Jordan is one of the most important countries of the Fertile Crescent. Although it is not richly endowed with material resources its political significance in the region gives it considerable authority. This book focuses on the economic development of Jordan over the last decade. It analyses the structural changes the economy has undergone and examines the experience of the key sectors. It also looks at the contribution of foreign aid and emigrant workers’ remittances to the economy. The book concludes that there is a significant potential for the Jordanian economy but the current political and economic problems facing it are daunting. First published in 1987.

This book, a comprehensive study of twelve of the economies of key countries of the Arab world, has three main objectives: to record the developmental achievements and failings of each country; to examine the main issues arising in the drive for development; and to assess the future outlook for development for each country. Most of the countries studied only gained independence from their colonial masters in recent decades, and the process of economic development has necessarily been accompanied by political development. First published in 1978.

R. Paul Shaw has travelled widely in the Arab world, obtaining data and gathering impressions first-hand from national and local planners. In this book, he identifies population and manpower problems that are likely to become more serious and more difficult to solve if they are neglected at this early stage of Arab development. He focuses on five broad areas which are directly or indirectly related to mobilizing human resources, and his book will be of special interest to all those who are concerned with such issues as population, migration, employment, inequality, the emancipation of women, construction and agriculture. Dr Shaw proposes policy directives which are sensitive to the problems as they are seen by the Arab governments themselves, and sets out practical guidelines which can be used by Arab planners and policy-makers. An important feature of the book with respect to current literature on Arab development is that it moves away from a preoccupation with growth-related investments to a concentration on development-related population, manpower and employment issues. By bringing together such comprehensive empirical and bibliographic information, it will also be invaluable as a reference source for some twenty Arab countries. First published in 1983.

Not one size fits all. Yet, some books teach business with minimal focus on the context for business. In reality, firms — large and small — are highly affected by the context in which they operate; yet, context is not uniformly conceptualized, theorized, and operationalized by scholars of business and management. While most theories have come from developed countries with bountiful contexts, the diverse contexts of Western Asia are little understood. Religious factors are profoundly dominant in Western Asia, and businesses in this diverse area operate with considerations that are rarely considered in research. This book reveals a variety of schools of thought that have molded several business models and mechanisms, which are, to some extent, different from the context of Western economies.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is an economically diverse region. Despite undertaking economic reforms in many countries, and having considerable success in avoiding crises and achieving macroeconomic stability, the region’s economic performance in the past 30 years has been below potential. This paper takes stock of the region’s relatively weak performance, explores the reasons for this out come, and proposes an agenda for urgent reforms.

Independently commissioned by IAI, the three studies comprising this book examine inter-Arab industrial and economic cooperation. The first chapter analyses the industrial strategies, economic policies and attempts at harmonisation and cooperation of the Arab countries, providing a detailed picture of the convergences and divergences, the potential and the difficulties faced by the region. The second chapter examines the importance of coordinating economic polices if economic integration is to be sustained, and considers the implications to the world economy. Lastly, the third chapter examines Arab labour flows, a key factor in the development of the Arab countries. First published in 1979.