Innovation performance of MENA countries: where do we stand?

Review of Economics and Political Science, 2019

Purpose Innovation has become the engine of economic growth, especially with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This paper aims at studying the association between innovation – measured by gross expenditure on research and development (GERD) – and economic performance – represented by real gross domestic product (GDP) – in MENA region over the period 1996-2016. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses the panel corrected standard error method to account for heteroskedacity and possible contemporaneous correlation across panels, and the first order autocorrelation within panel for unbalanced datasets. Findings The study concludes that R&D expenditure is positive and statistically significant in explaining GDP, but their relationship is weak. Specifically, a 10 per cent increase in R&D expenditure raises GDP by 4 per cent. In addition, human capital, labor force and fixed capital accumulation are found positive and statistically significant. These findings highlight on the importance...

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2017

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World Bank Working paper/Maghtech). http:// …, 2002

Balance des paiements technologiques) is an indicator measuring the invisible transactions related to the exchange of technical know-how between partners residing in different countries. These transactions must have a commercial character i.e. and be closely linked to the exchange of technology and/or the supply of technological services.

2005

The overall growth performance of the MENA region over the period 1960-2000 has been both mixed and characterized by a higher degree of volatility compared with other regions in the world. In comparing the growth pattern of the MENA region within an international perspective, we have found that: capital is less efficient; trade openness less beneficial to growth; and the impact of adverse external shocks more pronounced. In addition, Total Factor Productivity G rowth (TFPG) in the MENA region, was not an important source of growth in comparison with other regions owing to among other things, the lower quality of its institutions, modest stock of human capital and its educational system that focused on preparing s tudents for public sector employment. Within the MENA region, non-oil and diversified economies have fared much better than oil-exporting countries both in terms of output growth and TFPG. Finally, the degree of exposure to internal and external shocks, the extent of economic diversification and international competitiveness, were found to be important factors explaining variations in growth performance within the MENA region.

Contributions to Economic Analysis, 2006

The overall growth performance of the MENA region over the period 1960-2000 has been both mixed and characterized by a higher degree of volatility compared to the other regions in the world. In comparing the growth pattern of the MENA region within an international perspective, we have found that: capital is less efficient; trade openness less beneficial to growth and the impact of adverse external shocks more pronounced. In addition, Total Factor Productivity Growth (TFPG) in the MENA region, was not an important source of growth in comparison to the other regions owing to among other things, the lower quality of its institutions, modest stock of human capital and its educational system that focused on preparing students for public sector employment. Within the MENA region, non-oil and diversified economies have fared much better than the oil-exporting countries both in terms of output growth and TFPG. Finally, the degree of exposure to internal and external shocks, the extent of economic diversification and international competitiveness were found to be important factors explaining variations in growth performance within the MENA region.

Journal of Economics and Development Studies, 2017

Innovation means creating better quality products and services, which together create a better quality of life.The purpose of this research is to explain why the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are still struggling in the field of innovation in spite of the fact that the council is made up of rich countries with high per capita income.The aim of this paper is to explain the reality of the situation with regard to innovation in the GCC countries and to identify the main obstacles and challenges facing these countries. The main finding, based on qualitative research methods, is that there are numerous obstacles facing GGC countries, obstacles such as low investment in research and development as a percentage of GDP, a very low number of high-tech exports as a percentage of manufactured exports and a low proportion of workers employed in knowledge-intensive activities.These findings confirm that the GCC governments need to make great efforts to develop innovation especially with regard to the indicators mentioned above.

2012

2020

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region consists of a heterogeneous group of countries ranging from high-income countries in the Arabian Gulf to middle-income and least developed countries. A dominant concern in the MENA region is the high dependence on oil and gas among high-income countries and on traditional agriculture among the least developed ones. The region is characterized by volatile economic growth owing to the changes in international commodity prices. This necessitates the adoption of economic diversification policies outside resource-based sectors. G20 policymakers should support MENA countries to leverage the global value chain in technology sectors in order to facilitate access to foreign markets. Policymakers should also provide technical developmental support for the region’s entrepreneurship ecosystem and improve the business competitiveness indicators of MENA countries.

The political and social upheavals that followed the Arab Spring of 2011 continue to dominate economic activity and near term prospects in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Although political transitions bring promises of greater political and economic freedom, in MENA the process remains far from complete and has been accompanied by increased political and macroeconomic instability in 2013. In Egypt, rising social and political tensions weighed heavily on confidence. In Syria, a marked escalation of the civil war exacted a heavy economic and human toll, with spillovers to neighboring Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq. Oil production in developing MENA oil exporters has fallen because of security setbacks, infrastructure problems, strikes, and in the case of Iran, economic sanctions. Meanwhile, the GCC oil exporters continue to make up the loss in oil production, while providing financial support to the region's transition economies.