Trade Policy and Economic Integration in the Middle East and North Africa: Economic Boundaries in Flux

by Hakimian; Hassan

• ISBN13: 9780415302661
• ISBN10: 0415302668
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-12-23
• Publisher: RoutledgeCurzon

Summary

The recent globalization trends have revived a long-standing interest in regional integration in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Despite numerous attempts to encourage economic integration in MENA in the past few decades, there is broad consensus that progress has been painstakingly slow and the record of economic integration in the MENA region largely beset by failure. This book examines the impact of recent changes in the world economy on trade policy within the MENA region and its economic relations with the rest of the world. It considers regional integration and prospects for trade blocs; trade liberalization and economic restructuring; resource endowments and employment trends; and changes in economic boundaries, especially as a result of labor migration and regional conflicts.

Table of Contents

List of figures	viii
List of maps	x
List of tables	xi
List of contributors	xiv
Preface and acknowledgements	xvi
Introduction	1	(10)
Hassan Hakimian
Jeffrey B. Nugent
PART I Past trends and future prospects for growth in MENA	11	(28)
Reform and elusive growth in the Middle East -- what happened in the 1990s?	13	(26)
Dipak Dasgupta
Jennifer Keller
T. G. Srinivasan
PART II Integration patterns, trade blocs, and regional policy	39	(60)
Intra-regional trade integration in the Middle East: past performance and future potential	41	(25)
Rania S. Miniesy
Jeffrey B. Nugent
Tarik M. Yousef
Exchange rate regime and competitiveness of manufactured exports: the case of Mena countries	66	(18)
Mustapha Kamel Nabli
Marie-Ange Veganzones-Varoudakis
Agriculture and trade liberalization in the Mena region: dynamic impacts of future scenarios	84	(15)
Ali H. Bayar
Ghazi Ben-Ahmed
Paul De Boer
Xinshen Diao
A. Erinc Yeldan
PART III Trade and restructuring: lessons and outcomes	99	(64)
Restructuring and economic performance: the experience of the Tunisian economy	101	(18)
Sofiane Ghali
Pierre Mohnen
Price competition between Turkish and East Asian exports in the European Union market in the 1990s: an empirical investigation	119	(19)
Zelal Kotan
Serdar Sayan
Trade strategies and industrial development in Iran: 1979--98	138	(25)
Behrouz Hady Zonooz
PART IV Resource endowments, factor markets, and employment issues	163	(42)
Trends in informal sector employment in the Middle East	165	(19)
Jacques Charmes
Agricultural intensification and female labour in farm production in north-western Syria	184	(21)
Malika Abdelali-Martini
Elizabeth Bailey
Gwyn E. Jones
Patricia Goldey
PART V Economic boundaries in flux	205	(86)
Defining boundaries: Kuwait's economic reconstruction, 1991--2001	207	(24)
Karen Pfeifer
The redefinition of economic boundaries between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza Strip	231	(23)
Leila Farsakh
Turkey after Helsinki: economic challenges	254	(17)
Subidey Togan
Economic foundation for peace? The case of trade policy in the Oslo Agreement	271	(20)
Nu'man Kanafani
Index	291