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This article investigates the contribution of Islamic banks to enhancing access to financial services by looking at their unique method of offering Shariacompliant goods and services. Islamic banking principles, the study claims, encourage profit-and-loss sharing and forbid riba (interest), which increases access to financial services, particularly for devout Muslims. In particular, this paper looks at how Islamic banks affect financial inclusion in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. This is accomplished by assessing academic literature, industry reports, and statistical data. It looks at potential substitutes, including mobile banking and microfinance, to reach those who need access to traditional banking services and delves into the difficulties Islamic banks have, such as a lack of knowledge about money and location. Data indicate that Islamic banks support economic development and stability by establishing trust via Sharia governance structures. In its last part, the report offers some suggestions on how governments may utilize Islamic banking to increase public access to financial services and promote social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new world order has been instrumental in determining and promoting multilateralism, and as a result, the world has undergone several transformations in the past few decades. Amidst heightened US-China tension, President Biden unveiled the Build Back Better World (B3W) project during the 2021-G7 meeting. The following year it was re-branded as the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment. While it has not been explicitly stated, B3W aims to counter China's multi-billion Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Understanding B3W vs. BRI debate is important for countries, especially those in the Middle East who already perform a balancing act between the US and China. This paper assesses B3W vs. BRI debate with particular reference to the Middle East. After evaluating the contradictions and complementarities between the two projects, this paper concludes that B3W will only benefit Middle Eastern countries if it aligns with BRI, where strategic objectives and interests make parallel, such as in the avenues of cyber innovation and economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to study the Chinese growing interests in the Middle east and its implications for Saudi-Iran rapprochement. For the exceptional rise of China and its energy requirements the Middle East stands one of the most attractive destinations for its foreign policy. The recently held Sino-Arab Summit reflects Beijing's growing interests and influence in the region. Major focus of the Arab-Chinese ties lies in economic development and peaceful resolution of the regional disputes. Beijing mediated the restoration of Riyadh-Tehran diplomatic ties between the two ideological rivals, representing opposing Islamic sects - Sunni and Shia Muslims. The data has been mainly collected through secondary sources with exploratory research design. The Saudi-Iran conflictual ties can hinder Chinese trade and investment in the Middle East therefore, it has keenly assisted the Saudi-Iran rapprochement. Iran and Saudia need to capitalize Chinese growing economic and political interests in the Middle East that will be helpful for the regional and global peace and stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at opening up opportunities to look for new meanings in Indonesia's relations with Middle Eastern countries, which are no longer a binary opposition, such as the black and white mindset, but are searching for colors and other positive meanings. Many people interpret an entity solely based on a static definition, and it seems monotonous. Deconstruction seeks to offer a new sense through re-actualization, redefinition, and re-interpretation. In general, this paper discusses the "new meaning" of Indonesia's relations with the Middle East. This paper argues that to welcome Society 5.0 through Humanism, both Indonesia and the Middle East share the same opportunity to advance humanism aspects that would apply to that era. Humanism which is being developed, must be controlled by three things: anthropocentric, ecocentric, and theocentric. We need human beings' intelligent role in a society that chooses super-intelligent technology to share ordinary virtues. Hopefully, in the meantime, the Society 5.0 era will bring much help for Indonesia's cooperation with the Middle Eastern countries for a better future for both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consensus exists on the importance of heritage for ensuring sustainable futures, due to its impact on political aspects, ethical reflection and local economic development. Nowadays, using technology has become crucial in the construction industry, including heritage conservation. This paper aims to compare a selected sample of digital platforms, gathering data in support of heritage documentation, both for heritage and archeological sites. Despite the huge potential of digital technologies for contributing to heritage conservation, still there is a need for more clarity on what should be used to achieve different goals and what is the best approach under various circumstances. A team of five experts on digital technologies applied to different types of heritage worked collaboratively to gather the case studies in this paper and to analyse them comparatively. Jordan is a Middle East and North Africa country chosen as unit of analysis, because of the huge potential of digital technologies for heritage documentation. The findings from the comparative case review offers a reflection on what should best adopted for achieving different goals. Differences of approaches were revealed between the characteristics of heritage site and those of archaeological sites in Jordan's conservation history. The findings called for a prioritization of using digital technology in both heritage and archeological sites. The discussion on digital platforms currently available in Jordan allows for highlighting strengths and limitations of different approaches and methodologies, thus drawing lessons for addressing the strategic choice of the most appropriate digital solution under different circumstances and in different contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper deals with the structural roots of political instability in the Middle East that has been manifested by the Arab Spring throughout the region since early 2011. The roots of the instability are seen in cumulative effects of highly uneven long‐term social change in its three main dimensions since 1960s: (1) rapid social and demographic changes, (2) slower and fluctuating economic development, and (3) rigid political subsystem. The Middle Eastern uneven social change is also under way in a specific (4) cultural and (5) international context. The political instability is thus seen as a consequence of multiple and complex interactions among various dimensions of uneven modernisation process, Islamic political imagination and the international context. The paper deals with the interactions on the macro‐level and with its politically destabilizing consequences on micro‐level using selected examples of causal mechanisms. The Middle Eastern uneven modernisation pattern is systematically documented by empirical macro‐indicators and is compared with the modernisation process in other post‐colonial world macro‐regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic historians have recently treated Islamic institutions as "growth retarding," "averse to change," "path dependent," "lacking creative destruction" and "extractive" rather than "inclusive" and blamed their failure to change for the underdevelopment of the Middle East. This paper argues for a different approach to Islamic institutions which implies that they boosted economic growth. The paper explores changes in economic structures, a transition in population levels from high to low and a transition to individual property rights and provides economic indicators of growth. Articulated via Islamic law, legally sanctioned birth control and women's property rights were instrumental in assuring low fertility rates and equitable and well‐distributed income in the population. The paper concludes theoretically and empirically that Islamic institutions were innovative, amenable to change and efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The northern Negev—a region both geographically peripheral and environmentally marginal for human habitation—experienced increased settlement and activity in the Intermediate Bronze Age in the southern Levant (ca. 2500–2000/1950 BCE). Most interpretations link this phenomenon with Egyptian demand for copper and the accompanying development of trade networks that transported this valuable resource. However, the function of these networks, the subsistence of the peoples who operated them, and the social and economic systems that supported them remain unclear. This paper examines the means of subsistence and sustenance of the populations of these sites in the northern Negev, together with their role in supporting connections between Egypt and the southern Levant, and suggests that while their location may have been marginal, their identity and role in the social and economic system of the Intermediate Bronze Age southern Levant was not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contends that just as the 1948 Arab–Israeli War shook Judaism in Tunisia and pushed to the forefront a 40-year-old fierce disagreement among the Tunisian Jews, it exposed, in an unprecedented manner, the Tunisian Muslims' mixed reactions to the Palestinian conflict and lifted the lid over an unceasing discord between the secular, Western-educated and the religious, Zitouna mosque-educated, Tunisians. A survey of a selection of editorials from Muslim papers having different ideological orientations – assimilationist, reformist, Islamist, neutral, communist, nationalist – demonstrates that reactions ranged from backing Arab troops ‘invading’ Palestine to condemnation of Western apathy to ‘prudent’ reticence to complete silence or indifference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the role of various knowledge indicators, such as research and development, information and communication technologies and trade, in the economic growth and convergence performance of 17 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries and 17 Latin American countries (LACs) during the 1980-2014 period, by utilizing dynamic panel data techniques like the pooled mean group estimation method. Our results indicate that knowledge variables seem to play an important role in the economic growth performances of both regions and, overall, there is a significant convergence among the countries in MENA and LACs. Nevertheless, our main finding is that the impact of the knowledge indicator in Latin American countries is weaker compared to the MENA region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developed and well regulated financial markets are usually seen as a precondition for an efficient allocation of resources and can foster long term economic growth. This paper explores the institutional determinants for financial development in the countries of the Middle East and North African ( MENA) region. Institutional conditions are from the International Country Risk Guide. Panel-econometric techniques are applied to assess the development in the banking sector and the stock market. As a main finding, institutional conditions are important in both financial segments, even after controlling for standard macroeconomic determinants and fixed effects. For the banking sector, corruption seems to be most decisive. For the stock market, the impact of corruption and law and order appear to be relevant. While per capita income and inflation do not seem to play a vital role, openness to foreign trade is quite important for all areas of financial development. Hence, overall, faster real economic integration is of key policy priority to improve financial development as a condition for higher GDP growth. Better law and enforcement practices and anti-corruption policies are strategies to accompany this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Labour market constraints constitute prominent obstacles to firm development and economic growth of countries located in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The purpose of this paper is to examine the implications of firm characteristics, national locations, and sectoral associations for the perceptions of firms concerning two basic labour market constraints: labour regulations and labour skill shortages. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical analysis is carried out using firm-level data set sourced from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys database. A bivariate probit estimator is used to account for potential correlations between the errors in the two labour market constraints’ equations. The authors implement overall estimations and comparative cross-country and cross-sector analyses, and use alternative estimation models. Findings – The empirical results reveal some important implications of firm characteristics (e.g. firm size, labour compositions) for firm perceptions of labour regulations and labour skill shortages. They also delineate important cross-country and cross-sector variations. The authors also find significant heterogeneity in the factors’ implications for the perceptions of firms belonging to different sectors and located in different MENA countries. Originality/value – Reforms in labour regulations and investment in human capital are important governmental policy interventions for promoting firm development and economic growth in the MENA region. This paper contributes to the empirical literature by analysing the factors influencing the perceptions of firms located in the MENA region concerning labour regulations and labour skill shortages. It provides policy-makers with information needed in the design of labour policies that attenuate the impacts of labour market constraints and enhance the performance of firms and the long-run economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are carriers of the economic development on local, regional, and national level. With high levels of flexibility, agility and adaptability, small and medium enterprises have the ability to transform and embrace new emerging technologies and opportunities. In the Industry 4.0 world, characterized by the intensive development and integration of digital solutions into all levels of operations, SMEs are among early adopters of such solutions. The purpose of the paper is to examine how small and medium enterprises in the Middle East are increasing their competitiveness, using innovative digital and e-business solutions as key transformative tools. Within the research, a systematic review of support ecosystem for development of the sector in the Middle East has been performed. Based on the systematic review and literature findings, the 5I framework, consisting of internationalization, innovation, integration, implementation, and intensifying, has been suggested as the model for transformative development of small and medium enterprises. In the future research, it is possible to examine how fast-growing economies that create supportive environment for the development of small and medium enterprises, simultaneously recognizing digital and ebusiness solutions as important pillar of increasing competitiveness and innovativeness, might benefit from successful implementation of 5I framework for successful global transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to tie together the insights from the body of research relating to economic complexity theory, structural holes, non-price based competition, and knowledge management. The insights relating to generating national prosperity are synthesised through an intellectual capital lens.Design/methodology/approach The paper uses literature review combined with insights from an Australian project on state-based economic complexity.Findings The connectivist and autopoietic epistemological paradigms are found to be most aligned with the need to manage transformation between organisational and human resources that will achieve causal ambiguity and hence inimitability. This inimitability forms the basis for achieving non-price based competition and if there is a rich network of economic agents that, both individually and collectively through collaboration, have these characteristics a large share of the economy can operate on the basis of non-priced based competition. If all these agents have an export focus the economic complexity of the economy will be high, and likely increasing, which will enable both the creation and the appropriation of large amounts of value and hence result in increasing national prosperity.Research limitations/implications Findings are only relevant for OECD countries given the origins of the data used.Practical implications Managerial implications are outlined as are major implications for public policy.Originality/value This is the first time that these concepts are linked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the International Energy Agency (IEA) was established out of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) in 1974, Australia was not among its founding members. Indeed, it was opposed to its formation and even contemplated voting in the OECD to block its establishment. A single negative vote under the "mutual agreement" rule would have done so. This paper, based on archival research, explores the reasons for this course of action and shows that the decision was linked to the resource nationalism at the time of Minister Rex Connor and his fear that supporting it might jeopardise his attempts to raise non‐equity finance in the Middle East. This article shows that this previously unanalysed decision was connected to what became known as the "Loans Affair" that brought about Connor's demise and contributed to the downfall of the Whitlam Government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to be a conceptual contribution to the special issue on "Is the Middle East the land of the future?". It aims to provide a holistic picture of the efforts of the Middle East towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), using investments in sports, as a galvanizing force. The paper concludes that, on the balance of probability, this might not be a given.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on personal observations and documentary analysis of numerous studies including those in this special issue.Findings – Although the Middle East has made "front page" news on most global media platforms – albeit for a variety of reasons, there are signs not to be too optimistic as to whether this geographic entity is, by default, the land of the future.Research limitations/implications – As a conceptual piece, this article cannot be generalized across the expanse of what constitutes the Middle East. Most of the observations are based on the most boisterous in the region – notably members of the Gulf Cooperation countries (GCC) and Turkey with its rising regional influence.Practical implications – While the Middle East may have been in the global spotlight, there remain challenges that cannot be so easily wished away. One such is the inability to leverage the investment in sports in a sustainable global partnership that spills over into other MDGs. There are persuasive arguments for deeper integration rather than what seems to be the fragmented sibling rivalry across the Middle East.Originality/value – This study provides a holistic framework for analyzing a region that has been bedeviled with unrest in recent years; and one that has, to a very large extent, weathered the storm of the Arab Spring and attracted global attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Several scholars, policymakers and international development agencies have been suggesting that trade and capital openness would bring better governance, in particular higher level of voice and accountability (VA), for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows on VA in the MENA region. Design/methodology/approach – Applying two different panel models (fixed-effects and dynamic), this paper uses related observations from 19 MENA countries between 2000 and 2008 to analyze the impacts of FDI inflows on VA. Findings – The results reveal that FDI inflows do not contribute to the higher level of VA in the MENA region. Originality/value – With no previous studies of the linkage between FDI inflows and VA in the MENA region, the paper makes a significant contribution in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims at reflecting the complexity of factors that determine the migratory flux that connects two of the most important geopolitical actors of today's world stage: the European Union and the countries of the Middle East. Through an analysis of relevant academic sources and statistical data provided by institutions and organizations like the World Bank, Eurostat or the U.S. Department of State, a detailed analysis of the phenomenon of immigration from the Middle East to the EU territory will be made and several conclusions regarding the main factors that determine this phenomenon will be identified. The first part of the article consists of a short analysis of the key concepts that form the basis of the more complex argumentation regarding the main factors that determine directly or indirectly the ample phenomenon of migration from the Middle East to the European Union and that will be made in the second part of the paper. These key concepts refer to the geographic boundaries of the two regions that are in the center of the analysis (the European Union and the Middle East) and the geopolitical context that characterize the situation of the two entities. After this theoretical foundation is set, a more detailed analysis of the migratory flux to the European Union in general and of the migratory flux from the Middle East region in particular is made. The results of the analysis show that there is a complex of determinant factors that explain the migration flows between the two regions, but only a couple of factors can be considered as being essential: the continuous state of armed conflicts in the Middle East and the differences in economic development between the countries that form the Middle East region and the EU Member States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Turkish Studies - Economics, Finance, Politics is the property of Electronic Turkish Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper uses the Near East as a case study to describe how religious identity became a source of preference formation and a cause of social cleavage. It formulates the concepts of identity-sharing groups and resource-sharing groups to bridge between religious identity's social-psychological aspects and its socioeconomic effects. The paper then argues that social cleavages among religious identity-sharing groups generated informal institutions that are incompatible with the abstract formal institutions of the nation-states of Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria. That incompatibility hobbles efforts of formal state institutions to promote economic development, and instead restrains economic growth by intensifying existing conflicts among groups. It suggests that a state that could promote economic development would be the one that recognizes and supports the informal, localized institutions and allows those of them with common features to evolve into abstract formal institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forging partnerships for development is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals. While faith-based organisations (fbos) are receiving growing attention within development policy as important non-state service providers, they are assumed to be less conducive to forging partnerships with governments or development organisations than secular ngos due to their allegiance to specific religious beliefs. Analysing the dynamic of engagement between the state and madrasas (the most prominent fbo in the Muslim world) in six countries across two geographical regions-the Middle East (Egypt, Syria, Turkey), and South Asia (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh)- the paper counters the assumption that fbos are less likely to enter into negotiations, demonstrate flexibility, and engage in the strategic bargaining often involved in forging such partnerships. Like ngos, fbos respond to socio-political and economic incentives and enter into a variety of relationships with the state, ranging from co-operation to conflict. The defining feature in building a cooperative relationship is the level of trust between the negotiators on the two sides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how oil price shocks affect the output growth of selected MEN A countries that are considered either net exporters or net importers of this commodity, but are too small to affect oil prices. That an individual country's economic performance does not affect world oil prices is imposed on the Vector Autoregressive setting as an identifying restriction. The estimates suggest that oil price increases have a statistically significant and positive effect on the outputs of Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. However, oil price shocks do not appear to have a statistically significant effect on the outputs of Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia. When we further decompose positive oil shocks such as oil demand and oil supply for the latter set of countries, oil supply shocks are associated with lower output growth but the effect of oil demand shocks on output remain positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study which investigated the interaction between economic growth and education in Middle East and North America (MENA) countries and Turkey. It notes that the historical background of the economic development and formation of the economic institutions in the countries in the MENA region are different. Some indicators of the quality of education in the region include expenditure per student and total public spending on education as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). Overall results show that education has a positive effect on economic growth.

In the modern Middle East, proponents of economic development often mobilize the 'place' of women as an index of a country or region's modernization. In contemporary southeastern Turkey, for instance, state-led urbanization is driven and justified by the claim that women in cities are free to participate in public life, whereas women in villages are 'confined to the home.' This paper challenges that narrative by querying the figure of confinement to the home. I begin by exploring the social scientific convention that takes the boundary of the house (inside/outside, private/public, female/male) as a stable axis of comparison across time and space. Then, drawing on my fieldwork in the city of Urfa in southeastern Turkey, I track how the inside/outside boundary is phenomenally and differentially instantiated in three types of home-village, urban, and peri-urban. I argue that, in Urfa, the notion of a bounded home arises only in the context of urbanization, as an emergent middle class moves into modern apartment buildings, setting themselves apart from villagers and migrants both socially and spatially. Here, 'confinement to the home,' far from a mark of backwardness, is for local women a badge of middle-class respectability. I thus show how the question of domestic boundaries, far more than a developmental or scholarly preoccupation, acts as an important means of self-positioning and social differentiation in a multi-ethnic, cross-class context. [Turkey, urbanization, gender, spatial politics, migration and cosmopolitanism] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurship is suggested to be one of the key sources which promote economic growth and development, the increasing interest in entrepreneurship has expanded to include a sustainable and knowledge enhanced economic growth and development as requirements for the economic structural transformation. Furthermore, sustainable economic growth leads to enhance the promising production sectors and enterprises, which in turn increase entrepreneurial activities, enterprises and sectors. Therefore, the aim of our work is to highlight the nexus relationship and impact of both entrepreneurship and economic growth on each other. Thus, we emphasize the value of entrepreneurship as an economic growth promoter, from one side, and we detect the influence of economic growth on entrepreneurship in a panel of countries in the region of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Our panel data is including eight middle income level countries from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, which are (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, Turkey) over the period from 2003 to 2019. A recent and notable econometric technique has been run that is a dynamic panel Data System analysis (GMM system technique), Arellano-Bond/Blundell-Bond estimators. Data were collected from World Bank and UNCTAD. The empirical findings show that there is a positive association between entrepreneurship and economic growth. Furthermore, the findings emphasize that entrepreneurship promotes economic growth. The findings of this work would be useful to policymakers in identifying and implementing the most effective measures to remove the macroeconomic barriers that entrepreneurs encounter, as well as package of policies have been provided to stimulate innovative entrepreneurial activities and enterprises. The article also recommends to invest more in human capital in order to improve managerial skills and productivity. In addition, government should invest more to create high-quality social and physical infrastructure and alliances to support business friendly environment and to establish efficient access to financing, foreign markets and access to technology methods for established and new start-ups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though it may seem that information floats on its own throughout the Internet, in reality someone must make policies and financial decisions to gather and organize data and prepare it for retrieval at the appropriate time. It must be stored in various formats in information hubs. These information hubs are essential components of the Internet, itself an essential component of socioeconomic development. But are these information hubs acknowledged in international development planning in the Information Age? This paper discusses information centers – libraries, archives and museums – in the context of coordinated global planning for socioeconomic development and offers a metric by which information centers may be correlated to a country’s social and economic advancement. It concludes with reflections about information components of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the needs to gather data and expand information centers in order to achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the growth of per capita GDP in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBG) from 1950 to 2005. Data from Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics and the World Bank is integrated with Angus Maddison's estimates of per capita GDP of the WBG and Israel to produce new estimates of per capita GDP for the WBG from 1950–2005 in 1990 international dollars. With these new estimates, it is possible to compare the growth in WBG from an international perspective. One finding is that from 1968 to 1999 the economic growth in WBG was the tenth highest in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to describe "transformative scenario planning," a methodology that enables people trying to change the future collaboratively to transform, rather than adapt to, a situation.Design/methodology/approach – The process centers on constructing scenarios of possible futures for a situation, but takes the well-established adaptive scenario planning methodology and turns it on its head – to construct scenarios not only to understand the future, but also to influence it.Findings – Transformative scenario planning teams have tackled some of the most important and difficult challenges of our time: health care, economic development, and climate change across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Some of these teams succeeded in changing their situation and others have failed.Practical implications – The five steps of transformative scenario planning are: convening a team from across the whole system; observing what is happening; constructing stories about what could happen; discovering what can and must be done; and acting to transform the system.Originality/value – The process centers on constructing scenarios of possible futures for a situation, not only to understand the future, but also to learn how to influence it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the internal organisation of the societies of the Middle East and how that may have influenced the economic institutions to explain the economic trajectory of the region since the medieval era. Societies of the Middle East experienced a good deal of institutional change since the rise of Islam. While many of these changes were in response to the changing circumstances, they also reflected the social structure and prevailing power balances. Beginning in the medieval era and continuing with the Ottomans in the early modern period, political power was concentrated in the hands of the sovereign and the state elites around him. In contrast, the influence of various social groups, not only of landowners but also of merchants, manufacturers and moneychangers, over economic matters, and more generally over the policies of the central government remained limited. As a result, societies in the Middle East did not develop institutions more independent of the state and the state elites and more in favour of the private sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the distinctive characteristics of commercial development and its effect on the shaping of the urban form in rapidly developing port cities with a special emphasis on Mersin, which had been an emerging city in the Eastern Mediterranean from the nineteenth century to the first half of the twentieth century. This paper questions the relations between commercial development and morphological change in terms of the functional and spatial patterns that emerged as a result of commercial activity, and the motivating force behind them. The port city is conceived as a spatial expression of core–periphery relations, in which they serve as an essential intermediate stop from where commodities are transferred to and from the agrarian periphery and the industrial core. The findings of the study revealed that the commercial development of Mersin between the late nineteenth century and mid-twentieth century was in the form of sui-generis development as a mercantile port of exchange in the Eastern Mediterranean. The commercial development, which came into being in a gradual and piecemeal manner rather than depending on planned and coordinated large-scale redevelopments, revealed itself spatially through land-use differentiation and specialized commercial environments. The notable tradesmen at the very top of the hierarchical structure positioned themselves at the very centre of the process by organizing a network of distribution and credit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract To the best of our knowledge, there is no econometric study on the causal relationship between renewable or fossil energies and terrorism, nor on terrorism in France. This paper tries to fill this gap and considers other variables as economic growth and trade openness. The autoregressive distributed lag approach and Granger causality are used for annual data on France covering the period 1980–2015. The Wald test confirms the existence of long-run relationships between the considered variables. Granger causality reveals long-run bidirectional causalities between all the variables. Interestingly, in the short-run, there are unidirectional causalities running from renewable energy to terrorism, and from terrorism to trade openness, and there is bidirectional causality between terrorism and economic growth. Long-run parameter estimates show that more renewable energy consumption and more trade increase both terrorism and economic growth. However, economic growth reduces terrorism in the long-run and appears as a powerful tool to combat terrorism in France. In addition, France is recommended to continue encouraging the use of renewable energies, and at the same time, to make more diplomatic efforts to resolve political and military conflicts in the world, and particularly in the Middle East. Highlights • There is long-run bidirectional causality between renewable energy and terrorism. • There is long-run bidirectional causality between fossil energy and terrorism. • There is short-run unidirectional causality running from renewable energy to terrorism. • In the long run, renewables increase terrorism and economic growth. • In the long run, economic growth reduces terrorism and increases renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of International Relations / Uluslararasi Iliskiler is the property of International Relations Council and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

there is no abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a methodology to construct detailed indices of financial sector development across countries and uses it to create a new panel database of financial sector development in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. It combines existing quantitative data with information from comprehensive surveys undertaken in 2000-01 Sand 2002-03. The data show that some MENA countries have relatively well-developed banking sectors and regulatory and supervisory regimes. However across the region, the nonbank financial sectors and sup- porting institutions are in need of reform. The MENA region ranks far behind industrialized countries and East Asia in financial sector development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the linkages between financial development and economic growth in the Middle East using newly developed methods of panel cointegration along with the popular time series methodologies such as the Johansen's cointegration, Granger causality, and the variance decompositions. The results indicate that, in the long run financial development and economic growth may be related to some level. In the short run, the panel causality tests point to real economic growth as the force that drives changes in financial development while individual countries’ causality tests fail to give a clear evidence of the direction of causations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is reasonable agreement that effective and well-developed institutions have a significant role to play in economic development. Accordingly a number of studies have attempted to relate institutions to the rate of economic growth and the level of efficiency of markets. This paper assesses the relationship between a number of economic development and institutional variables and the level of financial market development in the Middle East and north Africa (MENA) region. Correlation matrices support the view that the institutional environment in which financial markets function is important, as this reinforces the efficient allocation of economic rights that are essential for markets to function optimally. The correlation analysis also establishes a link between the development of financial markets and governance in the MENA region. However, regression estimates indicate that infrastructure development and the degree of openness of an economy are the most robust indicators for the development and effective functioning of financial markets in the MENA region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tension between the sacred and the civil unfolds on myriad levels in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to sketch the evolution of the tension between the sacred and the civil in the modernisation process of the Middle East and in the birth of Israel in particular; second, to point out the limitations and ultimate failure of both governmental and peace-building approaches that ignore the paradoxical nature of this opposition; and third, to attempt to find an alternative, phenomenological approach to religious space. The analysis is organised around four nested spheres: the Middle East in general, the Holy Land, Jerusalem and, finally, the Temple Mount/al Haram al-Sharif at the centre. Though the Temple Mount/al-Haram al Sharif is not a simple illustration among others, it constitutes the most powerful and comprehensive symbol of the forces at work in the constitution of religious space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article presents information regarding the book "Research in Middle East Economics," vol. 2, edited by Karen Pfeifer. This book is comprised with ten research papers concerning issue of economic change and development in the Middle Eastern region. These papers discuss poverty, inequality, and the employment crisis in Egypt with assessing future economic prospects. The book also deals with statistical and distributional properties of Turkish stocks, the expected impact of the Arab-Israeli agreements on Palestinian agriculture, and changing patterns of trade in the Gulf and key determinants of export flows to the Gulf Cooperation Council states.

This paper investigates the impact of transport energy consumption and transport infrastructure on economic growth by utilizing panel data on MENA countries (the Middle East and North Africa region) for the period of 2000–2016. The MENA region panel is divided into three sub-groups of countries: GCC panel (containing the Gulf Cooperation Council countries), N-GCC panel (containing countries that are not members of the Gulf Cooperation Council), and North African countries (called MATE—Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt). Using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), we find that transport energy consumption significantly adds to economic growth in MENA, N-GCC and MATE regions. Transport infrastructure positively contributes to economic growth in all regions. The Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality analysis shows the feedback effect of transport energy consumption and transport infrastructure with economic growth. The empirical results add a new dimension to the importance of investing in modern infrastructure that facilitates the use of more energy-efficient modes and alternative technologies that positively affect the economy with minimizing negative externalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Korean Wave" (known as Hallyu in Korean) describes the phenomenon whereby aspects of Korean culture have become popular globally. By conducting a cross-cultural analysis, this study identifies the status and shifts of Hallyu in the Middle East, and analyzes the factors that have helped it spread successfully. This paper also seeks a strategic approach for evaluating the role of the new Korean Wave in the Middle East. The number of Middle Eastern patients and families visiting Korea for medical tourism has risen rapidly in the past few years. Medical tourism from the Middle East is expected to grow, improving Korea's reputation in the region and generating financial gain. The results imply great potential for establishing a new Korean Wave beyond the present scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During centuries Gaziantep has hosted many civilizations being one of the most important industrial and trade center in Turkey. Endowed with its trade potential and entrepreneurial spirit it easily integrated in the international markets. Strengthening its trade and economic ties with neighboring countries it evolved in important regional industrial and trade hub. By developing trade ties with the neighboring countries Gaziantep also provides important spillovers to the other municipalities and regions of Turkey. As the most developed city in the region Gaziantep is crucial gate to the markets of the Middle East. Enhancing economic relationships with the Middle Eastern countries it had important implications on speeding the economic development. It is also a mediator in commodity transfer between Western and Eastern countries. Continuous movements and war conflicts in the region had destructive effects on economic environment. During the periods of intense war conflicts the economy of Gaziantep is being seriously disbalanced and hit by recession cycles. However, inspite of these negativities Gaziantep is continuing with decreasing its export share to the Middle East countries. In this paper a general literature regarding the city of Gaziantep is being consulted along with the help of table and graphical tools in the analysis of the advantages and disadvantages, also in the same time economic importance of the Gaziantep for Turkey and Middle East region as well is being stressed and some suggestions are being explored in th concluding part. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It was always thought that countries with abundant natural resources have faster process of growth and development compared to other countries; but, the experimental results show the success of countries that are poor in terms of natural resources. Therefore, the contradictory effects of natural resources in various countries prompted scientists to study the relationship between natural resources abundance and different aspects of development which led to significant results. The present study reviews the theories and achievements of different researchers about this issue. The results indicate that in most studies, indicators of income from oil exports and GDP growth rate, unlike the global financial crisis variable, have a significant positive correlation with the index of human development. In addition, the variable associated with the quality of governance have not a significant impact on the mentioned index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses China's energy consumption and economic growth spillover effects on four world regions: (i) America (North and South); (ii) Europe and Central Asia; (iii) Asia Pacific; and (iv) Africa and the Middle East. An annual aggregated time series by world region, from 1970 to 2016, and an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach were used. The results are consistent with the feedback hypothesis in the short run. With regard to the long run, feedback is present in America and the Asia Pacific. In Europe and Central Asia and in Africa and the Middle East, the results are consistent with the conservation hypothesis. Additionally, China's spillover effects on the world energy-growth nexus are essentially a long-run phenomenon, with impacts on Europe and Central Asia, Asia Pacific, and Africa and the Middle East. Accordingly, policy-makers should be aware that China's policies may have impact around the world, which indirectly may cause a restriction in economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Madenat Al-Elem University College / Magallaẗ Kulliyyaẗ Madīnaẗ Al-ʿAlam Al-Ğāmi'aẗ is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The process of demographic transition has increased the share of the working-age population in Middle East and North Africa (MENA). This situation has created an opportunity for economic growth, called the demographic dividend. Global comparisons show that a favorable age structure has not always resulted in a boost in economic growth. In order to take a full advantage of the MENA's demographic dividend, it is important to identify different factors contributing to economic growth in this region. Investment in women's human capital is expected to have important implications for the region's economic growth and for maximizing the benefits created by the demographic dividend. Using a range of data sources, this paper aims to determine the association between women's human capital (measured by adult educational attainment and health status) and economic growth (measured by gross national income per capita) in MENA. The findings show a positive association between these two. Specifically, the national-level income is generally higher in countries with lower maternal mortality and higher female literacy, female tertiary education, female life and healthy life expectancies at birth and professional childbirth attendance. Thus, investment in women's human capital can accelerate the pace of development in MENA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we empirically examine the operation of the traditional Keynesian interest rate channel of the monetary policy transmission mechanism in five emerging economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and compare it with 14 inflation targeting (IT) emerging market economies (EMEs) using dynamic panel data analysis. Contrary to some existing studies, our empirical results provide no support for the argument that the traditional Keynesian interest rate channel is weak or does not operate effectively in the MENA region: both private consumption and investment in the MENA EMEs are sensitive to movements in real interest rates (although, in the case of private consumption, not independently of the level of financial development). We also find that interest rate elasticities of private consumption and private investment vary significantly with the level of development of the domestic financial market in the MENA EMES comparable to that in IT countries. Finally, our findings suggest that liberalization of the capital account has a significantly positive impact on private sector demand in MENA EMEs similar to that in the IT EMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to assess whether or not the presence of credit bureaus is associated with more or fewer financing constraints while considering the interfering effect of corruption in a sample of 18 countries in Eastern Europe and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region during the period 2011–2014. We consider various financial constraint measures and corruption indices, and assess the stability of the relationship for different levels of economic development and corruption. The estimation outcomes suggest that countries with higher levels of corruption might produce less transparent and falsified information that would make access to sources of financing more difficult for firms. Our findings suggest that curbing corruption creates more efficient credit bureaus that, in turn, decrease financial constraints for firms. The subsample estimations confirm these findings and show that the higher and longer-term corruption in MENA countries than in Eastern European countries make credit bureaus' less effective, imposing more financial constraints. Our findings remain robust with different corruption indices and with the addition of new control variables such as firms' sales and size, government and exporting firms, and per-capita GDP, inflation, trade, population and human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late 1990s, much scholarly work has been done in the field of energy economics on the nexus between economic growth and energy consumption. Over the last decade, however, the literature has been recompiled through examining the relationship between energy consumption and a set of variables by referring to the implicit role of economic growth. Based upon finance-energy nexus, this paper attempts to investigate the linkage between the banking development and energy consumption for a panel of seven Middle Eastern countries using panel cointegration and causality techniques over the period 1980-2011. Panel cointegration results show a long-run relationship between energy consumption, income, energy prices and banking sector development indicators. FMOLS (Fully Modified OLS) results reveal that all banking sector indicators affect energy demand positively in the long-run and the impact range falls between 0.169 and 0.396. In terms of causality, there is evidence of a one way short-run relationship from banking expansion to energy consumption while long-run dynamics indicate a bi-directional feedback relationship. These results have some implications for energy and environmental policy. One main implication is that energy conservation policies may be implemented with little or no adverse impact on financial development in the short-run whereas they might become detrimental in the long-run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]