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The Three Arab Worlds

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  • James E. Rauch
  • Scott Kostyshak

Abstract

Given the attention currently focused on the Arab world in part as a result of adjustments in U.S. foreign policy, a fresh look at Arab socioeconomic performance is in order. The Arab world is defined by language rather than ethnicity. The League of Arab States, formed in 1945, consists of all countries in which (a dialect of) Arabic is the spoken language of the majority. It is useful to compare the human development diversity of the Arab world to that of Latin America, another vast geographic area defined by language and culture. Our strategy in this article is therefore to disaggregate the Arab world into Arab sub-Saharan Africa, Arab fuel-endowed economies, and a remainder we call the Arab Mediterranean, and to compare these three Arab worlds to non-Arab sub-Saharan Africa, non-Arab fuel endowed economies, and the rest of the non-Arab world. We will evaluate Arab socioeconomic progress from 1970 to as close to the present as the data allow.

Suggested Citation

  • James E. Rauch & Scott Kostyshak, 2009. "The Three Arab Worlds," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(3), pages 165-188, Summer.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:jecper:v:23:y:2009:i:3:p:165-88
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/jep.23.3.165
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    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/jep.23.3.165
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ali Fakih & Pascal L. Ghazalian, 2013. "Female Labour Force Participation in MENA's Manufacturing Sector: The Implications of Firm-related and National Factors," CIRANO Working Papers 2013s-46, CIRANO.
    2. Ali Fakih & Nathir Haimoun & Mohamad Kassem, 2020. "Youth Unemployment, Gender and Institutions During Transition: Evidence from the Arab Spring," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 311-336, July.
    3. Nadereh Chamlou & Silvia Muzi & Hanane Ahmed, 2011. "Understanding the Determinants of Female Labor Force Participation in the Middle East and North Africa Region: The Role of Education and Social Norms in Amman," Working Papers 31, AlmaLaurea Inter-University Consortium.
    4. Ali Fakih & Pascal Ghazalian, 2015. "Female employment in MENA’s manufacturing sector: the implications of firm-related and national factors," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 37-69, February.
    5. Jahan-Parvar, Mohammad R. & Waters, George A., 2010. "Equity price bubbles in the Middle Eastern and North African Financial markets," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 39-48, March.
    6. Ali Fakih & Pascal L. Ghazalian, 2013. "Female Labour Force Participation in MENA's Manufacturing Sector: The Implications of Firm-related and National Factors," CIRANO Working Papers 2013s-46, CIRANO.
    7. Radek Szulga, 2014. "A Dynamic Model of Female Labor Force Participation Rate and Human Capital Investment," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 39(3), pages 81-114, September.
    8. John C. Anyanwu, 2018. "Empirical Analysis of Key Drivers of Gender Equality in Tertiary Education Enrolment in Africa," International Journal of Economics and Financial Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 4(7), pages 197-213, 07-2018.
    9. Abdul A. Erumban, 2023. "The Falling Productivity in West Asian Arab Countries Since the 1980s: Causes, Consequences, and Cures," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 44, pages 89-119, Fall.
    10. Pascal L. Ghazalian, 2022. "The effects of the Arab Spring on female labour force participation in the MENA region," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 869-900, October.
    11. James E. Rauch & Scott Kostyshak, 2014. "The three Arab worlds on the eve of the ‘Arab Spring’," Chapters, in: M. Kabir Hassan & Mervyn K. Lewis (ed.), Handbook on Islam and Economic Life, chapter 30, pages iii-iii, Edward Elgar Publishing.

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    JEL classification:

    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • P40 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - General

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