nep-ara New Economics Papers
on Arab World
Issue of 2011‒11‒28
fourteen papers chosen by
Quentin Wodon
World Bank

  1. Health Consequences of an Eclectic Social Security Regime: The Case of Turkey By Hasan Tekguc
  2. Separability between own food production and consumption in Turkey By Hasan Tekguc
  3. Aligning Local Incentives to Regional Goals: Water Conservation in the Upper Tigris-Euphrates River System By Hasan Tekguc
  4. 2003-2010 Donemi Dis Ticaret Fiyat Artislarinin Sektorel Kaynaklari By Altan Aldan; Murat Ungor
  5. Agricultural and Rural Capital Markets in the EU Candidate Countries: Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey By Bojnec, Stefan
  6. Debt Relief for Egypt? By John Williamson; Mohsin S. Khan
  7. Turkiye Ekonomisi Is Cevrimlerinin Kuresel Ekonomi ile Iliskisi By Huseyin Cagri Akkoyun; Bahar Sen Dogan; Mahmut Gunay
  8. HR PRACTICES AND STRATEGIC CONTRIBUTIONS IN EDUCATIONAL INDUSTRY (ISLAMIC AZAD UNIVERSITY) By Reza Gheshmi; Hadi Rasoulzadeh; Bahdor Ganjeh Khosravi; Mehrdad salehi; Ali Haj Aghapour; Roozbeh Hojabri; Mahmoud Manafi
  9. Agricultural and Rural Labour Markets in the EU Candidate Countries of Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey By Bojnec, Stefan
  10. Land Markets in the EU Candidate Countries of Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey By Bojnec, Stefan
  11. The Remittances Behaviour of the Second Generation in Europe: Altruism or Self-Interest? By Elena AMBROSETTI; Eralba CELA; Tineke FOKKEMA
  12. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ONLINE ENVIRONMENTS AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION (IRAN COMPUTER HARDWARE INDUSTRY) By Reza Gheshmi; Ali Haj Aghapour; Mehrdad salehi; Mojtaba Saeidinia; Bahdor Ganjeh Khosravi; Hadi Rasoulzadeh; Mahmoud Manafi
  13. Analysing growth and productivity in Syria by growth accounting By Schalk, Hans Joachim
  14. Turkiye Icin Getiri Egrileri Kullanilarak Enflasyon Telafisi Tahmin Edilmesi By Murat Duran; Eda Gulsen; Refet Gurkaynak

  1. By: Hasan Tekguc (Mardin Artuklu Univeristy; Mardin Artuklu Univeristy)
    Abstract: Until 2008 access to healthcare was very stratified in Turkey depending on the insurance scheme the employed person belonged to. A widely accepted ranking of health services of different pension schemes in Turkey (from best to worst) is Government Employees Retirement Fund (GERF),Social Insurance Institution (SII) for workers, Bağ-Kur (BK) for urban self-employed and farmers, Green Card (a means-tested poverty relief scheme), and uncovered population with no formal right to access hospital services. The reforms enacted between 2004 and 2008 had gradually eliminated the stratification in access to health care among separate schemes. Even though the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) has tracked satisfaction with health services; to our knowledge, our paper is the first attempt that tries to validate the above ranking empirically using an objective and cumulative measure. In order to test this claim, we chose age-adjusted average age of death and age-adjusted death rate as outcome variables. We were able to obtain the most comprehensive data for insurees of SII for the period 2000-10, of BK for 2004-10 (separately for urban self-employed and farmers) and of Green Card old age pensioners for 2007-10 (no data for GERF). Among the groups for which data is available, SII members have the highest age-adjusted age of death as expected: for men (women) average age of death is 66 (68.5) years for SII insurees, 63.7 (66.5) for farmers in BK and 65.2 (64.5) for self-employed BK insurees. Green Card beneficiaries have the highest age adjusted death rate as expected. If the death rate prevailing for other insurees had held for Green Card members as well, the death toll would have been halved (from 64,062 to 31,700 for 2009) for old age pensioners in Green Card. Unfortunately we are unable to adjust our findings for income level and education so all the differences could not be attributed to stratified access to healthcare.
    Keywords: age-adjusted age of death, eclectic healthcare, Turkey
    Date: 2011–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mrd:martwp:2011-05&r=ara
  2. By: Hasan Tekguc (Mardin Artuklu Univeristy)
    Abstract: Complete markets imply the separation of food production and consumption decisions such that they can be modeled to occur sequentially and can be studied independently. Separation is very often assumed implicitly in empirical studies of food demand. If there is such separation, then food sourced within the household should not have any influence upon the budget share of each food group. Using this insight, this paper first develops a procedure to test for the separation of household food production and consumption decisions. Furthermore, it incorporates the testing procedure into the Almost Ideal Demand Systems model and utilizes survey data from 2003 for Turkey for empirical testing. It concludes that the separation assumption is unwarranted for Turkey. Next, It investigates the extent of bias in elasticity estimates when separation assumption is unwarranted. It concludes that ignoring the nonseparation of consumption and production decisions in rural areas leads to significant overestimation of food expenditure elasticity for the dairy products and eggs and own-price elasticity for bread and cereals.
    Keywords: Agricultural household models, own-produced food consumption, Turkey, elasticity estimates, dairy products
    JEL: Q12 D12 D13
    Date: 2011–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mrd:martwp:2011-01&r=ara
  3. By: Hasan Tekguc (Mardin Artuklu Univeristy)
    Abstract: Instead of international agreement between Syria, Iraq, and Turkey, the best hope for sustainable water conservation in the Euphrates-Tigris river basin lies with policies that can be justified on individual and local grounds within Turkey: reducing water run-off and accompanied pollution; reducing soil salinity; developing drought resistant strains of crops; and storing water as an insurance against future droughts that are likely to increase in occurrence and intensity as a result of climate change induced extreme weather. After reviewing the predictions on climate change for the region, irrigation related problems including out-migration, I evaluate policy options for water conservation: i) agricultural training and extension services, ii) escalating user fees for water to encourage conservation at micro level, iii) reforming of Water User Associations (WUAs). The least controversial policy to pursue is on-the-ground agricultural training and extension. Unfortunately, implementing escalating user fees for water – the most advocated solution – cannot be separated from democratizing WUAs – the most vexing problem – to open board seats and management to ordinary members.
    Keywords: South-eastern Turkey, climate change, salinity, migration, Water User Associations
    JEL: Q53 Q57 H41
    Date: 2011–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mrd:martwp:2011-04&r=ara
  4. By: Altan Aldan; Murat Ungor
    Abstract: [TR] Dis ticaret fiyat degisimleri her bir sektorde gozlenen fiyat artislari ve sektorlerin dis ticaret icinde degisen agirliklarina bagli olarak ifade edilebilir. Bu iki faktorun katkilarini incelemek dis ticaret hadlerinin dinamiklerinin daha iyi anlasilmasina yardimci olabilmektedir. Bu not, Turkiye icin 2003-2010 doneminde ihracat ve ithalat fiyatlari degisimlerinin sektorel kaynaklarini, ekonomiyi olusturan ana sektorler ve onlarin alt sektorlerine ait bilgileri kullanarak basit bir analiz yardimiyla incelemektedir. Ana metal sanayi ihracat fiyat artislarina en cok katkida bulunan sektor olup gozlenen ihracat fiyat artisina yuzde 21,9’luk bir katki yapmaktadir. Kok komuru, rafine edilmis petrol urunleri ve nukleer yakitlar ise ithalat fiyat artislarina en cok katkida bulunan sektor olup gozlenen ithalat fiyat artisina yuzde 15,1’lik katki yapmaktadir. [EN] Foreign trade price changes can be expressed by both price increases within individual sectors and reallocation of foreign trade between sectors. An understanding of the dynamics of aggregate foreign trade price changes requires insight into the contributions of these two effects. This note provides a glimpse of the sectoral sources of price changes in Turkish exports and imports between 2003 and 2010 conducting a simple analysis using information coming from different sectors of the Turkish economy. Manufacture of basic metals (21.9 percent in total) contributes most to the export price increases. Manufacture of coke, refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel (15.1 percent in total) adds most to the import price increases.
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcb:econot:1118&r=ara
  5. By: Bojnec, Stefan
    Abstract: This paper analyses agricultural and rural capital factor markets in the three European Union candidate countries: Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic (FYR) of Macedonia and Turkey. Aggregate capital market indicators and their dynamics, and factors driving agricultural and rural capital markets are analysed and compared in these countries. In general, agricultural and rural capital markets show similarities with general capital market developments, but agricultural and rural capital markets are facing specific credit constraints related to agricultural assets and rural fixed asset specificities, which constrain their mortgages and collateral use. Credit market imperfections have limited access to the investment credits necessary for the restructuring of small-scale individual farms. Government transfers are used to differing extents in the candidate countries, but generally tend to increase over time. Remittances and donor funds have also played an important role in agricultural and rural economy investments.
    Keywords: Capital market, agriculture and rural areas, European Union, candidate countries, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Political Economy,
    Date: 2011–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:famawp:117489&r=ara
  6. By: John Williamson (Peterson Institute for International Economics); Mohsin S. Khan (Peterson Institute for International Economics)
    Abstract: The government of Egypt recently stated that external financial assistance is necessary in the present economic situation and has expressed a strong preference for receiving it in part via debt relief. Williamson and Khan explore whether there is a case for debt relief and if so what form this relief should take. They review the cases of Egypt in an earlier era and other middle-income countries—Iraq, Argentina, and Nigeria—that benefited from debt relief, as well as the loan guarantees provided by the United States to Israel, to draw out the lessons and implications for Egypt. In terms of reducing debt service payments, debt relief was certainly successful in each of the countries reviewed. The authors conclude with recommendations for a new debt relief program for Egypt. The traditional approach to debt relief would be through a Paris Club debt rescheduling. The United States could call for the Paris Club to meet to consider Egyptian debt, use its influence to persuade the Egyptians to request a meeting, and then call on its partners to make offers similar to those that President Obama already made in his speech on May 19, 2011. A more promising approach might be for the United States to use its convening power to persuade other countries ("Friends of Egypt") to make debt relief arrangements similar to those that the United States has already offered to Egypt. Complementary to this process, the United States could also urge its partners to make loan guarantees similar to those that it itself has offered.
    Date: 2011–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iie:pbrief:pb11-17&r=ara
  7. By: Huseyin Cagri Akkoyun; Bahar Sen Dogan; Mahmut Gunay
    Abstract: [TR] Bu calismada Turkiye ekonomisinin kuresel ekonomi ile iliskisi incelenmektedir. Bu dogrultuda, milli gelirimiz ile bilesenlerinin cevrimleriyle ABD ve euro bolgesi is cevrimleri arasindaki korelasyonlar farkli frekans bantlari icin hesaplanmistir. Sonuclar, Turkiye ekonomisinin euro bolgesi ile daha cok kisa ve orta vadede, ABD ile ise daha ziyade orta ve uzun vadede iliskili olduguna isaret etmektedir. ABD ile olan iliskinin gucu, dis ticaretten baska kanallarin da ekonomimiz icin onemini gostermektedir. Ayrica sonuclar, Turkiye ekonomisinin bu iki ekonomi ile iliskisinin derecesinin 2001 sonrasi donemde kayda deger olcude arttigini gostermektedir. [EN] In this study, we aim at investigating the sensitivity of Turkish economy to the global economy. In this framework, we calculate the correlation between “cycles of gross domestic product (GDP) and its components” and “cycles of the US GDP and Euro Area GDP” for different frequency bands. The results indicate that Euro Area developments are correlated with Turkish economy mostly in the short and medium term while the developments in the US economy are correlated with Turkish economy mostly in the medium and long run. The high correlation with the US also suggests that non-trade channels for Turkish economy are also important. In addition, results show that the correlation of the Turkish economy with foreign economies significantly increased after 2001.
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcb:econot:1119&r=ara
  8. By: Reza Gheshmi (Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht Branch, Marvdasht, Iran); Hadi Rasoulzadeh (Multimedia Universiti ,Cyberjaya); Bahdor Ganjeh Khosravi (MMU); Mehrdad salehi (MSU); Ali Haj Aghapour (MMU); Roozbeh Hojabri (MMU); Mahmoud Manafi (Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht Branch, Marvdasht, Iran)
    Abstract: This paper attempts to identify the current policies and problems of IAU (Islamic Azad University) in HR practices. On the other hand this research offers new HR practices according to experts and different persons in different levels of IAU. Finally, offered HR practices are in line with strategic contributions in educational industry
    Keywords: Human Resources, Human Resources Practices, and Knowledge Sharing
    JEL: M0
    Date: 2011–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cms:1asb11:2011-008-103&r=ara
  9. By: Bojnec, Stefan
    Abstract: This paper provides an overview and comparison of labour markets in agricultural and rural areas in the three candidate countries for the EU membership: Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey. We analyse and compare the labour market structures and the factors driving them. The analyses are based on the available cross-section and time-series data on agricultural labour structures and living conditions in rural areas. Considerable differences are found among the candidate countries in the importance of the agricultural labour force, between rural and urban labour, and in poverty and living conditions in rural areas. Agricultural and rural labour market structures are the result of demographic and education processes, in addition to labour flows between agricultural and non-agricultural activities, from rural areas to urban ones and migration flows abroad. Declines in the agricultural labour force and rural population are foreseen for each of the candidate countries, but with significant variations between them. Showing different patterns over time, labour market developments in the sector and rural areas have been shaped by the overall labour market institutions, conditions and other factors in each country, such as the legal basis, educational attainment and migration flows, as well as the presence of non-agricultural activities in rural areas.
    Keywords: Labour market, agricultural and rural labour structures, education, gender, unemployment and living conditions in rural areas, candidate countries, European Union., Agricultural and Food Policy, Labor and Human Capital, Political Economy,
    Date: 2011–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:famawp:117487&r=ara
  10. By: Bojnec, Stefan
    Abstract: The paper provides an overview and a comparison of land markets covering the three candidate countries for European Union membership: Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic (FYR) of Macedonia and Turkey. We analyse and compare agricultural land structures and factors driving land markets. The analyses are based on the available cross-section and time-series evidence on agricultural land structures and land productivity (yields). The land productivity measured by production per hectare of agricultural land varies between the three countries. Agricultural land structures are the result of historical evolution in land markets and land-leasing developments with additional different institutional environments and agrarian and land reforms.
    Keywords: Land markets, land structures, land productivity, candidate countries, European Union, Agricultural and Food Policy, Land Economics/Use, Political Economy,
    Date: 2011–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:famawp:117482&r=ara
  11. By: Elena AMBROSETTI (Universir… La Sapienza, Roma); Eralba CELA (Universit… Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali); Tineke FOKKEMA (Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI))
    Abstract: Whereas most research on remittances focuses on first-generation migrants, the aim of this paper is to investigate the remitting behaviour of the host country-born children of migrants - the second generation - in various European cities. Some important studies found that migrant transnationalism is not only a phenomenon for the first generation, but also apply to the second and higher generations, through, among other things, family visits, elder care, and remittances. At the same time, the maintenance of a strong ethnic identity in the 'host' society does not necessarily mean that second-generation migrants have strong transnational ties to their 'home' country. ;;The data used in this paper is from "The Integration of the European Second Generation" (TIES) project. The survey collected information on approximately 6,250 individuals aged 18-35 with at least one migrant parent from Morocco, Turkey or former Yugoslavia, in 15 European cities, regrouped in 8 'countries'. For the purpose of this paper, only analyses for Austria (Linz and Vienna) Switzerland (Basle and Zurich); Germany (Berlin and Frankfurt); France (Paris and Strasbourg); the Netherlands (Amsterdam and Rotterdam) Spain (Barcelona and Madrid); and Sweden (Stockholm) will be presented.;;To study the remitting behaviour of the second-generation Moroccans, Turks and former Yugoslavs residing in these 13 European cities, we will start with descriptive analyses (prevalence, amount), followed by logistic (multinomial) regression on the likelihood and amount of remittance. We are particularly interested in the following question: Are the second-generation remitters more driven by altruism or by self-interest? If altruism is the main driving force, we can expect that 'emotional attachment' factors (e.g., presence of parents in 'home' country, strong feelings to the country of origin or ethnic group of the parents, high intensity of cultural orientation towards the country of origin of the parents) will be the main predictors of the remitting behaviour, while factors like 'investment in parents' country of birth' and 'return intention' will be more central if second-generation migrants remit for self-interested reasons.
    Keywords: European countries, migration, remittances, second generation
    JEL: F22 F24
    Date: 2011–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpaper:368&r=ara
  12. By: Reza Gheshmi (Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht Branch, Marvdasht, Iran); Ali Haj Aghapour (Multimedia Universiti ,Cyberjaya); Mehrdad salehi (MSU); Mojtaba Saeidinia (MSU); Bahdor Ganjeh Khosravi (Multimedia Universiti ,Cyberjaya); Hadi Rasoulzadeh (Islamic Azad University, Boukan Branch, Boukan, Iran); Mahmoud Manafi (Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht Branch, Marvdasht, Iran)
    Abstract: In this quantitative article research first, the main factors in customer satisfaction in online environment of Iran in hardware industry with process based-view are identified. Secondly relationships between identified factors in online environment of Iran and customer satisfaction are investigated
    Keywords: Online Environment, Customer satisfaction, and Process Based-View
    JEL: M0
    Date: 2011–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cms:1asb11:2011-007-102&r=ara
  13. By: Schalk, Hans Joachim
    Abstract: This study investigates the performances of growth and productivity in Syria for the period 1985-2008 by means of growth accountings for the total economy and three major sectors, agriculture, industry, and services. Based on these analyses, guidelines for policies are suggested aiming at the targets for growth and employment as projected in the 11th Five-Year Plan of the economy for the period 2011-2015. The relative importance of the growth of physical capital and labour, of human capital and total factor productivity (TFP) is assessed. The study shows that much higher investments in physical and human capital per year are necessary than accomplished in the recent past in all sectors to achieve the projected growth targets of the Plan. Particularly in the industry sector negative TFP growth hampers growth of output and productivity in the global economy. Growth and reform policy should be focused in the planning period particularly on this sector in order to meet the requirements with respect to the growth and employment targets for the total economy in the Plan. --
    Keywords: economic growth,productivity,growth accounting,investment,TFP
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cawmdp:50&r=ara
  14. By: Murat Duran; Eda Gulsen; Refet Gurkaynak
    Abstract: Reel ve nominal getirilerin kiyaslanmasiyla elde edilen enflasyon telafisi enflasyon beklentileri ve enflasyon risklerinin fiyatlanmasina iliskin piyasa bazli, gercek zamanli bilgi icerir. Bu calismada, nominal ve reel getiri egrileri tahmin edilerek Turkiye icin enflasyon telafisi hesaplanmistir. Bu sekilde hesaplanan enflasyon telafisi vade yapisindaki degisikliklerin para otoritesinin kredibilitesine dair verdigi bilgi vaka calismalari ile aciga cikarilmistir. Calismada, Turkiye icin hesaplanan enflasyon telafilerinin uzerinde likidite kosullarinin gunluk frekansta kayda deger bir etkisinin olmadigi belirlenmis, dolayisiyla enflasyon surprizleri, para politikasi kararlari ve iletisimi gibi cesitli vakalarin enflasyon telafisi uzerindeki etkilerinin buyuk olcude enflasyon beklentileri ve belirsizliginin fiyatlanmasinda meydana gelen degismelere atfedilebilecegi gosterilmistir.
    Keywords: Enflasyon telafisi, Reel getiri, Vaka calismasi
    JEL: G12 G14 E43
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcb:wpaper:1122&r=ara

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