Niche Markets and Their Lessons

Markets are full of nooks and crannies. Out of the glare of the big economies and their public exchanges, markets specializing by financial product, activity, or industry thrive, often attracting little by way of formal regulatory oversight. But there is another kind of specialized market, one which is geographically and politically determined albeit internationally focused. Luxembourg, Ireland, Dubai, Bahrain, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland, among others, these are some of the world’s niche markets.It is a hard business being a niche market, operating in a competitive and often unforgiving environment, engaging in constant repositioning and facing inherent limitations on growth. Surprisingly, perhaps, there are lots of niche markets and a very diverse grouping they are, deploying a variety of survival strategies. In all cases, state capitalism, in various guises, supports these markets. In earlier times, reputation, a friendly regulator, and good business practices might have sufficed. Now, there is a new dynamic. This chapter in a new book, International Capital Markets: Law and Institutions (Oxford University Press, 2014), examines the characteristics of niche markets, such as a high tolerance for legal pluralism and the role of state capitalism, the vulnerabilities of niche markets, especially to change, and the secrets of their success

U.S. Trade Relations with Arab Countries: Past, Present, and Future

Arab countries have adopted market economy principles and pursued policies designed to strengthen their economies. The cornerstone of Arab countries' long-term economic objectives has been to increase trade and support economic growth via regional and global integration. To this end, Arab countries are attempting to broaden their engagement in the multilateral trading system by joining the World Trade Organization (WTO). In addition, some Arab countries entered into trade arrangements with the United States (U.S.) to foster economic development, attract investment, and develop peaceful relationship. These trade agreements carry several implications for local economies

The e-government implementation directions in Oman: A preliminay investigation

Electronic government has established itself as the primary enabler for transforming the way government services are offered to citizens. In the gulf countries, public sector transformation efforts are focused towards increasing accessibility, availability, competitive advances and enhancing services in civil administration. The Sultanate of Oman is one such example of the Gulf countries where large investments have been made since 2003 to implement electronic services in the public sector. Using a qualitative research approach, this research investigates the improvements that have been made to facilitate these electronic services in three public organisations, and their resulting impact within the organisations. The empirical results reveal that among others, top management support, integration and IT staff skills and capabilities are the most important factors that facilitate e-government initiatives in the Omani public sector

Language Policy in the Virtual Linguistic Landscape: The case of the Kingdom of Bahrain E-Government National Portal

This study examined language policy in the virtual linguistic landscape in the Kingdom of Bahrain as exemplified in its E-Government National Portal. It was carried out with the aim of extending the view of the linguistic landscape beyond the mainstream research that is typically anchored and defined within the parameters of given geographic boundaries. It sought to answer the question of how the linguistic diversity is experienced in cyberspace. Spolsky and Cooper’s (1991) Preference Model Theory of language choice was used to address this question. The findings authenticate the assumption that the Bahraini virtual linguistic landscape shares not only specific features with physical counterparts, but also displays unique attributesEste estudo examinou a política de linguagem no cenário lingüístico virtual do Reino do Bahrein, como exemplificado em seu Portal Nacional de Governo Eletrônico. O objetivo é estender a visão da paisagem linguística para além da pesquisa convencional, que normalmente é ancorada e definida dentro dos parâmetros de determinadas fronteiras geográficas. Procurou responder à questão de como a diversidade linguística é vivenciada no ciberespaço. A Teoria do Modelo de Preferências de Spolsky e Cooper (1991) foi utilizada para abordar esta questão. As descobertas autenticam a suposição de que o cenário linguístico virtual do Bahrein compartilha não apenas características específicas com contrapartes físicas, mas também exibe atributos únicos

The emerging interventionists of the GCC

There is a shift occurring within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in which new regional leaders are emerging, buoyed by a decade of unprecedented wealth generation from the 2000s commodities boom and increased foreign investment. Specifically, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have emerged as activist states in their interest and willingness to intervene both militarily and financially in the politics of neighbouring Arab states. Contrary to their collective and individual foreign policies of the last 40 years, the GCC states have intervened in each other’s domestic politics and in the domestic politics and revolutions of the wider Middle East and North Africa region. While Saudi Arabia enjoyed a period of dominance among its Gulf Arab neighbours for many years, even occasionally threatening the borders of Qatar and the UAE, the prevailing policy of Gulf states has been non-interference and support for Arab leaders, as a principle of religion and politics. In essence, the evolving nature of interventionism in the GCC is moving away from Saudi dominance towards the emergence of new actors willing to engage in the region and on the international stage. We can trace this policy shift through the simultaneous yet separate evolution of domestic, regional and international political economy. This paper argues that shifts in leadership at the national levels have coincided with larger trends in the regional and international economy which have enabled different, yet both assertive, interventionist foreign policies to emerge from Qatar and the UAE. The result is a moment of financial and military interventionism unprecedented in Arab Gulf politics

Trade Negotiations in the 108th Congress

CRS ReportCRSTradeNegotiations108Cong25Sept03.pdf: 553 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020