|
on MENA - Middle East and North Africa |
| By: | Rabi H. Mohtar |
| Abstract: | Renewable energy technologies are projected to have substantial growth in the coming decades, especially given the environmental, social and economic drivers observed globally. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region encloses abundant alternative energy sources such as solar, wind and hydropower. The concern is more whether the Arab region will be able to respond to and manage the growth opportunities in this emerging sector. This Policy Brief explores opportunities and challenges for the MENA region to adopt and increase the production of alternative energy in an existing national portfolio and the role this renewable sources of energy can help in water and food securities in remote areas that are not serviced by the electric grid. As such renewable energy can help the MENA region towards its quest to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and in particular Water, Energy, climate goals. |
| Keywords: | renewable, energy, water, food security, MENA, Morocco |
| Date: | 2017–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ocp:ppaper:pb-1728&r=ara |
| By: | Hasan Johar (Kuwait University) |
| Abstract: | This paper will focus on the common factors among Arab countries, which have experienced dramatic social and political changes since 2011. Rapid developments in the Arab world are expected to introduce an environment for the establishment of a new socio-political system. Sudden Arabic uprising, will be analyzed according to major historical and intellectual political changes throughout the modern era, in an attempt to challenge the argument that the Arabs will stay out of the historical context of the evolution of democracy.The main hypothesis of the study will emphasize that the current episodes of Arab Spring was triggered by a combination of economic, social and political factors directly related to the daily life of the people in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria among others Arabic countries. However, the aspirations and expectations of the masses exceeded the classical materialistic needs even for millions of low class citizens. The call for freedom, dignity and equality convincingly require an intellectual perspective for a modern state-building. The consequences of the Arab revolutions will open further areas for unprecedented challenges at both short and long terms of modern state-building. Major breakthrough in this evolution will certainly return Arabic political sociology to the heart of history. It will prove that Arabs can provide a genuine intellectual system with a valuable contribution to the progress of modern human civilization. |
| Keywords: | Democracy in the Arab world, State-building, Political change and reform |
| JEL: | D72 O20 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:5808291&r=ara |
| By: | Ragui Assaad (University of Minnesota); Samir Ghazouani; Caroline Krafft |
| Abstract: | Three important interconnected spheres shape women’s lives in Tunisia: marriage, fertility and agency over their lives and those of their families. This paper focuses on the forces that shape women’s choices and the patterns of their lives and how these choices and patterns have evolved over time. Specifically, the paper examines marriage decisions, such as whether and at what age women marry and what living arrangements they adopt at marriage. We also investigate the crucial decisions women and their husbands make vis-à-vis procreation, along with fertility correlates such as age and education level. Finally, we examine the scope of women’s agency over a variety of decisions, as well as the links between women’s employment and marital status. Relying on the Tunisia Labor Market Panel Survey (TLMPS) 2014 data, this paper highlights differences between urban and rural areas, different regions in Tunisia, and across women of different socio-economic statuses. |
| Date: | 2017–11–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1157&r=ara |
| By: | Krellenberg, Kerstin; Turhan, Ethemcan |
| Abstract: | The overall aim of this project was threefold. By organizing workshops at the science-policy interface, the project wanted to: 1. Raise awareness for climate change in Turkish cities and the necessity to develop response action at the local level; 2. Further the exchange between different actors such as academicians, politicians, representatives from the private sector, and civil society as well as between Germany and Turkey in particular; 3. Work on the transfer of solutions to combat climate change at the local level. |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ufzrep:032017&r=ara |
| By: | Ebru Özgür Güler (Cukurova University); Huseyin Guler (Cukurova University); Ceren Boruban (Cukurova University) |
| Abstract: | According to the definition of the United Nations, a population is called ?old? if the proportion of elderly population is between 8% and 10%, and ?very old? if it exceeds 10%. In Turkey, the proportion of 65 years and older people is 7.7% in 2013, and it is expected that this proportion reaches 10.2% in 2023 according to the population projections. This study is designed to investigate elderly travelers in Adana, which has an old population now, and will have a very old population in the future.We investigate the demographic backgrounds of the respondents, the general information about the elderly traveler behaviors and the attributes in considering elderly travelers? destination selection. We also examine the barriers on traveling and issues related to quality of staff and service. In order to do this, a survey is conducted on 100 old people living in Adana, Turkey. A mixed survey which has four sections is composed based on Shoemaker (2000), You et al. (2000a and 2000b), Gray et al. (2001), Kim et al. (2003), Pearce et al. (2005), Carneiro (2013), Ward (2014). Respondents are asked to answer demographic questions in section A, travel behaviors in section B, vacation route choice in section C, and travel barriers in section D. Factor analysis is conducted to identify underlying factors. The resulting factors are used to test the effect of demographic variables on travel barriers and issues related to quality of staff and service. |
| Keywords: | Elderly travelers, Traveler behaviors, Traveler barriers |
| JEL: | L83 M31 C38 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:5808153&r=ara |
| By: | Thomas Awazu Pereira da Silva |
| Abstract: | This paper sheds light on the increasing and persistent skilled unemployment in Morocco over the past decade – oscillating around 20% of total unemployment. It identifies and estimates the role and significance of a skill mismatch between Morocco’s education system and its labor market, illustrated by the ratio between technical and general university degrees produced by the education system. The paper finds supporting evidence that a skill mismatch does play a significant role in explaining Morocco’s increasing skilled unemployment in a context of on-going structural reforms. |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ocp:rpaper:rp-1704&r=ara |
| By: | Dyson, Tim; Cetorelli, Valeria |
| Abstract: | In August 1990, Saddam Hussein’s army invaded Kuwait and consequently the United Nations imposed economic sanctions on Iraq. In 1991, an international military alliance expelled the Iraqi army from Kuwait during a short war. Nevertheless, the economic sanctions remained in place—their removal required that Iraq should destroy its weapons of mass destruction. Subsequent years saw reports of acute suffering in Iraq. The sanctions undoubtedly greatly reduced the country’s ability to import supplies of food and medicine. Particular concerns arose about the state of young children. These concerns crystalised in 1999 when, with cooperation from the Iraqi government, Unicef conducted a major demographic survey. The results of the survey indicated that the under-5 death rate in Iraq had increased hugely between 1990 and 1991 and had then continued at a very high level. The survey results were used both to challenge and support the case for the invasion of Iraq in 2003. And they were cited by Tony Blair in 2010 in his testimony to the Iraq Inquiry established by the British government. Indeed, the results of the 1999 Unicef/Government of Iraq survey are still cited. Since 2003, however, several more surveys dealing with child mortality have been undertaken. Their results show no sign of a huge and enduring rise in the under-5 death rate starting in 1991. It is therefore clear that Saddam Hussein’s government successfully manipulated the 1999 survey in order to convey a very false impression—something that is surely deserving of greater recognition. |
| JEL: | N0 |
| Date: | 2017–07–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:73136&r=ara |
| By: | Jamela Dwayat (l-Qasemi Academic College of Education-) |
| Abstract: | The study aimed to identify the effect of using the skill of asking questions, which is one of the higher-order thinking skills, in promoting critical thinking among Arab students at a school in East Jerusalem, on the subject of reading comprehension in Arabic. The researcher has used the quasi-experimental method on a study sample of (20 ) students. The results showed that students performed better in the pre-exam on the realistic questions, while they faced a problem in the discretionary and analytical questions, however, after teaching them in the post- exam the responses were closer to the correctness in the discretionary questions, and the answers were correct in analytical questions.The study recommended the need to work on the use of the skill of asking questions, because it helps the teacher and student together in developing a student's ability of thinking, answering the questions clearly, and working on implementing this skill .It also help students understand the lessons, memorizing them and retrieve them easily. In addition, there is a need for diversification in the questions and in the times of the classes, in order to enable the student to continue to listen to the teacher during the class. |
| Keywords: | asking questions strategycritical thinking Arab educationSocial and cultural context |
| JEL: | I23 I29 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:5808159&r=ara |
| By: | AlShehabi, Omar |
| Abstract: | This paper traces the historical evolution of the transparency, independence and accountability of public revenues and expenditures in each of the GCC countries. Beginning with the discovery of oil in 1932, specific focus is placed on that part of oil revenues that are treated as undisclosed allocations, including military expenditures, overseas transfers and royal allowances. It argues that with the exception of Kuwait, there is strong evidence to suggest that significant amount of oil revenues are undeclared, which go either into private hands or into undisclosed government transactions. |
| JEL: | N0 R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2017–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:84521&r=ara |
| By: | Global Nexus |
| Abstract: | Since inception nearly a century ago, corporations and industries have coevolved with Morocco’s legacy of peace and prosperity. With a growing pressure on agricultural production and natural resources, exacerbated with climate change, there is urgency to define sustainable strategies that would reassure corporations and industries for longterm prosperity and for a healthy economy. Studies have highlighted the perilous state of our natural environment, the exhaustion of our aquifers, the challenges facing our GDP growth, and the unraveling of our social fabric. The underlying science is well established striving to search for new solutions, for us to better manage our resources and improve the industrial processes, through research and on-going creativity. In fact, it has become important to take pragmatic measures to ensure that Morocco adapts to escalating crisis, and lays the foundations of a climate-proof culture. The industrial sector should take the lead to the road of resilience. Not only will it make it possible to endure the coming shocks of stress and scarcity, but to prevail over them. This policy brief will demonstrate how resilience will spread. |
| Keywords: | productivity, optimzation, efficiency, water scarcity, industrial water use, integrity |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ocp:ppaper:pb-1734&r=ara |
| By: | Eduardo Amaral Haddad |
| Abstract: | Input-output tables provide a rich source of information about the structure of economies that is not available from other frameworks. In addition to providing key information for the analysis of linkages between activities (and regions), the tables also provide the underlying core database used in a range of economic models. If used appropriately, these more sophisticated models can meaningfully assess the impact of economic change, at the national and regional levels. They can also be used to assess the distributional effects of change across the industries and regions included in the input-output table. When linked to household consumption and income data, the distributional effects of economic policy change on households can also be assessed. In what follows, we discuss some of the structural features of the Moroccan economy derived from the interregional input-output matrix for Morocco. The focus is on the role of the linkages embedded in the productive structure of the country and its implications for the design of regional policies. |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ocp:ppaper:pb-1737&r=ara |
| By: | Larabi Jaidi; Yassine Msadfa |
| Abstract: | Les chaînes de valeur mondiales offrent de nouvelles opportunités de transformation structurelle pour les pays en développement. Aujourd’hui la vision des chaînes de valeur mondiales se limitant à l’analyse des flux commerciaux et des IDE à l’échelle globale n’est plus suffisante pour répondre aux questions clés du positionnement et de la remontée dans ces chaînes de valeur, de la dynamique de la capture de la valeur et de sa pérennisation. La réponse à ces questions appelle un éclairage des réseaux de production qui, même pour un simple produit, couvrent les pays insérés dans les chaines de valeur sectorielles. Ces réseaux créés par le déploiement de ces chaînes sont le fait d’entreprises qui optimisent leurs stratégies d’approvisionnement via une réorganisation géographique et la séparation des stades de production. Désormais, l’avantage compétitif est remodelé par la logique de comportement des firmes, il se construit par la coopération inter-nations et intra-firmes. L’objet de cette contribution est de rendre compte de ces interdépendances nouvelles et comment intégrer, dans notre compréhension du déploiement des Chaînes de Valeur Mondiales (CVM), la logique des stratégies et comportements d’entreprises, le potentiel d’implication du tissu local des entreprises nationales, les articulations complexes entre innovations technologiques et organisationnelles, espaces géographiques et cadres sociopolitiques que construisent et déconstruisent les acteurs économiques dans ce processus de déploiement des CVM, à travers l’étude des secteurs automobiles et aéronautiques au Maroc et en Tunisie. |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ocp:rpaper:pp-17/08&r=ara |