Dr Rock-Antoine Mehanna (Lebanese Amercican University)
Abstract
This paper estimates the effects of politics and culture on Middle East trade by applying an augmented version of the gravity model. The econometric specification of the model accounts for oil-exporting countries, regional trade blocs and other pertinent exogenous factors. The model endogenously accounts for potential selection-bias between Arab and Islamic countries. Unlike past and contemporary work, this paper employs a Middle Eastern framework by incorporating politics, corruption and culture. The levels of corruption and political freedom represent politics, while language affiliation and religion capture some aspects of culture.
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