Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION -- II. BACKGROUND -- III. A MODEL OF A POLITICAL PRICE CYCLES IN A REGULATED INDUSTRY -- IV. EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE -- V. CONCLUDING REMARKS -- Appendix 1. List of Countries Included in the Empirical Work -- REFERENCES.

This paper analyzes the relationship between oil price shocks and bank profitability. Using data on 145 banks in 11 oil-exporting MENA countries for 1994-2008, we test hypotheses of direct and indirect effects of oil price shocks on bank profitability. Our results indicate that oil price shocks...