The Montreal Protocol: Developing Countries Import of Halons

Base on the model of legal and illegal trade in CFC from Ivanova (2007), this paper empirically analyzes the affects of the Montreal Protocol on imports of Halons, and hence their consumption, in developing countries. We show that countries with high income level have decreased their import of Halons, but ratifiers of the Protocol import more Halons than non-ratifiers.

Levels of Economic Development and Harrod foreign trade

Estimates of export and import demand functions for ninety countries using Stock and Watson (1993) Dynamic OLS are presented. These estimates are then used to examine the relationship between levels of economic development and Harrod foreign trade multiplier. We show that there is an inverted U relations, as predicted by Thirlwall (1997), contrary to Bairam (1997, 1993). Absence of inverse relation between levels of economic development and Harrod foreign trade multiplier imply that Thirlwall's law does not imply convergence.Thirlwall Law, Trade Elasticities, Dynamic Harrod Multiplier

Export promotion policies and the crowding-out effect in developing countries

Critics of export promotion policies have pointed out a fallacy of composition, where what is viable for a small country acting in isolation might not be viable when pursued by a group of countries simultaneously. This paper investigates the crowding-out effect of the fallacy of composition; that is, whether developing countries that specialize in exports of manufactured products compete and crowd out one another's exports. The results of fixed-effects panel estimation suggest that developing countries are not crowding out one another's exports. Instead, they are crowding out Western European countries' exports of manufactured products

Tourist arrivals to Muslim countries: is religion important

Tourism is an important source of income for many countries, and religion is one of the factors shown to promote tourist arrivals. An important development in the tourism sector is the expansion of Islamic tourism products. If tourists from Muslim countries prefer to visit other Muslim countries, then the promotion of Islamic tourism products should focus on Muslim countries. This study uses the bilateral tourism flows gravity model to examine the Muslim country effect: that is, whether the number of tourist arrivals to Muslim countries is higher from Muslim countries than from non-Muslim countries. The analysis involved two steps. First, a least square dummy variables method was used using global level data. Second, the Muslim country effect was examined on the country level using tourist arrivals data for individual Muslim countries. The analysis shows that the Muslim country effect is positive at the global level but varies on the individual country level

Tourist arrivals to Malaysia from Muslim countries

The Malaysian government has introduced many Muslim-friendly tourism initiatives to attract Muslim tourists. However, the number of tourist arrivals to Malaysia from Muslim countries is smaller than the number of arrivals from non-Muslim countries, which calls into question the effectiveness of Muslim-friendly tourism initiatives. This study used the bilateral tourism flows gravity model to estimate the effect of Muslim country on the number of tourist arrivals. The results show that the Muslim country effect is positive,where it increases arrivals by about 90% relative to non-Muslim countries. The low number of arrivals from Muslim countries is due to the low per capita income of many Muslim countries; furthermore, the populations of Muslim countries with high per capita income are typically small. The geographical distance of Muslim countries from Malaysia is also a factor that constrains the number of arrival

Tourist arrivals to muslim countries: pre- and post-September 11

The incident that occurred on 11 September 2001 changed tourist arrival patterns directly afterward, not only in the United States but also in the Middle East. In the longer run, the negative media portrayal of Islam and Muslim countries after the 9/11 incident also effected tourist travel patterns. This paper examines whether the 9/11 incident affected tourist arrival patterns in Muslim countries using the bilateral tourism flows gravity model. The result indicates that the Muslim country effect was only visible after 2001. Before the September 11 incident, the patterns of tourist arrival between a pair of Muslim and non-Muslim countries were similar

Trade Liberalization and Foreign Direct Investment in Malaysia

A decision to establish foreign direct investment (FDI) involves a lot of critical thinking, especially in deciding a place to locate the investment. Evaluation and consideration comprise of costs and benefits of launching the FDI. This study focuses on time series data for the sample period of 1970 to 2009. The main objective of this study is to identify the major determinant of the inward flows of FDI for Malaysia by employing the bounds testing (ARDL) approach to cointegration. Of all the variables being tested, trade openness is found to be the most influential variable in attracting the inflows of FDI as it shows consistent results in the short run as well as in the long run in all models being tested. Since the trade openness which represents the liberalization of the Malaysian economy could induce the inflows of FDI, some policy actions can be taken up to enhance the trade openness

Towards a more socially inclusive and sustainable framework for Islamic banking and finance

Mainstream interest based financial system marginalized many Muslims as the system is in conflict with the principles of sharīʿah (Islamic law). Islāmic banking and finance (IBF) institutions aimed at promoting Islāmic norms of economic behavior, and ultimately to realize the maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah have developed and offer sharīʿah compliant financial instruments. The growth of IBF institutions has been phenomenal since their introduction in the 1960s. The upsurge of IBF in the 1970s was driven by oil price rises, competition for regional power between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and a general Islāmic resurgence. The second upsurge has involved similar drivers, but with the added benefit of standardized regulation and management, as well as improved overall business decision-making. The aftermath of 11 September 2001 reinforced the second surge in Islāmic finance. However, IBF institutions have tended to respond to prevailing forces of the international financial system by moving closer to conventional financial institutional practice. IBF is supposed to expand the Muslim financial base and reduce financial exclusion, but many institutions have been taken over by pragmatic bankers who shift the core operation away from the original religious and social ideals. The new generation of financial instruments are at odds with the foundational axioms of Islāmic economics. As such, the concept behind IBF has been reduced to the mere removal of ribā’ and the conduct of financial activities according to sharīʿah derived contractual norms. IBF institutions are following the letter of the sharīʿah, but not its spirit, the maqāṣid. The simplistic ‘pragmatism’ may mean that the globalization and unprecedented growth of IBF would permeate the lives of many poorer disenfranchised Muslims. However, more recent developments in IBF such as iMFI and social impact ṣukūk (Islāmic bond) suggest that IBF is moving to a more socially inclusive and sustainable finance