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This paper aims to investigate the impact of governance quality on total unemployment in general and female unemployment in particular in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, comparing the post-Arab Spring period to the pre-Arab Spring era.

A fixed-effects model was used to analyze data from 15 MENA countries from 2002 to 2019.

Our results generally indicate that following the Arab Spring, an enhancement in governance quality is linked with a reduction in unemployment in the MENA region, specifically in the Levant and GCC regions, with this reducing effect being stronger for female unemployment compared to total unemployment. Yet, this trend does not hold in North Africa, where government improvements do not result in better employment.

This study uniquely uncovers the different effects of governance quality on unemployment across sub-regions and sheds light on its significant implications on female unemployment. The findings offer valuable insights for policymakers interested in the relationship between governance quality and economic outcomes in the region.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-12-2022-0826

A host of studies have assessed the determinants of bank liquidity creation, highlighting the relevance of macroeconomic and microeconomic factors. However, whether and how social unrest impacts bank liquidity creation remains a moot issue. To inform this debate, this study aims to exploit bank-level data for Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries covering the period 2010–2019 to assess the interlinkage between social unrest and bank liquidity creation.

In view of the staggered inception of social unrest across MENA countries, the author uses a difference-in-differences specification to tease out the causal impact.

The findings reveal that the Arab Spring improves liquidity creation after onboarding after confounding factors. This impact differs across conventional and Islamic banks and differs across asset side (market) and liability side (funding) liquidity creation. The evidence also underscores the positive real effects of such liquidity creation on real economic output.

This is one of the early studies exploiting a large sample of MENA banks to examine this issue in a systematic manner.

The escalation of Turkish intervention in Arab internal affairs before and after the revolutions of the Arab Spring, particularly the military intervention. Sometimes Ankara threatens with military intervention and sometimes establishes large military bases in Arab countries: Qatar, Somalia and Iraq. Moreover, it carries out extensive military operations within the borders of some Arab countries such as Iraq and Syria. This type of behavior requires a study that takes into consideration the reasons of such behavior and future implications on the relations between the Arab and Turkish parties.

The theoretical framework of the study will follow neorealism, as the basis for understanding Turkish pragmatic foreign policy adopted in managing its international relations and interests with various countries.

The situation in Afrin after a year of Turkish occupation confirms this. Erdogan may not go ahead with a new military operation in east Euphrates and northern Syria. He may prefer instead he may deem it better to control the safe area in the north through the revival of the agreement of Adana of 1998. However, Turkey's desire to control northern Syria, which represents a quarter of the country, faces tough resistance of Turkish groups, Russian-Syrian rejection and European-American resentment. Control of the Syrian north may be subject to concessions and consensus among these powers without excluding any of them.

States in the international system, such as companies in the local economy, have the same main interest: that’s survival. It is worth noting that Waltz’s neorealistic theory cannot be applied to domestic national politics. It cannot contribute to the development of state policies relating to its international and internal affairs. His theory only helps to explain the reason behind the similar behavior of countries despite having different forms of governments and diversity of political ideologies. It also explains why the comprehensive international relations have not changed despite the growing decentralization of these countries.

How does neorealism explain Turkish military intervention in Syria since 2016?

This study aims to test the contagion effect of the Tunisian revolution on the Egyptian stock market. Thus, the purpose of this research is to distinguish the contagion effect from the simple interdependence between these markets.

This paper examines the contagion hypothesis between Tunisia and Egypt during the Arab Spring, using a DCC-MGARCH model to capture time-varying contagion effects and dynamic linkages in stock markets. Therefore, to identify the contagion effect from the simple interdependence, the authors apply the pure contagion test developed by Forbes and Rigobon (2002).

The findings indicate a contagion effect, as the EGX 30 index exhibited similar changes, positive or negative, as the Tunindex index during the period of the Tunisian revolution. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates the presence of an interdependence between the Tunisian revolution and the Egyptian market, emphasizing the interconnections between these two economies.

The findings provide investors with a better understanding of financial market dynamics in times of major political unrest, notably on the Tunisian and Egyptian markets. By understanding the contagion effect of the Tunisian revolution on the Egyptian stock market, investors can further explore the complexities of these markets in times of financial crises, which can help mitigate losses and identify strategic investment opportunities.

This study makes two significant contributions to the field. First, it addresses the scarcity of research specifically focused on the contagion effect during the Arab Spring, aiming to fill this gap by testing the contagion effect of the Tunisian revolution on a nearby market. Second, it extends the contagion test of Forbes and Rigobon (2002), which associates “pure” contagion with a significantly higher correlation between markets during a crisis.

This study aims to highlight the dimensions of the rivalry over the regional role between two regional powers in the Middle East, and the impact of local, regional and international pressures of the Syrian crisis on the role performance of the competing forces.

The study is based on using “the role approach” as an analytical frame to benefit by the application of the theory of role. This approach allows the possibility of linking various analytical levels, both in clarifying the relationship between internal and external factors and showing the interaction between elements of perception, abilities and behavior.

The international pressures shall remain governing the frame of competition among the roles of the regional powers, through determining the course of competition and its direct impact on its results.

This study examines the phenomenon of regional rivalry between two distinct and competing regional powers, in a turbulent environment in the wake of the Arab Spring crises, which created opportunities and challenges for regional powers, especially in Syria, where it intersected with the interests and policies of major and regional powers.

Using the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities theory, we explore the impact of strategic management practices, innovation and social capital on small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) performance in three developing Arab countries, namely, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.

Drawing upon firm-level data derived from the standardized World Bank Enterprise Surveys, we use quantile regressions and the marginal effects analysis to test our hypotheses.

Our results show heterogeneity among the three countries as to the factors affecting firm performance. The configuration of performance determinants also differs among firms within each country, depending on their level of performance.

Our findings further the understanding of the performance determinants of SMEs in developing countries within their own local context. They imply important theoretical, methodological, managerial and policy implications.

This study is the first to investigate simultaneously strategic management practices, innovation and social capital as determinants of SMEs’ performance in developing countries. We confirm an important premise of the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities theory, which has not been thoroughly investigated in the literature, claiming that strategic management, innovation and social capital cannot be separately investigated as determinants of firm performance. We do so by going beyond the mere inclusion of interaction terms in regression equations to computing marginal effects.

This paper aims to discuss the main characteristics of the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region's capital inflows volatility. It also examines the effect of institutional quality and information availability on capital inflows volatility in selected MENA countries (Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia) in the period 1996–2017.

The study's assessments are based on the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG) and globalization indices. It also employs an updated data set of balance of payments indicators released by the International Monetary Fund. Moreover, the study uses econometric panel modeling of random effect model, with Driscoll-Kraay robust standard error, to analyze the relationship between capital inflows volatility, institutional quality and information availability.

The paper finds that both institutional quality and information availability are in an inverse relationship with the total capital inflows volatility in the MENA region. However, the findings vary across the different components of total capital inflows. For example, the volatility of foreign direct investment (FDI) declines, like total capital flows, as the two factors improve. However, the volatility of foreign portfolio investment (FPI) is negatively related to institutional quality but does not have any significant relationship with information availability. While the volatility of foreign other investments (FOI) decreases with the availability of information, but does not have any significant relationship with institutional quality.

This paper expands the limited literature regarding the determinants of capital inflows volatility. Furthermore, it is the first study that investigates the effect of institutional quality and information availability on capital inflows volatility in the MENA region.

Using bibliometrics, this study aims to explore the intellectual structure of social segregation research, key contributors, thematic areas and hotspot topics.

A bibliometric analysis was performed for more than 15,000 research papers listed in one of the famous, rich and widely used scientific databases: Web of Science (WoS). This review approach was used to identify social research hotspots on segregation, intellectual structure, borders and development trends. VOSviewer and Gephi software were employed for mapping and analysis.

The study indicates a marked increase in segregation research, particularly from a spatial/urban perspective. The study reveals the interrelationship between segregation and many other social concepts, such as social equality, cohesion, integration and inclusion. In conclusion, addressing the ramifications resulting from the multiple forms of segregation will help in implementing social policies and evaluating their impact on achieving inclusive social development in general and the 2030 agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in specific.

This study remains limited to the precision and thoroughness of the bibliographic data gained from WoS.

This study is valuable for readers to gain rich insights into the state of research on social segregation. It also provides ideas for future research that prospective authors and interested research and academic institutions can investigate.

This study aims to examine the correlation between the readability of financial statements and the likelihood of future stock price crashes in nonfinancial companies listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange. It further explores the possible moderating effect of audit quality on this relationship.

The study uses ordinary least squares regression, generalized least squares estimation and two-stage least squares methodology to examine and validate the research hypotheses. The sample comprises 107 nonfinancial companies registered on the Egyptian Stock Exchange from 2016 to 2019.

The results reveal a significant negative association between the readability of financial statements and stock price crash risk. This suggests that companies with more complex financial statements tend to experience higher future crash risks. Additionally, the study identifies audit quality as a significant moderating factor. Higher audit quality, often indicated by engagements with Big-4 audit firms, strengthens the influence of financial statements readability on stock price crash risk. This implies that while high audit quality enhances investor confidence and market stability, it also accentuates the negative consequences of complex financial statements.

The findings of this paper have significant implications for regulators and standard-setting bodies in Egypt. They should consider refining and revising existing standards to emphasize the importance of enhancing the readability of financial reports. Additionally, auditing firms should actively engage in efforts to ensure clearer and more transparent financial reporting. These actions are vital for boosting investor confidence, strengthening Egypt’s capital market and mitigating potential risks associated with information opacity and complexity.

This study represents a pioneering endeavor within the Arab and Egyptian financial environments. To the best of the author’s knowledge, it is the first examination of the association between the readability of financial statements and stock price crash risk in these contexts. Furthermore, it explores factors such as audit quality that may influence this connection.

This paper offers a unique perspective on the urbanisation process in developing cities, with a particular focus on the region of the Gulf States. Beyond economic considerations, the analysis sheds light on the complex interplay of socio-cultural factors, gender dynamics and urban development. Based on the calls for human-centred approaches to rethinking urban design and management of cities require the integration of these cities’ inhabitants’ lived experiences, that impact residents’ daily lives. The focus is on the importance of women’s perspectives in the development process.

The paper uses a systematic literature review that builds on existing knowledge relating to urbanisation, modernisation, sustainable cities, gender and the Arabian Gulf. It uses Lefebvre’s 'right to the city' theory to understand the evolution of the Gulf Cities which is a novel approach. This adaptation offers a unique perspective on the transformations and challenges that these urban spaces face. Furthermore, it offers a firm foundation for developing advanced knowledge on the interdisciplinary nature of the topic discussed and assists in integrating empirical findings and perspectives from different resources.

The extreme levels of transformation in urbanisation in the Gulf States built cities that are no longer solely places for settlement, production and services but operate as significant influencers on the social, economic and political relations that produced design and cultural challenges. These cities became epicentres of power and politics that shaped the national visions and influenced policy. The process of inclusive and considerate urban development that the Arabian Gulf region is aiming to embark on is not a new exclusive strategy. But a process that has been implemented and tested in other urbanised areas globally.

Very little historical urban research on the Arabian Gulf countries exists, hence, the difficulty in researching the Gulf urbanisation process or providing historical encounters of the change.

This paper delves into the gendered aspects of urban planning, an aspect that is frequently overlooked. It contributes to the discourse on gender inclusivity in urban spaces by focussing on Khaleeji women’s experiences, offering insights that go beyond economic considerations. The use of Lefebvre’s “right to the city” theory to understand the evolution of the Gulf Cities is a unique approach. It investigates the interaction of various factors such as economic, cultural and political influences on Gulf urban development. This adaptation offers a distinctive perspective on the transformations and challenges that these urban spaces face.