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on MENA - Middle East and North Africa |
| By: | Ayadi, Rym; De Groen, Willem Pieter |
| Abstract: | The Arab Spring, which took root in Tunisia and Egypt in the beginning of 2011 and gradually spread to other countries in the southern Mediterranean, highlighted the importance of private-sector development, job creation, improved governance and a fairer distribution of economic opportunities. The developments led to domestic and international calls for the region’s governments to implement the needed reforms to enhance business and investment conditions, modernise their economies and support the development of enterprises. Central to these demands are calls to enhance the growth prospects of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which represent an overwhelming majority of the region’s economic activity. On the basis of interviews conducted among high-growth potential MSMEs in selected countries in the southern Mediterranean – Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia – this report identifies and ranks key obstacles preventing MSMEs from reaching their high-growth potential and puts forward effective policy responses to reduce these obstacles. If implemented, the authors argue that these policies could unlock the MSMEs potential to contribute more to their economies. |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:cepswp:8796&r=ara |
| By: | Ayadi, Rym; De Groen, Willem Pieter |
| Abstract: | The upheavals of the Arab Spring in the southern Mediterranean led to domestic and international demands on the governments in the region to implement reforms aimed at enhancing business and investment conditions especially for micro, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which carry out an overwhelming majority of the region’s economic activity. A comprehensive survey among some 600 high-growth potential MSMEs in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia identified and ranked the key obstacles impeding their high-growth potential. This Policy Brief summarises the main results and policy recommendations that can be drawn from this survey, which has been analysed in depth by Ayadi & De Groen (2014). |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:cepswp:8798&r=ara |
| By: | Mohamed Arouri; Sahbi Farhani; Muhammad Shahbaz; Frédéric Teulon |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of natural gas consumption, real gross fixed capital formation and trade on the real GDP in the case of Tunisia over the period 1980-2010. We use an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to test the existence of a longterm relationship between the variables. The Vector Error Correction Method (VECM) Granger approach is applied to test the direction of the causal relation between the series. Our findings indicate the existence of a long-term relationship among the variables. Natural gas consumption, real gross fixed capital formation and trade add in economic growth. Natural gas consumption, real gross fixed capital formation and real trade Granger-cause real GDP. These findings open up new insights for policymakers to formulate a comprehensive energy policy to sustain economic growth in the long term. |
| Keywords: | Natural gas consumption, Economic growth, ARDL approach |
| JEL: | C7 D8 |
| Date: | 2014–01–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipg:wpaper:2014-057&r=ara |
| By: | Driouchi, Ahmed |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with school attainment in the Arab economies. It is based on descriptive statistical analyses on Barro and Lee data for the period 1950-2010. The opportunities lost with the low level of school attainment and the corresponding time trends in Arab countries are discussed. The relatively slow speed of recovery in schooling could already be expressed by the lowest knowledge performances achieved by the economies of North Africa, Sudan and Yemen. |
| Keywords: | School attainment, Arab economies. |
| JEL: | O15 |
| Date: | 2014–02–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:53773&r=ara |
| By: | Hela Miniaoui; Anissa Chaibi |
| Abstract: | The present study empirically investigates the technical efficiency of takaful industry operations in Malaysia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was employed to estimate the technical efficiency of using Constant Returns to Scale (CRS) and Variable Return to Scale (VRS) during the period 2006- 2009. The study reveals that takaful companies operating in GCC countries are more efficient than Malaysian operators that are encouraged to have aggressive marketing and wider distribution channels to capture more demand. |
| Keywords: | Takaful Industry, DEA, Efficiency, Malaysia, GCC |
| JEL: | C7 D8 |
| Date: | 2014–01–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipg:wpaper:2014-055&r=ara |
| By: | Akar, Gizem; Balkan, Binnur; Tumen, Semih |
| Abstract: | This paper documents two new facts linking firm-size and gender pay gaps to informal employment using micro-level data from Turkey. First, we show that the firm-size wage gap, defined as larger firms paying higher wages to observationally equivalent workers, is greater for informal employment than formal employment. And, second, we find that the gender pay gap is constant across different firm-size categories for formal employment, while it is a decreasing function of firm size for informal employment. These two facts jointly suggest that the informality status of a job is a valuable source of information in understanding the underlying forces determining firm-size and gender wage gaps. We propose and discuss the relevance of alternative mechanisms that might be generating these facts. |
| Keywords: | Informal employment; wage differentials; firm size; gender discrimination; THLFS. |
| JEL: | C21 E24 J31 J71 |
| Date: | 2014–02–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:53835&r=ara |
| By: | Driouchi, Ahmed |
| Abstract: | This paper shows how unemployment has been persisting during the last years with the implied risks of knowledge obsolescence and other economic and social implications. Under the absence of actions that are likely to reduce the effects of knowledge obsolescence, Arab economies with high unemployment rates loose in terms of competitiveness and efficiency but also in the development of knowledge economy. Special training programs besides more business oriented educational sessions are likely to minimize the impacts of knowledge obsolescence. Descriptive statistics as well as regressions analyzes are used to show most of the dimensions of the unemployment problem in Arab economies. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment-Persistence-Risks-Knowledge Obsolescence. |
| JEL: | J2 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–02–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:53793&r=ara |
| By: | Abdelbari El Khalichi; Kabir Sarkar Humayun; Mohamed Arouri; Frédéric Teulon |
| Abstract: | Despite the increasing attention to ethical investments, the empirical studies on Islamic indices are scarce. Our article aims to contribute to the empirical literature by exploring the efficiency of these indices and their potential for diversification in comparison with the conventional benchmarks. We explore the existence of diversification opportunities by studying whether indices are cointegrated or not. Then, the weak-form efficiency level is analyzed by testing the random walk hypothesis using variance ratio tests. Our sample includes Islamic and mainstream indices of four indices families; two Shariah-compliant indices among them some have not been studied before in the academic literature. Our results show that Islamic indices have the same level of (in)efficiency as conventional ones, the indices of MSCI and FTSE families are the less inefficient. In terms of cointegration analysis, Islamic indices of Dow Jones and S&P have no cointegrating relations with their respective benchmarks, which suggests the existence of long-run diversification opportunities. |
| Keywords: | Islamic finance, indices, diversification, cointegration, efficiency, variance ratios |
| Date: | 2014–02–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipg:wpaper:2014-091&r=ara |
| By: | Christine Marie Fandrich |
| Abstract: | This paper attempts to formulate the general asylum landscapes within the EU during the 2003 Iraq War and the 2011 Syrian Civil War. The overall picture gleamed from this comparison is intended to evaluate how the EU and its MS addressed the effects of one Middle Eastern crisis (in Iraq) in order to apply lessons learned to the current crisis in the Middle East (Syria). By concurrently analysing the phenomenon of Iraqis seeking shelter within the European Union following the 2003 Iraq War as well as the occurrence of Syrians fleeing to the EU following the 2011 Syrian civil war, this study attempts to provide a comparative lens with which to view the present-day crisis in Syria, to document the progress regarding asylum adjudication within the EU -indeed how asylum-seekers are granted or not granted protection within the European Union, especially in times of mass humanitarian crises- and to acquire an understanding of the past in order to formulate new solutions to current crises. |
| Date: | 2014–01–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erp:euirsc:p0359&r=ara |
| By: | Mouhoud, El Mouhoub; Margolis, David; Miotti, Luis; Oudinet, Joël |
| Abstract: | This article analyses the distributional impact of international migration across two regions of Algerian emigration (Nedroma and Idjeur) using an original survey we conducted of 1,200 households in 2011. The non-parametric technique of DiNardo, Fortin and Lemieux (1996) is used to analyse the effects of remittances on the distribution of household incomes. The analysis is then deepened with a parametric model, which allows for the estimation of counterfactual household income and the calculation of the impact of migration on the distribution of household income. Remittances, and especially foreign pensions, decrease the Gini index by nearly 4 % for the two Algerian regions combined, with the effect in Idjeur being twice as large as Nedroma. At the same time, they help reduce poverty by nearly 13 percentage points. Remittances have a strong positive impact on very poor families in Idjeur but much less in Nedroma, where poor families suffer from a “double loss” due to the absence of their migrants and the fact that the latter do not send money home. |
| Keywords: | Transferts de fonds; Migration; Inégalités; Pauvreté; Algérie; Remittances; Migration; Poverty; Inequality; Algeria; |
| JEL: | F24 O15 O55 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dau:papers:123456789/12589&r=ara |
| By: | David Margolis (Paris School of Economics, CNRS, IZA); Luis Miotti (CEPN-CNRS, Université Paris 13); Mouhoud (PSL, Université Paris Dauphine, LEDa, IRD, UMR DIAL); Joël Oudinet (CEPN-CNRS, Université Paris 13) |
| Abstract: | This article analyses the distributional impact of international migration across two regions of Algerian emigration (Nedroma and Idjeur) using an original survey we conducted of 1,200 households in 2011. The non-parametric technique of DiNardo, Fortin and Lemieux (1996) is used to analyse the effects of remittances on the distribution of household incomes. The analysis is then deepened with a parametric model, which allows for the estimation of counterfactual household income and the calculation of the impact of migration on the distribution of household income. Remittances, and especially foreign pensions, decrease the Gini index by nearly 4 % for the two Algerian regions combined, with the effect in Idjeur being twice as large as Nedroma. At the same time, they help reduce poverty by nearly 13 percentage points. Remittances have a strong positive impact on very poor families in Idjeur but much less in Nedroma, where poor families suffer from a “double loss” due to the absence of their migrants and the fact that the latter do not send money home. _________________________________ Cet article analyse l’impact des migrations internationales sur la distribution des revenus et la pauvreté dans deux régions algériennes d’émigration l’une située en Kabylie (Idjeur) l’autre dans l’Ouest de l’Algérie (Nedroma) en utilisant une enquête originale que nous avons conduit en 2011 auprès de 1200 ménages. Pour analyser les effets des transferts de fonds entre les ménages sur la répartition des revenus, l’approche non paramétrique de DiNardo, Fortin et Lemieux (1996) est utilisée. L'analyse est ensuite approfondie à l’aide d’un modèle contrefactuel paramétrique, qui permet d'estimer l'impact de la migration sur la répartition des revenus des ménages. Les envois de fonds, en particulier les retraites des migrants, diminuent l'indice de Gini de près de 4 % pour les deux régions algériennes, avec un impact étant deux fois plus grand pour les ménages d’Idjeur que ceux de Nedroma. Les envois de fonds favorisent aussi une réduction du seuil de pauvreté de près de 13 points de pourcentage. Ils ont un impact positif sur les familles très pauvres à Idjeur mais beaucoup moins à Nedroma, où les familles pauvres souffrent d'une «double perte » en raison de l'absence de leurs migrants qui ne leur envoient pas de transferts. |
| Keywords: | Remittances, Migration, Poverty, Inequality, Algeria, Transferts de fonds, Migration, Pauvreté, Inégalités, Algérie. |
| JEL: | F24 O15 O55 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dia:wpaper:dt201402&r=ara |
| By: | Shaikh, Salman |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we present an alternate proposal for house finance. In our proposal, the Islamic bank buys the house paying the house owner the full amount of the house and becomes the owner. Then, the bank gives the house on rent to the client and the Islamic bank also enters into an options contract as the call option writer. If the call buyer does not exercise the option, the options contract expires and the Islamic bank is in a position to give the house on rent again. We present numerical examples of computing rents in two separate structures. In structure I, call option is used with the lease contract. In structure II, house is resold at market price with stated price floor. We show that the proposal is robust in different scenarios. Furthermore, it is substantially and meaningfully different from conventional finance in form and substance. |
| Keywords: | Mortgages, House Finance, Personal Finance, Islamic Banking, Options, Diminishing Musharakah, Lease |
| JEL: | G21 G28 |
| Date: | 2014–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:53804&r=ara |
| By: | Shaikh, Salman |
| Abstract: | The paper aims to present the Islamic appraisal of established theories in academic literature of development economics, both in classical and neo-classical economics. The paper also explains the Islamic concept of human development and shows it to be more welfare maximizing to humans in their entire life span which includes afterlife. The paper extensively reviews the development literature in mainstream economics and Islamic economics. The paper also uses basic mathematical formulation to explain the concepts. The paper explains the Islamic concept of human development and shows it to be more welfare maximizing to humans and to society. It discusses how Islam is not the source of underdevelopment in Muslim countries and cites the external factors responsible for underdevelopment besides weak internal administration, commitment and management. The paper is one of the few attempts to cite and critically appraise specific development theories from Islamic perspective. |
| Keywords: | Development Economics, Growth Economics, Economic Development, Poverty, Income Inequality, Income Distribution |
| JEL: | I3 L38 O1 |
| Date: | 2014–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:53800&r=ara |