nep-ara New Economics Papers
on MENA - Middle East and North Africa
Issue of 2017‒08‒06
four papers chosen by
Paul Makdissi
Université d’Ottawa

  1. Institutions and firms’ internationalization: an empirical analysis on three Middle East countries By Nadine Levratto; Clarisse Nguedam Ntouko; Maarouf Ramadan
  2. NEET Policies and Knowledge in Arab & East Central European Economies By Driouchi, Ahmed; Harkat, Tahar
  3. Analyzing Wage Differentials by Fields of Study: Evidence from Turkey By Antonio Di Paolo; Aysit Tansel
  4. Brevet d’invention et croissance économique : une analyse dans le cadre de l’économie tunisienne durant la période 1970 - 2010 By Mabrouki, Mohamed

  1. By: Nadine Levratto; Clarisse Nguedam Ntouko; Maarouf Ramadan
    Abstract: On the basis of a broad definition of firms’ internationalization, this paper provides an empirical analysis of this question using a two-stage model, which first estimates the determinants of international commitment and the factors explaining the different types of internationalization strategies. The empirical analysis relies on firms’ individual data covering three countries (Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey) in 2013. We show that the probability of being internationalized and internationalization types depend on a combination of factors such as firms’ characteristics, access to finance and institutional framework. The determinants of internationalization as well as the number and types of internationalizations are heterogeneous depending firms' size and sectors in which they operate.
    Keywords: Firms' internationalization, Institutions, Business climate, Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
    JEL: D22 D23 O19
    Date: 2017
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2017-37&r=ara
  2. By: Driouchi, Ahmed; Harkat, Tahar
    Abstract: Abstract This research analyzes the policies related to those youth that are not in education, not in employment, and not in training (NEETs) in the Arab and the East Central European (ECE) countries. It attempts assessing the impacts of knowledge on policies related to NEETs. The empirical framework used is based on measures of knowledge such as the number of reports published by the European Training Foundation (ETF) for each country. The number of studies that relate to education, training, and to the labor markets represent the independent variables. Furthermore, this paper assumes that joining the European Union, as it is the case for ECE countries, benefits these economies through the available strategies and policies related to youth, mostly to the NEET category. Findings indicate that the more publications for a specific country, the more the NEETs decrease. Still, among the studied Arab countries, only Algeria and Morocco show this trend. For ECE countries, only Bulgaria and Slovak Republic benefit from joining the European Union (EU) by reducing the category of youth that are NEETs with the remaining countries having no statistically significant effects. These findings require that further knowledge is needed mainly in Arab countries even though Morocco and Algeria appear to behave differently. Such a knowledge is likely to induce more policies targeting the NEETs.
    Keywords: Keywords: NEETs, Arab, ECE Countries, NEETs, Policies.
    JEL: I32 J68
    Date: 2017–07–29
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:80471&r=ara
  3. By: Antonio Di Paolo (AQR-IREA, University of Barcelona); Aysit Tansel (Middle East Technical University, ERF & IZA)
    Abstract: This paper analyzes the drivers of wage differences among college graduates who hold a degree in a different field of study. We focus on Turkey, an emerging country that is characterized by a sustained expansion of higher education. We estimate conditional wage gaps by field of study using OLS regressions. Average differentials are subsequently decomposed into the contribution of observable characteristics (endowment) and unobservable characteristics (returns). To shed light on distributional wage disparities by field of study, we provide estimates along the unconditional wage distribution by means of RIF-Regressions. Finally, we also decompose the contribution of explained and unexplained factors in accounting for wage gaps along the whole distribution. As such, this is the first work providing evidence on distributional wage differences by college major for a developing country. The results indicate the existence of important wage differences by field of study, which are partly accounted by differences in observable characteristics (especially occupation and, to a lesser extent, employment sector). These pay gaps are also heterogeneous over the unconditional distribution of wages, as is the share of wage differentials that can be attributed to differences in observable characteristics across workers with degrees in different fields of study.
    Keywords: Fields of Study, Wage Differentials, Decomposition, Unconditional Wage Distribution, Turkey.
    JEL: J31 J24 I23
    Date: 2017–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:koc:wpaper:1712&r=ara
  4. By: Mabrouki, Mohamed
    Abstract: This study aims to empirically analyze the relationship between patent and economic growth, adopting the VAR approach. Indeed, in order to determine whether, in the context of the Tunisian economy and in the period from 1975 to 2010, the development of technological innovation promotes economic growth , we test an intuition of endogenous growth theory , analyzing the relationship between product growth rate (GDP) and the number of growth rates of patents filed by residents. The results indicate a statistically significant positive effect between patents filed during the previous period (t-1) and current economic growth (t). What reflects the importance of knowledge as being a decisive factor of growth.
    Keywords: Patent , Innovation, Growth , VAR , Tunisia
    JEL: C1 C22 O31 O4 O47
    Date: 2017–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:80485&r=ara

This nep-ara issue is ©2017 by Paul Makdissi. 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.