Fatima Al Shamsi

... Policies to Promote Industrialization In the UAE, a clearly defined and comprehensive policy that identifies a package of measures and instruments to acceler-ate industrial growth and encourage private sector participa-tion has not materialized. ...

This paper uses recent growth theories and econometric techniques to empirically test for the association between foreign direct investment and economic growth in the six countries comprising the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Theoretically, recent endogenous growth models identify FDI as one of the determinants of growth through its role in technological diffusion. However, the endogeneity of FDI makes it possible that economic growth affects the flow of FDI. Results obtained from a heterogeneous panel analysis indicate a bi-directional causality between FDI and GDP in the panel of the GCC. This result supports the endogenous growth hypothesis, at least for this group of countries.

The aim of this paper is to study and hence establish stylized facts for the effects of fiscal policy on long-run economic growth for the small oil producing economy of the United Arab Emirates. Using multivariate cointegration techniques, this is done by decomposing total government spending into investment and consumption expenditures and assessing their intertemporal causal effects on output growth. Robust evidence from the analysis shows that government investment has a positive and significant effect on growth, while the effect of government consumption is negative and insignificant. Since in recent years the United Arab Emirates’ government is facing a substantially growing budget deficit, the paper recommends reducing the share of government consumption expenditures.

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to study and hence establish stylized facts for the effects of fiscal policy on long-run economic growth for the small oil producing economy of the United Arab Emirates. Using multivariate cointegration techniques, this is done by decomposing total government spending into investment and consumption expenditures and assessing their intertemporal causal effects on output growth. Robust evidence from the analysis shows that government investment has a positive and significant effect on growth, while the effect of government consumption is negative and insignificant. Since in recent years the United Arab Emirates’ government is facing a substantially growing budget deficit, the paper recommends reducing the share of government consumption expenditures.

It is examined whether the six countries comprising the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are sufficiently compatible to form a viable economic and financial block in the Gulf region. Despite long and numerous governmental attempts since the mid 1980s, and in spite of public pressures to expedite the process, these countries have thus far failed to achieve full economic and financial integration. Empirical evidence suggests that this apparent failure is unlikely the outcome of economic or financial incompatibility among the countries in the region. The results imply that more efforts should be directed at resolving possible sociopolitical differences that may have hampered real progress toward the emergence of a genuine and effective bloc in the Gulf region.

Using newly collected data from a survey distributed to all banks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), this article measures economic efficiency in the banking industry, namely allocative, technical, pure technical and scale efficiency. Employing a nonparametric Data ...

Growing levels of national unemployment constitute one of the Arab Gulf's key domestic policy challenges and not least because the majority of new jobs will need to be created in the skilled private sector. We demonstrate that while female nationals obtain proportionately more of the vocationally orientated, tertiary level qualifications that this sector requires, structural issues and cultural attitudes continue to act as barriers. Based on the findings of interviews with policymakers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, we contend that while incumbent labour nationalization policies have led to marginal increases in female participation rates, more systemic labour market reforms will be needed in order to better capitalize on the ‘valuable human resource asset’ that they represent.