Using a non-parametric methodology, this paper analyzes managerial and scale efficiencies in the Jordanian banking sector over the period 1996-2001. The results indicate that the typical Jordanian bank could obtain significant (input and cost) savings should they catch up with the best practice...

Using a two-stage estimation procedure, we examine the determinants of foreign investors' participation in the privatization process of developing countries, with a particular emphasis on the role of the institutional environment. First, we estimate the probability that foreign investors target...

The phenomenon of underpricing initial public offerings (IPOs) is documented for 53 share issue privatizations (SIPs) in Egypt between 1994 and 1998. Over several intervals (up to five years), I find mixed results: SIPs sustain their positive performance and provide investors with positive...

This paper documents the phenomenon of underpricing initial public offerings (IPOs) for 47 firms that went public between 2001 and 2006 in the equity markets of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The average initial abnormal returns of 290 percent exceed those found in the...

Although many studies have been undertaken on the cost of capital, insufficient attention has been paid to the factors that drive the cost of capital in the emerging markets, in particular the Middle East region. Here, an analysis is undertaken of the cost of capital in Egypt, based on a sample...

We examine and analyze the post-privatization corporate governance of a sample of 52 newly privatized firms from Egypt over the 1995-2005 period. We look at the ownership structure that results from privatization and its evolution; the determinants of private ownership concentration; and the...

In order to investigate the impact of financial market liberalization on economic growth in the MENA region, we need to replace our contribution in the economic growth literature. Our study is related to the literature on policy impacting growth rather than the debate on quot;convergencequot;...

Since 1991 Egypt has witnessed major and radical changes in its economic climate as a result of the government's adoption of a program of economic reform aimed at increasing the growth rate of the economy. Arguably, this objective can be assisted through creating a strong stock market. This...

This paper investigates relationships between market risk premium, time-varying variance and time-varying covariance in eleven Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) markets and eight developed markets from 1990 to 2001. Following Pettengill, Sundaram and Mathur (1995), we argue that the...

This paper evaluates the financial and operating performance of newly privatized Egyptian state-owned enterprises and determines whether such performance differs across firms according to their new ownership structure. The Egyptian privatization program provides unique post-privatization data on...