This paper projects the future of knowledge economy (KE) in SSA and MENA countries using the four components of the World Bank’s Knowledge Economy Index (KEI): economic incentive, education, ICTs and innovation. The empirical evidence provides the speeds of integration as well as the time necessary to achieve full integration. Findings broadly indicate SSA and MENA countries with low levels in ...

This paper examines the tax structures of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries by focusing on the quality of governance and demographic changes as two influential factors in region’s economies. The objective of is to determine whether these factors can explain the variation in the tax structures of these countries. Results from regressions on the MENA countries and the ones based o...

â â â  â â â â â â â â â â â  financial sector is one of the most influential sectors in economic activities. empirical and theoretical studies conducted in recent years have also confirmed the significant role of financial institutions in economic growth. additionally, trade and financial liberalization policies have been particular concerned with strategic policies in developed and developing...

The objective of this paper is to situate the MENA area within the emerging markets universe. We first discuss the various components of market emergence and generate four bootstrapped indexes reflecting market size, market activity, market pricing and transparency. We then draw inter-regional and country-level comparisons using a probit model and a hierarchical cluster analysis. Our results su...

This paper examines the effect of FDI activity on manufacturing exports in four MENA countries. The sensitivity of manufacturing exports and the share in manufacturing exports in total exports to two measures of FDI activity is tested. The findings of this analysis suggest that FDI activity may have a positive effect on the host country’s manufacturing exports. The magnitude of the effect howev...

We model core demands for better governance (political, economic and institutional), more employment and less consumer price inflation using a methodological innovation on the complete elimination of cross-country differences in signals susceptible of sparking social revolts. The empirical evidence based on 14 MENA countries show that the Arab Spring was predictable in 2007 to occur between Jan...

abstract in this study, we applied recently developed panel unit root and cointegration techniques to examine the long-run real income per capita and price elasticities for demand of electricity in selected middle east and north african (mena) countries using an annual data series from 1990 to 2011.our main finding from the panel analysis is that the demand for electricity is highly price elast...

Financial sector is one of the most influential sectors in economic activities. Empirical and theoretical studies conducted in recent years have also confirmed the significant role of financial institutions in economic growth. Additionally, trade and financial liberalization policies have been particular concerned with strategic policies in developed and developing countries. According to dynam...

Department of Economics, University of Isfahan, Iran   Ahmad Googerdchian   Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Isfahan, Iran     Abstract   Implementing a currency :::union::: may lead members to face financial crisis if their financial markets are not ready to adopt themselves to a new situation. There are still problems like ownership concentration and self-gover...

This paper investigates the impact of geography on technological diffusion via international trade and proposes to re-examine the contribution of Coe, Helpman and Hoffmaister to the knowledge spillovers literature. Using a gravitational model, we first confirm the negative effect of physical distance on imports. We also show that geographic proximity contributes to more technological diffusion ...