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on MENA - Middle East and North Africa |
| By: | Kibritçioğlu, Aykut |
| Abstract: | In The Economist dated June 8, 2013, it was stated that "Turkey's GDP per person had tripled in the past ten years". In the following issue, however, the editors corrected this information and wrote that "this was true only in nominal terms. In real terms, GDP per person has risen by just 43%." This statement of correction triggered a hot and long-lasting debate in the social media between Dr. Dani Rodrik, a world-wide known Turkish professor of economics, and Mr. Mehmet Şimşek, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Turkey, about the selection of most suitable indicator in evaluation of economic growth performance of Turkey between 2002 and 2012. This study firstly documents the details of the two countering arguments and development of the debate between an academic economist and a politician. It then reviews (and discusses the appropriateness of) various indicators of real and nominal (per-capita) economic growth in economic(s) discussions. For non-economists, this piece will helpful in understanding whether Rodrik, who uses the "real (per-capita) GDP growth", or Şimşek, who prefers to consider the "nominal GDP, in US dollar terms", in evaluating Turkey’s growth performance, is right, and to what extent. |
| Keywords: | Turkish economy, long-run economic growth, short-run economic growth, real growth, nominal growth, per-capita growth |
| JEL: | N14 N15 O40 O47 |
| Date: | 2013–07–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:56639&r=ara |
| By: | Labanca, Claudio |
| Keywords: | Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| Date: | 2014–06–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:ucsdec:qt8m49f3qb&r=ara |
| By: | Black, Bernard; De Carvalho, Antonio Gledson; Khanna, Vikramaditya; Kim, Woochan; Yurtoglu, Burcin |
| Abstract: | We discuss empirical challenges in multicountry studies of the effect of firm-level corporate governance on firm value, focusing on emerging markets. We assess the severe data, “construct validity,” and endogeneity issues in these studies, propose methods to respond to those issues, and apply those methods to a study of five major emerging markets -- Brazil, India, Korea, Russia, and Turkey. We develop unique time-series datasets on governance in each country. We address construct validity by building country-specific indices which reflect local norms and institutions. These similar-but-not-identical indices predict firm market value in each country, and when pooled across countries in firm fixed-effects (FE) and random-effects (RE) regressions. In contrast, a “common index” that uses the same elements in each country, has no predictive power in FE regressions. For the country-specific and pooled indices, FE and RE coefficients on governance are generally lower than in pooled OLS regressions; and coefficients with extensive covariates are generally lower than with limited covariates. These results confirm the value of using FE or RE with extensive covariates to reduce omitted variable bias. We develop lower bounds on our estimates which reflect potential omitted variable bias. |
| Keywords: | Brazil, Korea, India, Russia, Turkey, corporate governance, boards of directors, disclosure, shareholder rights |
| JEL: | G18 G30 G34 G39 K22 K29 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:56460&r=ara |
| By: | Bouoiyour, Jamal; Miftah, Amal; Selmi, Refk |
| Abstract: | Brain drain has long been an important concern particularly for a developing country like Morocco where high-skilled emigration rates are highest. The aim of this paper is to highlight the causes of migration of Moroccan students to France, to offer then some implications. To this end, we apply an ARDL Bounds testing approach and VEC Granger causality test to annual data spanning the period between 1971 and 2011. We show that the quality of higher education measured by French research & development (proxy of French institutions) seem the main determinant of student mobility. The per-capita income differential between France and Morocco also plays an important role on explaining student migration. The uncertainty about future Moroccan inflation (proxy of Moroccan institutions) encourages the departure of students abroad, while the degree of openness via trade and foreign direct investments discourage. Academic exchange agreements and the creation of research centers accredited by the two countries have been recommended to enhance the French economic development from high-skilled migrants without depriving Morocco. |
| Keywords: | Brain drain; Brain gain; Moroccan students; France. |
| JEL: | F0 O1 |
| Date: | 2014–05–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:56630&r=ara |
| By: | Hassine, Nadia Belhaj |
| Abstract: | The paper uses harmonized household survey micro-data to assess the levels and determinants of economic inequality in 12 Arab countries. It focuses on the sources of rural-urban, as well as metropolitan-nonmetropolitan, inequalities and applies the unconditional quantile regression decomposition technique to analyze the welfare gaps across the entire distribution. The analysis finds moderate inequality levels, with the Gini coefficient for the distribution of household real per capita total expenditures ranging between 30.7 in Libya and 45 in Mauritania. Differences in households'endowments, such as demographic composition, human capital, and community characteristics, appear as the main sources of the urban-rural welfare gap. There is inequality between metropolitan and non-metropolitan regions in many countries, mainly because of differences in returns to households'characteristics and particularly returns to human capital. |
| Keywords: | Rural Poverty Reduction,Inequality,Regional Economic Development,Economic Theory&Research,Debt Markets |
| Date: | 2014–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6911&r=ara |
| By: | Alessia LO TURCO (Universit… Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali); Daniela MAGGIONI (Universit… Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali) |
| Abstract: | We explore the role of firm and local product-specific capabilities in fostering the introduction of new products in the Turkish manufacturing. Firms' product space evolution is characterised by strong cognitive path dependence which, however, is relaxed by firmheterogeneity in terms of size, efficiency and international exposure. The introduction of new products in laggard Eastern regions, which is importantly related to the evolution of their industrial output, is mainly affected by firm internal product specific resources. On the contrary, product innovations inWestern advanced regions hinge relatively more on the availability of suitable local competencies. |
| Keywords: | Firm heterogeneity, Product Innovation |
| JEL: | D22 O12 O53 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpaper:402&r=ara |
| By: | Mehdi Abbas (PACTE - Politiques publiques, ACtion politique, TErritoires - Institut d'Études Politiques [IEP] - Grenoble - CNRS : UMR5194 - Université Pierre-Mendès-France - Grenoble II - Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble I) |
| Abstract: | Cette contribution analyse le paradoxe des processus d'intégration régionale économiques dans le monde arabe. Ce paradoxe réside dans l'écart existant entre, d'une part, le nombre d'organisations (bureaucraties, agences, organisations, programmes, accords commerciaux, partenariats et coopérations économiques) dédiées à l'intégration régionale et la préférence affichée par les dirigeants politiques et la société civile en faveur de cette politique et d'autre part, la faiblesse structurelle ainsi que relationnelle de cette intégration. L'analyse emprunte une grille de lecture d'économie politique internationale et s'intéressera à la façon dont la double articulation entre l'économique et le politique ; la national et l'international conditionne la construction du rapport au marché mondial des économies du monde arabe, enjeu sous-jacent aux dispositifs d'intégration régionale. L'article avance trois arguments pour expliquer la faiblesse structurelle de l'intégration régionale dans la MENA : le jeu des grandes puissances, les spécialisations héritées du rapport historique au marché mondial, les conflits distributifs (nationaux et régionaux) contingents de l'intégration régionale. |
| Keywords: | INTEGRATION ECONOMIQUE ; INTEGRATION REGIONALE ; MONDE ARABE |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01006462&r=ara |