Development In Arab Countries Research Articles

The knowledge economy and development in light of the economic shocks in Arab world

With the beginning of 1990, world moved towards knowledge in the economy as sustainable development engine depending on production factors and economic growth rate based on four basic pillars of the knowledge economy: (1) economic incentive, (2) institutional system, (3) education, human resources and innovation, (4) communication technology information. In light of the economic shocks facing the Arab world, as the most recent was the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, which led to decline in economic growth rates for Arab countries. The main objective of study is the effect of economic shocks on the knowledge economy and development in Arab countries during (1991: 2020). The study relied on secondary data and used descriptive economic analysis and the statistical analysis represented by the simple regression method. The study showed the most important factors affecting on an employment share of real GDP as an indicator of the production inputs contribution and technological progress in real GDP. The results of the study cleared a positive relationship between economic shocks and the barrel of oil price, as well as it showed the difference in the impact of the barrel oil price on the employment's share of real GDP in dollars in the Arab countries. The study indicated the importance of foreign direct investment in advancing development in the Arab world.

Trade liberalization and women empowerment in the Arab countries

PurposeThis paper investigates the impact of trade liberalization measured by trade openness (OPN) and tariffs on women empowerment measured by the gender gap index and gender development index, for two groups of Arab countries divided based on their income levels using annual data for the period 1995–2020. The study also considers other factors that may influence the gender gap, such as GDP growth and the female unemployment rate. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues and explorers whether the effects of trade liberalization differ based on the countries' income levels.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs the fully modified ordinary least squares (FM-OLS) regression model for heterogeneous cointegrated panels to examine the impact of trade liberalization on women empowerment. The study constructs an empirical two regression model of women empowerment measured by the gender gap model and gender development model for the two groups of higher-income countries and lower and middle-income countries.FindingsThe authors’ findings reveal that the impact of OPN on the gender gap varies between the two groups of Arab countries where more OPN within the higher-income group may increase the gender disparity, while it may reduce disparity within the lower and middle-income countries. In addition, GDP growth may reduce the gender disparity, while female unemployment raises the gender disparity between the two groups of countries in the long run. Findings also reveal that more OPN, tariffs and female unemployment may reduce gender development within the two groups, but more GDP growth may support the gender development in the long run.Originality/valueThis paper not only assesses the impact of trade liberalization on women empowerment generally, but also assess the women empowerment via two indices that are the gender gap and gender development in Arab countries which is – to the knowledge of the researchers – not yet investigated; further it explores if the effects of trade liberalization differs based on the countries' income levels.

The Relationship Between Good Governance and Economic Development In Arab Countries: A Cross Country Perspective

The concept of good governance has grown in prominence over the last several years. Reform and good governance projects have proliferated, with the United States spearheading various programs to bring about substantial political change in the Middle East. Due to the absence of democracy, restrictions on civil liberties, and the lack of fair elections, independent institutions, and transparency in many nations, this transformation has become necessary for all Arab countries. The article discusses the notion of good governance and patterns in development in Arab countries from the late twentieth century to the present. Additionally, it seeks to examine the link between good governance and economic development. The findings reveal a clear correlation between the form of government institutions and the potential for growth in Arab states. Improved governance and a move toward democracy broaden such countries' growth prospects

Financial Liberalization Policies and Sustainable Economic Development In Arab Countries

Financial liberalization has attracted increasing attention from the Arab region in recent decades. It plays a critical role in the financial sector in promoting balanced and sustainable economic growth, the experiences of macro and structural reforms have shown. The ability of the economy to overcome adverse economic conditions is primarily related to the size of reforms and policies of financial liberalization due to the financial sector's contribution in raising the efficiency of the economy and achieving Stability. Macro-reforms that include reform and stability of prices, reform of public finances and exchange and trade systems, and the restructuring of economic activities involve the basis for capital resources and the re-direction of new savings and investment flows. In addition, various markets, institutions, and channel tools are optimized to mobilize local savings and mobilize them in the form of credits and investment instruments. Then, direct them towards the sectors and for the most efficient and profitable economic activities. Furthermore, the governments work to attract foreign investment and attract it to provide additional financing resources that contribute to the coverage of local development. The liberalization might take varied forms for groupings of small and big businesses. The intended result is that the government should pursue a long-term policy plan that promotes companies' sustainability, including high- and low-income firms. Additionally, it is envisaged that businesses would place a greater emphasis on innovation, significantly boosting the quality of human resources to gain a competitive edge in the face of global competition.

Contradictory trends in the socio-economic development of Arab countries (late XX - early XXI centuries)

Contradictory trends in the socio-economic development of Arab countries (late XX - early XXI centuries)

Research on the Status Quo and Countermeasures of Cross-Border E-Commerce Development in Arab Countries

The development of modern information technology has subverted the previous trading methods. The rapid development of electronic information technology and logistics technology has laid a technical foundation for the development of cross-border e-commerce, and the huge market demand has accelerated the development of cross-border e-commerce. As a traditional energy supply region, Arab countries are also developing e-commerce. Although the current level of development of Arab countries in cross-border e-commerce cannot be compared with leading countries such as China and the United States, the consumption potential will be increased quickly based on the huge market demand of the Arab region, and it is recommended that Arab countries learn from China’s successful experience, such as enriching various industrial structures, improving e-commerce laws and regulations, strengthening the construction of basic logistics facilities, and promoting the application of electronic payment scenarios and other countermeasures. This will greatly promote the development of cross-border e-commerce in the Arab region.

Соціально-економічний розвиток країн арабської регіональної системи та «арабська весна» як каталізатор еволюції ісламізму на великому Близькому Сході.

The phenomenon of the Islamic extremism rise is directly related to the very political situation that has developed in a number of regions that are marked by heightened conflict index. The emergence of Islamic extremism was promoted by the internal factors of Muslim countries development, where unemployment, the standard of living of the population overwhelming majority, the difficult demographic situation, rather low economic development rates, the low level of authoritative political regimes and their repressive opposition policy, the crisis of national ideology that created a massive social base for the Islamist opposition to secular political regimes. A special role was played by changes in the geopolitical situation in the world as a whole especially this became relevant after the collapse of the USSR and the world socialist system. The position of the USA as the only world hegemonic state strengthened, which became a catalyst for the departure from European samples, as well as the search for ways of original development. The conflict of different types of civilizations – European and Muslim, manifested in almost all spheres of Muslim society, showed the impossibility of blindly copying Western society on Islamic soil. The intensification of the search for new solutions and changes in the priorities in the economic development of Arab countries became a natural phenomenon during the crisis shocks around the world. The basic ideological principles and provisions of any doctrine can, with their radicalization and bringing to the edge, form both extremely positive and negative attitudes towards the place of man in the world and the environment. The ideological component of Islamic radicalism is radical Islam, which consists of fundamentalism, traditionalism and modernism, each of which is a reaction to events in society. Islamic fundamentalism and traditionalism are a defensive reaction to the deviation from the traditions and established norms of culture and society.

Energy for a Sustainable Development in Arab Countries: Facts and Perspectives

The energy sector in Arab countries plays an important and effective role in achieving economic and social development. Nevertheless, the environmental impact of energy uses are among the main challenges facing sustainable development, these environmental challenges call for the spread adoption of cleaner fuels and upgrading relevant technologies, in order to increment efficiencies and diminish pollution. Many Arab countries have taken measures over the past two decades aimed at controlling emissions for energy uses in various sectors, by improving fuel quality and by using less pollution of alternative fuels.

Особенности модернизации религии и государства на Ближнем Востоке

Defining the role of islam in soсial development of arab countries – extensive independent problem,which is important in modern life conditions. Arab-muslim world with its long history and culture impregnatedwith complex and not balanced systems of co-operation of many factors: religious, political,economic, social, ethnic. The ambiguity and inconsistency of different development models in the ArabStates was often confirmed by the practice of the last decades. Secularist tendencies, the penetration ofWestern ideas and values in the public life of Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa combinedwith the increasing influence of traditional concepts, the revitalization of religious-political oppositionin the countries of study region. The possibility of the dominance of certain political attitudes arelargely determined not only by external influences, this category of “third world” countries, the domesticclimate, but still powerful influence of the Muslim religion. Turn to Islam and the supporters of a secularway of development, insisting on the need to adapt religious observance to changing domestic andworld situation. Islamization of various areas of social and political life, the relationship of religion withthe political culture of the Arab and other Muslim countries was widely observed in previous periods ofdevelopment, and in the last two decades.

Evolution of opportunities for early childhood development in Arab countries

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate opportunities for early childhood development (ECD) regarding children’s prenatal care, access to nutrition, health, parental care and cognitive-developmental activities, in 33 surveys from 13 countries. A total of 15 indicators for children’s opportunities are assessed including their typical level, inequality across demographic groups, and factors responsible.Design/methodology/approachProbability regressions estimate the effects of various household circumstances on children’s engagement in development opportunities. Dissimilarity indexes and human opportunity indexes are computed for each ECD dimension. To understand the impact of each household characteristic, Shorrocks-Shapley decomposition is performed.FindingsECD opportunities are poor but improving and becoming more equal across many countries. Progress is uneven. As may be expected, household wealth affects inequality for ECD opportunities facilitated by markets or governments, but not non-market opportunities. For preventive healthcare and preschool enrollment, access is deteriorating, reflecting low priority given to them in public policy. Children’s height falls behind in the first two years of children’s life, suggesting the need for targeted institutional interventions. Surprisingly, countries experiencing uprisings see conditions improving, while other Arab countries see them stagnating or deteriorating.Originality/valueLocal and national policy should tackle the identified opportunity gaps. Policymakers should allocate proper investment in medical and educational infrastructure and better coordinate support for disadvantaged families to ensure proper prenatal and ECD. International organizations should provide assistance with these programs.

Evolution of Opportunities for Early Childhood Development in Arab Countries

This study uses 36 standardized population and health surveys – Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, Demographic and Health Surveys and Pan-Arab Project for Family Health – from sixteen countries for years 2002–2015 to assess the evolution of early childhood opportunities in countries across the Arab region. Fifteen indicators for children’s basic opportunities – including qualified care for mothers during pregnancy and child delivery, children’s access to minimum nutrition, health, parental care and developmental activities – are assessed. The typical level of opportunities, inequality in opportunities across various socio-economic groups, and household characteristics responsible for the inequality are reviewed.The study concludes that access to ECD opportunities is largely inadequate and subject to vast inequality across the Arab region as well as within countries – particularly children’s height, access to iodized salt, enrolment in nurseries and preschool programs, cognitive stimulation at home, and violent disciplining. Across most countries, children’s height falls behind in the first two years of children’s life, suggesting that this is a crucial period in which a targeted institutional intervention could be most fruitful. While ECD opportunities are improving and becoming more equal over time across many countries, progress is uneven. For the rates of skilled care during child delivery, child immunization, and enrolment in preschool programs, access is deteriorating, perhaps reflecting low priority given to them in public policy. Among Arab countries, a number of indicators were deteriorating in Djibouti, Mauritania and Syria. Surprisingly, countries experiencing uprisings fare better than other Arab countries in terms of the level and trends in ECD opportunities. Regarding inequality in ECD opportunities, inequality in child mortality, rate of underweight, enrolment in preschool programs, engagement in developmental activities at home, violent disciplining of children, and child labor is deteriorating. Algeria, Djibouti and Syria have seen deterioration of inequality across many dimensions of ECD. Among household characteristics contributing to inequality, wealth accounts for 20–30 percent of inequality, parents’ education for another 25–35 percent, differences across administrative regions for 20–35 percent, and rural vs. urban residence for 5–15 percent. Interestingly, wealth affects inequality for ECD activities facilitated by markets or local governments such as nursery and preschool attendance, but not as much for non-market activities such as child disciplining and child labor. The relative influence of wealth and residence falls over time, while that of administrative regions and mother’s education rises. These findings have important policy implications. A number of the identified effects can be remedied with narrow interventions or assistance by state governments or non-governmental organizations. The study therefore provides some guidance regarding the most beneficial and cost-effective targets for limited public resources.

The Use of the Internet for English Language Teachers’ Professional Development in Arab Countries

This study investigated the relationship between English language teachers' motives to use online teaching resources and three types of Internet practices: teachers' practices in using the Internet to collaborate with others, teachers' practices for classroom teaching, and the Internet's contribution to the overall professional development of teachers. Gender was also used to assess differences in the proposed model. In this study, one hundred and seventy-four English language teachers completed an online survey. SmartPLS was used to assess the measurement and the structural models. The results indicated that participation was a significant determinant of both English language teachers' Internet-related practices at classroom level and the Internet's contribution to the overall professional development. Considering gender differences, the results demonstrated that participation in online professional development was significantly related to the English language teachers' practices at classroom level for males but not for females.

Opportunities for Early Childhood Development in Arab Countries: Profile and Evolution of Inequality and its Sources

High inequality of opportunity is a major social challenge in the Arab region. This study evaluates opportunities for early childhood development (ECD) in fourteen Arab countries using a number of indicators for mothers’ care during pregnancy and child delivery, as well as children’s access to minimum nutrition, health, parental care and cognitive developmental activities, in twenty standardized national surveys from fourteen countries. We find that children in most of the included Arab countries receive inadequate access to qualified prenatal and delivery care, many fail to be properly vaccinated or receive adequate supply of iodine. In part due to these shortfalls, disproportionately many children become stunted and underweight, or die before reaching their first birthday. Particularly significant deficiencies exist in children’s access to cognitive development, namely enrolment in nurseries and pre-school programs, cognitive stimulation at home, violent disciplining and exploitation of children for housework. Opportunities for children’s development are limited in Iraq, Mauritania, Morocco, Somalia and Sudan, with Somalia being a distant outlier. Within countries, disparities exist in children’s access to ECD opportunities across households from different wealth strata, regions and educational backgrounds, particularly for mothers’ access to qualified physicians, and children’s access to nursery and pre-school education.Over time, children’s opportunities are improving across countries and dimensions of ECD, but the improvement is uneven. Immunization, iodine intake and children’s stunting have worsened in many countries. Djibouti and Morocco have seen deterioration in many aspects of ECD. Finally, within-country inequality in opportunities is falling across many ECD indicators and countries, but these improvements have also been uneven. Inequality in child mortality, enrolment in preschool programs, engagement in developmental activities at home, violent disciplining of children, and exploitation of children for housework has worsened. Algeria, Djibouti, Morocco, Iraq and Palestine have seen deteriorating inequality across many dimensions of ECD.In light of these findings, local and national policy should target ease of access to health facilities and pre-school programs in order to promote fair access to ECD for everyone. International organizations should further coordinate support for disadvantaged families and proper investment in medical and educational infrastructure.

The components of the transformation in the human development of Arab countries

لم تعد التنمية في الوقت الحاضر مجرد زيادات في معدلات النمو الاقتصادي وما ينعكس ذلك على زيادات في حصة الفرد من الناتج القومي بل أصبحت تتعدى ذلك بكثير حيث تحول الاهتمام بالتنمية إلى جوانب أخرى فإضافة إلى معيار الدخل شملت التنمية مؤشرات التطور الاجتماعي والارتقاء بنوعية الحياة وزيادة الخيارات أمام البشرية إضافة إلى مؤشرات ذات العلاقة الأساسية بالحاجات الإنسانية . ( (Sen.A.1990 فالناس هم الثروة الحقيقية للأمم. وفي الواقع أن هدف التنمية الأساسي هو توسيع حريات الإنسان حيث يمكن لعملية التنمية أن تحرر القدرات البشرية بتوسيع الخيارات المتاحة للناس كي يعيشوا حياة مكتملة وخلاقة وهم في الوقت نفسه المستفيدون من التنمية وعوامل التقدم والتغير التي تحدثها ويجب أن تفيد هذه العملية كل الأفراد وبالتساوي وترسي أسس المشاركة لكل منهم .

Towards formulating effective research and development national strategies in Arab countries

Extremely weak R&D has a negative impact on growth and development in Arab countries. Developing a better R&D strategy could enhance capacity and effectiveness of R&D. The failure of the previously developed strategies in Arab countries was due to lack of vision, incorrect identification of R&D priorities, and disregard consulting stakeholders. This article discusses the challenges of developing R&D national strategies in Arab countries including identifying R&D priorities, managing stakeholders, assessing the current situation of R&D, and defining objectives of the strategies.

Economic integration and planning the economies of the Arab world "An analytical vision of the Arab oil economy"

There is no doubt that the relationship between economics and politics is a close relationship and has mutual impact in the whole world, but in the Arab countries the matter takes on more comprehensive and powerful dimensions, and it is not possible to separate them, if we want to achieve progress on the political level, it must be on the economic level, so the emphasis was on economic integration under economic planning, and the subject of the research focused on dealing with the importance of Arab economic integration, as it is an essential and necessary means to achieve the renaissance and development of Arab countries, and with what

EU Democracy Assistance in the Mediterranean: What Relationship with the Arab Uprisings?

This article analyzes the European Union (EU) policy for democracy assistance toward the Southern Mediterranean countries and tracks changes in the last decade, with a special emphasis on the most recent period. It shows that the EU policy, which goes under the acronym of EIDHR, has evolved, but predominantly in response to internal dynamics rather than to developments in Arab countries. The EU has increasingly provided assistance to local actors on the ground in non-member countries and has differentiated its action in authoritarian countries from countries in transition. When it comes to implementing its own policy, however, the EU is less able to promote democracy than human rights, and most of the funds go to support projects centered on relatively uncontroversial rights such as women's and children's.

Selected Indicators of Development in Arab Countries

Selected Indicators of Development in Arab Countries

Human development in Arab countries: selected indicators

Human development in Arab countries: selected indicators

Corporate Social Responsibility: Challenges and Prospects for Development in Arab Countries

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibilities and problems for establishment of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the Arab countries. The paper explores the nature and concept of CSR, particularly the Arab initiatives. As well as studying the activation of the corporate social responsibility role in the economic and social development of Arab countries.