The Arab Economies in a Changing World / Edition 1

by Marcus Noland, Howard Pack, Mohamed El-Erian

Overview

The tragic events of 9/11 and the subsequent war in Iraq have focused international attention on a nexus of problems involving economic underperformance, problematic internal politics, and externalization of domestic dissent in the Muslim world. This book examines the economics of the Middle East, with the aim of identifying changes to economic policy that could address at least the economic component of the challenges facing this part of the globe. The authors analyze the interaction of trade, productivity growth, and the political difficulties that may ensue as these countries move towards greater openness. Relevant comparisons are drawn from the experience of the transition economies and India on potentially successful policies and those likely to exacerbate existing problems.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780881323931
Publisher:	Peterson Institute for International Economics
Publication date:	05/17/2007
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	365
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Marcus Noland, executive vice president and director of studies, has been associated with the Institute since 1985. From 2009 through 2012, he served as the Institute's deputy director. His research addresses a wide range of topics at the interstice of economics, political science, and international relations. His areas of geographical knowledge and interest include Asia and Africa where he has lived and worked, and the Middle East. In the past he has written extensively on the economies of Japan, Korea, and China, and is unique among American economists in having devoted serious scholarly effort to the problems of North Korea and the prospects for Korean unification. He won the 2000–01 Ohira Memorial Award for his book Avoiding the Apocalypse: The Future of the Two Koreas.

Howard Pack has been a professor of business and public policy and professor of economics at the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) since 1986. He has been a professor of management there since 1995 and was the professor of city and regional planning (1986-94). He has also taught at Swarthmore College and Yale University. He has served as a consultant for a host of World Bank projects over the past three decades and has been an adviser to the Bank's Global Development Network since 1999. He is the author or coauthor of Industrial Policy in an Era of Globalization: Lessons from Asia (2003), Productivity, Technology and Industrial Development (Oxford University Press, 1987) and Structural Change and Economic Policy in Israel (Yale University Press, 1971).

Table of Contents

1 Introduction
• 1.1 Introduction
• 1.2 Comparative Perspective
• 1.3 Is There a Crisis?

2 Growth, Productivity, and Welfare
• 2.1 Introduction
• 2.2 Identifying the Comparators
• 2.3 Relative International Performance
• 2.4 Domestic Growth Over Time
• 2.5 Investment and Growth
• 2.6 Sources of Differences in Growth Rates
• 2.7 Welfare

3 Dimensions of the Challenge
• 3.1 What are the Perceived Problems?
• 3.2 Demographic Changes
• 3.3 Employment Generation and Productivity Growth
• 3.4 Financial Market Development
• 3.5 International Trade Performance
• 3.6 Oil Rents, Aid, and Remittances
• 3.7 Conclusions

4 Obstacles to, and Enablers, of Development

• 4.1 Institutions and the Influence of Islam
• 4.2 Evolving Understanding of Development Policy
• 4.3 Policies and their Effects
• 4.4 An Alternate View of the Determin nants of Productivity Growth
• 4.5 Other Factors affecting Productivity growth

5 Policy Levers and Constraints
• 5.1 Internal Constraints to Reform
• 5.2 The External Policy Dimension
• 5.3 The Role of preferential agreements

6 Credibility, Risk, and Supply Response
• 6.1 Domestic entrepreneurship
• 6.2 Reversing the Brain Drain
• 6.3 The Role of Foreign Investment
• 6.4 Affinity, Democracy, and Risk
• 6.5 The Political Economy of Reform
• 6.6 Conclusions

7 Special Development Situations
• 7.1 West Bank-Gaza
• 7.2 Iraq

8 Conclusions

Editorial Reviews

[T]he only book to my knowledge that provides a comprehensive and integrated politico-economic analysis of Arab economic performance and prospects. It will fill a big need in college syllabi.

Farrukh Iqbal

This book fulfills a major gap in the literature on Middle Eastern economies. With universities struggling to add courses on the political economy of the Middle East, this volume will prove to be a great resource... Essential.

Choice

This book is very valuable and extremely timely for anyone who has an interest in this topic. It is well written and provides us with an analysis that is short, yet very thorough and comprehensive. There is an extensive presentation of data and indicators, covering issues ranging from productivity and income to happiness, demographics, foreign investment and political stability.

Journal of International Economics