Search results

This chapter provides an overview of the internal airline market in the Maghreb and examines the determinants of intra-Maghreb air traffic flows. Most accounts of recent developments in the air transport markets in Africa have focused on the Continent as a whole and to some extent on Eastern and Southern African countries. Previous analysis of air transportation in the Maghreb has involved origins and destinations outside of the region. The analysis of domestic and intra-Maghreb traffic shows that the greatest share of traffic is concentrated on routes linking capital cities and commercial centers. Most intra-Maghreb flights are indirect, with some domestic and intraregional flights transferring through European airports. Here, a gravity equation is used to estimate the volume of traffic between Maghreb countries in relation to a wide set of factors. The results suggest that key determinants of air intra-Maghreb air traffic demand are generally in line with findings in other markets, including those involving GDP, fares, conflicts, visa openness, trade, and the quality of airline services.

While most West European nations were formed around pre-existing entities that could be called “countries” before the modern age, this was not the case in the Middle East. Some entities, like Egypt, did have a clear political and cultural identity before colonialism, others, like Algeria, did not. This chapter discusses the four states of the Maghreb: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, through the perspective of “country creation” going into and coming out of colonial rule. We can see here two “models” of fairly similar types of historical development, one showing a gradual process through a protectorate period to relatively stable modern nations, another through violent conquest and direct colonization ending in violent liberation and military and wealthy but fragile states. The article asks whether these models for the history of country creation and the presence or absence of pre-colonial identities can help explain the modern history and nature of these states in the Arab Spring and the years thereafter. Then, a more tentative attempt is made to apply these models to two countries of the Arab east, Syria and Iraq. While local variations ensure that no model can be transferred directly, it can show the importance of studying the historical factors that go into the transition from geographical region to a country with people that can form the basis of a nation.

The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into how well past reforms have performed against revenue, equity and efficiency benchmarks of tax policymaking, so that the direction of future reform of tax system might be determined. It also presents a comparative analysis of taxation and revenue trends in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region over the data set period 1990-2012.

By overviewing the development and relative significance of resource revenues, allocating non-resource taxes and examining the tax policies of constituent countries, this paper presents a comparative review of taxation and revenue trends in the MENA region.

Findings showed, on average, a slight decline in non-resource revenues against the significant rise in income from resources. The analysis of government revenues and current taxation structures provide insight into how prior reforms have performed against the standard measures of tax policy-making (i.e. revenue, equity and efficiency) and directions for change leading to the establishment of simple tax systems. The study observes regional differences, such as the higher tax and revenues of the Maghreb sub-region over the Mashreq, except for value-added tax, where low rates were associated with equal or greater revenue. Similarities were also found, including the partial compensation by income taxes (not indirect taxes) for revenue lost through trade liberalization. The challenges of tax reform are found to vary across countries and opportunities for improving equity and reducing the complexity of tax systems across the region are identified.

Reforms in all tax systems could have major implications for the country, employment, earnings and tax revenues; but recommendations would require political value judgments and government decisions. The study suggests eliminating the current tax system, thereby replacing one of the more distortionary taxes in the current system with a neutral and efficient tax.

The paper signals the need, even of the oil-rich states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, for governments to build tax systems capable of capturing and spending revenues effectively into the future.

The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the main determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the case of the Arab Maghreb countries.

We employ a dynamic panel analysis using the General Method of Moments for a sample composed of 105 countries over the period 1985–2018.

We show that FDI stability, market size, higher education enrolment, quality of institutions, distance, sharing of common border, and bilateral investment and integration agreements are the main determinants of FDI location. These determinants are neither general. The potential for attracting FDI from AMU countries is poorly exploited. FDI to the AMU is lower than estimated stock. The observed FDI to potential FDI ratio does not exceed 87%. France and Spain are the main investors in the AMU region thanks to historical and cultural links. The FDI from the United States, Canada, Germany, Belgium, and Japan are below what is expected.

The contribution of this paper is observed on the examining oh the determinants of the FDI in the Arab Maghreb countries. Our study demonstrate that the political stability can decrease investment risk in these countries. The administrations correspondingly require expanding their rules and strategies with union demonstrations which were at the beginning of the departure and closing of several foreign companies.

It is important for stakeholders to understand the driving forces of the aviation industry and economic wellbeing and how these sectors are interconnected. This chapter studies the relationships between the African aviation industry and the economy. It is framed as a causal linkage considering the priority investment sector that enhances the sustainable wellbeing of the society. Analyses were conducted for 38 African countries using time series data from 1981 to 2019. The results show that causal relationships are heterogeneous and context-specific. Four patterns of causal relationships between air travel demand and the economy are identified: unidirectional causality in either directions; bidirectional causality; and indeterminate causal direction. However, the causal direction in any economic or policy-related matter may change with political reforms and changes to economic policy.

European Educational Policies have been studied not only from an economic and political approach but also from an educational and cultural one. On this basis, and according to the contemporary political, cultural, economic and social changes and reclassifications, modern higher education and teacher education – not only in Europe but in Africa and elsewhere – suggest new aims and targets. These aims are to find new ways of knowledge communication and production. Educational policies in Europe – like the Bologna Declaration and the Uniformization of Higher Education provide some ‘lessons’ for Higher Education and Teacher Education in Africa.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors influencing customer loyalty to shopping centres across different emerging countries. Specifically, it seeks to determine how the cultural context moderates the direct effects of shopping centre perceived value and customer satisfaction on customer loyalty.

A shopping centre-intercept survey was conducted among 244 consumers in Morocco and 203 consumers in Tunisia. The proposed model was analysed using partial least squares path modelling.

The results demonstrate the impacts of perceived utilitarian and non-utilitarian value on customer satisfaction with a shopping centre, both moderated by the cultural context. Specifically, utilitarian, hedonic and relaxation values exert stronger influences on satisfaction in Tunisia than in Morocco; but socialisation value has a stronger impact on it in Morocco than in Tunisia. The influences of value dimensions on customer loyalty to the shopping centre do not vary between Tunisia and Morocco.

With these results shopping centre developers and retailers can develop more efficient strategies to target Maghreb emerging countries. For example, they should focus on factors that may increase the utilitarian, hedonic and relaxation values offered by shopping centres in Tunisia but address factors that facilitate socialisation value in Morocco.

By using a cross-culture perspective, this paper extends and enriches knowledge on shopping centre patronage in Maghreb countries. Also, it considers two non-utilitarian values (socialisation and relaxation), which are relevant in Maghreb countries.

Purpose – The main aim of this chapter is to analyze Spanish internal and external territorial conflicts, mostly associated with the border effect between two continents with different economic and cultural systems. We assess the impact that the emergence of the new economy, represented by new technologies, R&D, privatizations, and foreign direct investment, has had in South-Spain, particularly in Andalusia, throughout the period 1995–2010. Special attention has been paid to the dynamics of convergence–divergence processes in terms of per capita income with respect to its neighboring different economic and cultural areas: Europe and the Maghreb.

Methodology – For the aforementioned purposes, we suggest applying the game theory approach to solve domestic secessionist conflicts, and the method followed by Mankiw, Romer, and Weil (1992) to address economic conflicts by means of promoting convergence with Europe. We propose economic competition between cities as a way to deal with external territorial conflicts concerning neighboring countries.

Findings – The main results obtained from econometric applications indicate that privatization processes, foreign direct investment, research and investment, and investment in new technologies allow for the real convergence of Spain and Southern Spain with European economies.

Research limitations – This chapter does not address smaller conflicts.

Social implications – Conflicts resolutions promote peace in both continental borders.

Originality – This chapter analyzes the most relevant domestic and external Spanish conflicts. The most important domestic conflicts are the linguistic and cultural conflicts in bilingual regions. The major external Spanish conflicts analyzed herein are both territorial conflicts between Spain and Morocco and Muslim immigration.