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Entrepreneurship and economic growth in West Bank, Palestine
No full textThis paper examines the nature of the relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories that occurred post Oslo Agreement. The paper has two main objectives: first, to examine with empirical evidence the impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth; second, to explore the effect of two control variables on the relationship-checkpoints and international aid-which are unique to this particular study. Using data spanning over a course of sixteen years, various statistical methods were applied to explain the effect of variant levels of entrepreneurial activity on GDP and unemployment. The results show that contrary to a reservoir of research, entrepreneurship appeared to have no significant impact on economic growth. This can be explained by the fact entrepreneurial activity is expected to decrease as a result of growth in the economy as new jobs are created
Arab economic strategy in a changing world oil market
No full textDuring the early 1980s, the international oil market has changed from a sellers' to a buyers' market, that is, from one where the producers-exporters largely determined the price for that volume of exports which the market was willing (and eager) to buy, to one in which the importers-consumers have been able to press the price downwards and are willing only to buy a much smaller volume for the reduced price, than they had been buying by the end of the 1970s. But this identification of the current situation as one of crisis is only good enough as a first approximation. To be useful for the purposes of our analysis, it should be sharpened by several qualifications:' 1) Obviously, what is a crisis for the oil producers (a drop in demand, a drop in export price, a drop in production, and therefore a drop in export revenue) is a
welcome development for importers (a smaller import bill, a smaller outward transfer of financial resources, a smaller degree of dependence on the foreign suppliers of a vital and strategic source of energy). 2) The impact of the crisis has hit all the members of OPEC (Organisation of
Petroleum Exporting Countries) and OAPEC (Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries) but the Arab members of OPEC have suffered a much greater shrinkage in their production and revenues, absolutely and relatively, than the non-Arab members. 3) Non-OPEC exporters (United Kingdom, Norway, Mexico, Canada, and the Soviet Union) have expanded their production over the three years 1980-2. 4) Although demand for, and production and consumption of, energy from all sources combined have dropped since the end of the 1 970s, the drop has been very small (about 1.6 per cent), while the demand for, and the production and consumption of, oil have dropped by about 12 per cent during the same period. In fact, the efforts to conserve energy and the effects of economic stagnation in
the Western industrial countries (OECD), have been wholly reflected in the demand for and the supply of oil, with the demand for and supply of every other source of commercial energy actually rising between the end of 1979 and the end of 1981 and, in some instances, the end of 1982.
5) World reserves of coal are five times those of oil, the source of energy with the second largest reserves. Nevertheless, oil remains the largest single source in international trade, and the largest supplier of energy for consumption, despite the decline in its position.
6) It is particularly urgent for the Arab oil producers, who have suffered most in the current oil crisis, to probe deeper into the nature, the causes, the impact, and the implications of the crisis in order to assess its magnitude correctly, to draw the useful lessons it has for them, and to chart the future course of their
economies accordingly.
7) Finally, even if the angle of vision is broadened to include the world at large and the field of energy in its entirety, it can be seen that the drop in the price of oil and the development of a buyers' market, will have adverse effects for everybody, to the extent that a lower price for oil will disguise the urgency of,
and weaken the incentives for the search for and the development of, new sources of energy, and will expose the world to another era of tightness in oil supplies and soaring prices, possibly within the course of a recurring cycle of strong demand pushing prices sharply upwards, followed by soft demand
pushing them downwards. The emergence of such a cyclical pattern will be harmful to orderly economic growth and to the predictability of expectations of supply, demand, and prices. Obviously, this would be damaging to the interest
Palestinians to citizens : is citizenship a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem?
No full textIn this paper, I first argue that, since the British mandate, citizenship regulations in Palestine contributed to dispossession of the rights of Palestinians, thus preparing for the Palestinian refugee problem and eventually its consolidation. I then argue that citizenship regulations in host countries were exclusionary towards refugees in general, and Palestinians in particular, making it impossible for Palestinians to integrate in host societies. The so-called “Arab Spring” did not bring about any change in that sense. Finally, I argue that the narrative of statehood, although often separated from that of the “right of return”, constitutes but one narrative, and one at a completely different angle than the narrative of a “right of return”, where the ‘just solution’ creates to the possibility of establishing a homeland for Palestinians where they, and in particular the stateless refugees, can be converted into full citizens. What was part of the problem for refugees is presented as part of the solution. This discussion is very important in today’s Palestine that was just recently accepted at the UN General Assembly as a non-member observer state. The importance of that move is the official Palestinian insistence on the need of a state on the 1967 borders, and the willingness to accept the formula of a two state solution. Discussion related to citizenship and refugee status, and the right of return, are all back to the center of political and legal discussions
