Put “NEP” in the subject, otherwise your mail may be rejected.
NEP’s infrastructure is sponsored by the School of Economics and Finance of Massey University in New Zealand.