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Undoubtedly, saving the environment and avoiding environmental damage is one of the major challenges facing any government. The purpose of this paper is to add to the accumulative knowledge in the field through investigating the different factors affecting the adoption of newly developed water filters by Egyptian farmers to reduce the massive air pollution resulting from burning rice straw. Such investigation will help in achieving a deep and reflective understanding of current adoption practises by Egyptian farmers.

To understand the different factors that might have an impact on the adoption of newly developed water filters by Egyptians, a survey research strategy as well as a focus groups mechanism were conducted employing triangulation methodology in which quantitative and qualitative data were collected based on a post-positives approach. This quantitative study was performed in five local councils in Al-Sharqiyah Governorate, one of the biggest governorates in rice production in Egypt, based on a questionnaire built on some parameters related to Egyptian farmers’ perceptions of clean water. Statistical analysis was performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences to analyse the collected data and evaluate the ability to promote the newly developed filters.

The findings indicated that the adoption of water filters by Egyptian farmers is affected by two groups of factors, namely personal factors and water-related factors. With regard to this, it was found that age, cost, farmers’ attitudes towards using water filters, farmers’ trust in the water pipes systems, and the usefulness of the filters have a positive impact on water filters adoption by Egyptian farmers. The findings also indicate that water filters adoption by Egyptian farmers has a positive impact on a farmer’s intention to buy a water filter and their intention to share a water filter with others.

The paper will provide great benefits for entrepreneurs, policy makers, practitioners, and researchers though providing a clearer view and deep understanding for the issues related to different factors affecting the adoption of newly developed water filters by Egyptian farmers.

This research adds to the relatively limited empirical research that has been conducted on water management in south Mediterranean counties. Moreover, the findings and results of this study will provide great assistance and benefit to business owners, practitioners and governmental agencies concerned with water management in south Mediterranean countries since it reveals a number of dynamics and potential scenarios that should be taken into consideration.

In the last 50 years, the Mediterranean Basin has experienced a doubling of its population. This demographic growth has been the cause of extensive land use changes that have undermined the ecological stability of large portions of its fragile ecosystems. The population of the Mediterranean countries is expected to grow by another 20 percent in the next 25 years, further increasing the pressure on the natural resources. In this paper, we present a methodology combining photosynthetic activity and human settlements both derived from satellite data for monitoring the effects of human settlements on the environment. We found photosynthesis decreasing as one moves from rural to urban settings in the north and increasing in the south Mediterranean countries. Regional scale assessments using this approach may help policy makers in designing appropriate measures to combat further environmental degradation.

Building industrial clusters is getting much more political attention and strategic orientation in all developing countries. This study started by revising the conceptual and theoretical frameworks for industrial clusters, followed by some insights and contributions about empirical bases for clusters' dynamics and processes. The study focused on the case of Agadir Agreement between four Arab countries (Egypt, Jordon, Morocco, and Tunisia), which was initiated after the Euro-Mediterranean partnerships, and the rationale of the agreement was based on the concept of cumulative value-added origin. The study based its methodology on analyzing the international and bilateral trade flows of six industrial goods from the automotive sector among the four countries and with the EU countries to detect the degree of industrial collaboration and the achieved success of each country in this sector. The study indicated that the four countries used the concept of industrial clusters for economic development, but the results of the analysis showed that till now Agadir Agreement only achieved a shallow integration, while failed to deeply integrate as one big collaborative industrial cluster.

There is a long period from completing studies to finding a permanent or temporary (but at least satisfactory) job in all European countries, especially in Mediterranean countries, including Italy. This paper aims to study the determinants of this duration and measure them, for the first time in a systematic way, in the case of Italy.

This paper provides several measures of duration, including education level and other criteria. Furthermore, it attempts to identify the main determinants of the long Italian transition, both at a macroeconomic and an individual level. It tests for omitted heterogeneity of those who are stuck at this important crossroads in their life within the context of parametric survival models.

The average duration of the school-to-work transition for young people aged 18–34 years was 2.88 years (or 34.56 months) in 2017. A shorter duration was found for the highly educated; they found a job on average 46 months earlier than those with compulsory education. At a macroeconomic level, the duration over the years 2004–2017 was inversely related to spending in the labour market policy and in education, gross domestic product growth and the degree of trade union density; however, it was directly related to the proportion of temporary contracts. At the individual level, being a woman, a migrant or living in a densely populated area in the South are the risk factors for remaining stuck in the transition. After correcting for omitted heterogeneity, there is clear evidence of positive duration dependence.

Positive duration dependence suggests that focusing on education and labour policy, rather than labour flexibility, is the best way to smooth the transition.

This study develops our understanding of the Italian school-to-work transition regime by providing new and detailed evidence of its duration and by studying its determinants.

Following the issuance of the Renewable Energy Directive in 2009, the European Union (EU) is explicitly pushing for member states to cooperate with third countries to meet their EU 2020 targets. So far, no single joint project is planned or in place yet. This paper aims to look at the opportunities for and barriers to possible RE exports from North Africa into the EU through the concept of a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis.

Thus, the SWOT for a possible implementation of Article 9 projects are analyzed using expert and stakeholder knowledge. A qualitative assessment was undertaken using data collected through one stakeholder workshop in North Africa, in-depth interviews and a qualitative literature review. The analysis was structured within a three-tier analyzing concept distinguishing between macro, micro and acceptance parameters.

From the SWOT analysis, some lessons are drawn, future possible measures are identified and conclusions for policymakers are discussed. The authors find that no easy solutions exist as most parameters can be both a strength and a weakness or a threat and an opportunity at the same time depending on future developments and the specific ideological perspective.

This paper provides new information and analysis of renewable energy sources projects in North Africa – application of the SWOT method on Article 9 cooperation projects – application of a three-tier analysis to cope with the complexity of the topic – taking into account often neglected socio-political aspects such as public acceptance.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences and relations between Italy and Egypt and to identify main risks and opportunities for Italian firms that aim to operate in Egypt.

The paper presents a qualitative analysis realized through some semi-structured questionnaire and a case study.

High cultural difference, legal uncertainty and administrative instability are main problems in internationalization process of Italian firms in Egypt. Despite these problems, Italian firms still invest in Egypt because of economic opportunities and possible interactions.

While interest towards Southern Mediterranean countries is increasing, there is little written on this topic. This article aims to fill the gap in literature on internationalization in emerging markets.

In recent years, Mediterranean Partner countries (MPCs) have been ambitious about reforming their banking and financial systems. Former state‐owned banks have been privatised, and restrictions for international capital flows have been lowered to accelerate investment activities and spur regional economic growth. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate these latest developments against the backdrop of the state‐of‐the‐art literature and derive implications for a reformed institutional setting for sound financial market governance in the Mediterranean region.

Building on recent empirical literature on the relationship between financial development, financial governance, and economic growth, this paper empirically assesses the validity of the so‐called finance‐growth nexus for Mediterranean Partner countries.

The findings indicate that the current institutional set‐up renders an efficient allocation of savings impossible, and thus represents a strong binding constraint on economic growth. In this regard, it is found that adverse financial governance practices have substantially contributed to this outcome.

This paper argues for upgrading domestic regulatory frameworks before continuing a sequential integration and liberalisation process.

It is thought that this attempt is unique in explicitly formulating a comprehensive role for the Euro‐Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) in assisting MPCs on financial governance issues. In this respect, it identifies prevailing incentive schemes for regional actors and opportunities for the EU to actively support the implementation of a reform agenda for financial institutions in the EMP framework.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate empirically the impact of oil price fluctuations on the relationship between banking sector development and economic growth in oil-importing MENA countries.

The study used the newly developed panel autoregressive distributed lagged (ARDL) approach in order to address any potential endogeneity between research variables.

The empirical results show a unidirectional causality in the long run from oil price to both economic growth and banking sector development for oil-importing countries. Also, banking sector development not only leads directly to economic growth but also can play a moderator role in the oil price—economic growth nexus.

The study has two principal limitations. On the one hand, this study was conducted in a relatively limited sample of countries. On the other hand, the study did not consider others indicators for banking sector development and others macroeconomic variables.

The results found have imperative implications for banks' managers, regulators and researchers. Bank managers should be more concerned with the negative repercussions of oil price fluctuations on the development of their banks. The regulatory authorities must emphasize policies and strategies to further strengthen their banking sector in order to alleviate the negative influence of oil price shocks on economic growth. Researchers focused on finance-growth nexus must take into account the potential influence of oil price shocks.

The developed conceptual model allows examining to what extent the oil price fluctuations might affect the relationship between economic growth and banking sector development. This effect is neither evaluated nor clarified in the relevant literature.