The size of government consumption relative to national output is examined to see if it is optimal in five Gulf countries of the Middle East. We follow the methodology suggested in Barro (1990) and Karras (1996, 1997) and examine the marginal productivity of government consumption. The "Barro...

Results from this cross-country study indicate that there are no simple patterns in how investment in schooling in the MENA countries differs from international experience. The regression results for 1965 and for 1994 show a wide diversity in enrollments at the primary and secondary school...

This paper discusses the role of labor market flexibility in economic adjustment during the 1970s and the 1980s decades in developing countries in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. In the first part of the paper it is argued that the success of the Asian countries to adjust to...

Social Security (SS) programs are integral parts of a generous welfare system instituted in the oil economies during the past quarter century. This paper assesses the future viability of these programs with special reference to the case of Kuwait. A review of the financial structure of the SS...