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on Arab World |
| By: | Michael Sturm (European Central Bank, Directorate General International and European Relations, Kaiserstrasse 29, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.); François Gurtner (European Central Bank, Directorate General International and European Relations, Kaiserstrasse 29, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.); Juan Gonzalez Alegre (Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Economics Department, Seville, Spain.) |
| Abstract: | Fiscal policy choices have a particularly significant impact on economic performance in oil-exporting countries, owing to the importance of the oil sector in the economy and the fact that in most countries oil revenues accrue to the government. At the same time, fiscal policy in oil-centred economies s facing specific challenges, both in the long run, as regards intergenerational equity and fiscal sustainability, and in the short run, as regards macroeconomic stabilisation and fiscal planning. Institutional responses to the specific fiscal challenges in oil-exporting countries involve conservative oil price assumptions in the budget, the establishment of oil stabilisation and savings funds and fiscal rules. Fiscal policy in most oil-exporting countries has been expansionary over the past years in the wake of high oil prices. Fiscal expansion has added to inflationary pressure, and monetary policy has been constrained in tackling inflation as a result of prevailing exchange rate regimes. While, in this context, fiscal policy is the major tool for macroeconomic stabilisation, it has faced competing objectives and considerations. Cyclical considerations would have warranted fiscal restraint, but, in times of high oil prices, pressures to increase public spending have been mounting. Such pressures stem from primarily distribution-related considerations, development-related spending needs (e.g. in the areas of physical and social infrastructure) and international considerations in the context of, for example, global imbalances. The sharp fall in oil prices since mid-2008 has brought to the fore a different question – whether oil exporters can sustain spending levels reached in previous years. JEL Classification: E62, E63, H30, H60, Q32, Q38. |
| Keywords: | Fiscal policy, oil-exporting countries, inflation, global imbalances. |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbops:20090104&r=ara |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Following the May 2008 earthquake in China, government officials visited the OECD, Italy and Turkey to draw lessons from international experience in seismic safety. |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaac:2009/7-en&r=ara |
| By: | Naghshineh-Pour, Amir |
| Abstract: | Iran has had many self-imposed economic crises. Many of which relate to the poorly managed banking system as well as flawed monetary and fiscal policy. Inefficiency of the banking-monetary system in Iran is a well known fact. A complete overhaul of the current system should be one of the essential priorities of any economic reformation and development. The banking-monetary system of any country has a key role in its economic efficiency and strength, price stability, production, and economic growth. The main functions of a banking-monetary system are to provide fiscal resources, to prepare ground for optimal allocation of capital in the economy, to distribute the wealth in the best possible way, and to ease economic development. This is particularly important in Iran because capital markets are underdeveloped. |
| Keywords: | Iran; Banking; Monetary Policy; Fiscal Policy |
| JEL: | F00 H0 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:15790&r=ara |
| By: | Frances Stewart (Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford) |
| Abstract: | Both within and across countries, most attention has been devoted to measuring inequality among individuals (and globally countries). Within countries, increasing evidence shows that inequalities among groups (HIs) are important for wellbeing. However, the global component of HIs are generally neglected. The paper argues that HIs at a global level may also be important for world stability and wellbeing, in much the same way HIs are relevant at the national level. With this perspective, the paper reviews Muslim/ non-Muslim HIs within developed and developing countries, and between Muslim and non-Muslim countries, finding that Muslims are systematically disadvantaged across many dimensions. It argues that, despite much heterogeneity among the Muslim population, there is evidence of multiple global connections and of shared perceptions, such that inequalities faced by Muslims in one part of the world may become a source of grievance and potential mobilisation in other parts of the world. Consequently, socio-economic and political inequalities need to be addressed globally, within countries and between them, and politically as well as with respect to socio-economic and cultural status. |
| Keywords: | Horizontal inequality, conflict, grievance, muslims, Islam |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mcn:rwpapr:13&r=ara |
| By: | Hazama, Yasushi |
| Abstract: | Two groups of questions were addressed in this paper: (1) Is voter punishment of the incumbent the primary factor in electoral volatility? Are there any other types of vote swings that underlie volatility? (2) In general, does a decline in economic growth destabilize voter behavior? If so, what kinds of vote swings does an economic downturn tend to generate? Provincial-level panel data analysis yielded the following results: (1) Changes in volatility is primarily due to vote swings from the incumbent to the opposition and also to and from left-wing and right-wing parties. (2) Lower economic growth increases electoral volatility. Economic decline induces vote swings not only from the government to the opposition but also from left-wing to right-wing parties. This is probably because right-wing parties seem more concerned with economic issues and are thus more popular than left-wing parties with lower-income voters. |
| Keywords: | Electoral volatility, Economic voting, Panel analysis, Elections, Turkey |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper202&r=ara |