Purpose of the Book

The book provides a good opportunity for the interested audience as the findings of the study can be viewed as significant contributions to the ongoing debate about reform, economic growth and development. It extends current knowledge and takes an important step towards explaining why some developing countries successfully reform their economies while others fail, as well as identifying the major challenges facing the economic development of the Arab world.

This book investigates the effect of reform programmes in the Arab region on development over the past three decades. Following the analyses, the book proposes a new development framework that could be adopted by ACs to help achieving sustainable development and raise the standard of living for Arab citizens.

Only a few studies have addressed the Arab region, and often the analysis is conducted within a larger sample of countries with no emphasis on the case of the Arab economies. Therefore, the book has been written specifically for researchers and policy-makers interested in the field of development and growth in developing countries in general and the Arab region in particular. Also, those interested in institutional economics will find much enjoyment in the book, which clearly highlights the role of governance in development and considers it the central pillar in any targeted reforms.

Structure of the Book

We start the book with Chapter 2 The Theoretical Basis. This chapter is considered as the theoretical foundation of the book, where we describe the key ideas, components and theories of economic development, starting with the classical school and closing with the ‘New Institutional Economics’.

The basis of the book extends to Chapter 3 Methodology, where we present the methodological issues related to the investigation carried out in this research and discuss the methods that underpin the analysis. We also show the econometric techniques, including any modelling issues and problems and provide techniques for solving these problems.

The analytical investigation begins with Chapter 4 Insight of Arab Economics: A Reforming Outlook. This chapter explains the origins and drivers of Arab economies’ evolution, determines the pattern of economic growth of the Arab region and compares it to other regions in the world in order to understand the possible explanation of why the growth performance of the region has been disappointing. We also highlight the types of reform programmes implemented in the Arab region during the three decades.

The economic features of the reform are evaluated in Chapters 5 and 6. In Chapter 5 Economic Stabilisation and Arab Reform, we explore and assess the factors of the economic stability of ACs in detail during the last 30 years. The macroeconomic stability involves inflation, unemployment, public finance and the exchange rate, whereas external stability includes the current-account balance, foreign debt and international reserves. Chapter 6 Business and Structural Reform completes the discussion of the economic aspect through explaining the structural reform efforts that have been made since the 1990s, which include policies that increase the role of market forces, the liberalisation of the market and bank system, tax reforms, financial sector deregulation and diversity of economic activities.

The social perspective of reform and the social impact of economic reforms are presented in Chapter 7 Social Aspects of Arab Reform. It shows the situation of poverty and inequality in the region and then examines the development of the different aspects of human capital reform in the areas of education, health and scientific research. Additionally, it assesses the provision of public goods such as physical infrastructure and technology needed for sustainable development.

In order to complete a comprehensive picture of reform, Chapter 8 Institutions and Political Aspects of Arab Reform explains institutional reform based on the six Indicators of Worldwide Governance. This chapter goes beyond explaining the trends of these factors to cover the root causes of current failure in the Arab governance system.

Based on previous explanations, Chapter 9 Winners and Losers of Arab Reforms attempts to classify the ACs based on progress in the structural reform and macroeconomic stability. We also reached an important conclusion to determine that major factors have played the leading role in delaying and undermining reform efforts in the region.

The empirical analysis is covered in Chapter 10 The Impact of Reform Programmes on Economic Growth: An Econometric Analysis. The model examines empirically the effectiveness of economic, social and institutional reform programmes in achieving sustained growth through using conditional convergence equation for ACs compared to advanced economies and developing countries.

The book recommendations are presented in Chapter 11 Towards an Inclusive Development Framework for Arab Reform. This chapter proposes new frameworks for a comprehensive and integrated development based on the economic, political and social growth for the Arab world, taking into consideration the distinctive features of each Arab group. These frameworks recommend public policies’ practices through a set of transitions that make up the contours of a new development model and outline the fundamental changes needed for making this transition from different perspectives.

Citation

Abdelbary, I. (2021), "Introduction", Reviving Arab Reform: Development Challenges and Opportunities, Emerald Publishing Limited, pp. 1-4. https://0810bj2yb-1106-y-https-doi-org.mplbci.ekb.eg/10.1108/978-1-83982-318-320211001