Kara Lasater, Meghan Scales, Kelley Sells, Meleah Hoskins and Jordan Dickey
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how rural schools and communities responded to the COVID-19 pandemic through compassionate care.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how rural schools and communities responded to the COVID-19 pandemic through compassionate care.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper provides “compassion narratives” (Frost et al., 2006, p. 851) from five educators (i.e. the authors) working and/or living in rural communities. Each narrative describes how compassion was witnessed and experienced from various professional positions (which include classroom teacher; building-level leader; district-level leader; special services director and school psychologist; and assistant professor of educational leadership).
Findings
The compassion narratives described in this paper demonstrate how various organizations and communities responded to COVID-19 through compassionate care. They also provide a lens for considering how rural schools and communities might sustain compassion in a post-pandemic world.
Originality/value
This paper extends disciplinary knowledge by considering the healing, transformative power of compassion within rural schools and communities – not just in response to COVID-19 but in response to all future adversities.
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Said M. Alkhatib and Zakia A. Mishal
The present study investigates the dynamic effects of domestic credit measured by claims on non financial public enterprises and claims on private sector on the real GDP in Jordan…
Abstract
The present study investigates the dynamic effects of domestic credit measured by claims on non financial public enterprises and claims on private sector on the real GDP in Jordan for the period 1970‐2002. The stationarity properties and the order of integration of the data employed were empirically examined using the Augmented Dickey‐Fuller test. The cointegration test proposed by Johansen was also employed to test for the existence of longrun relationship among the non stationary time series data. The result of the cointegration test suggests that there exists a cointegrating relationship between real GDP and claims on private sector. The short‐run and long‐run relationships between real GDP and claims on private sector were examined using the VEC technique. In the short run, real GDP turns out to have an impact which is statistically significant on the claims on private sector, while in the long run, the claims on private sector turn out to affect real GDP at the 1% significance level.
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Suhaib Al-Khazaleh, Nemer Badwan, Ihab Qubbaj, Safa Qasem and Mohammad Sleimi
The purpose of this paper is to compare salaries, wages and foreign direct investment (FDI) while focusing on Palestine and Jordan. The world development indicators (WDI) time…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare salaries, wages and foreign direct investment (FDI) while focusing on Palestine and Jordan. The world development indicators (WDI) time series data, which spans the years 2000–2020, was used in this investigation.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used time-series data from 2000 to 2020, which was collected from the (WDI). This research's methodology is driven by the variables and data it uses, and the design is predicated on the fact that we gathered secondary data in addition to the national characteristics of Jordan and Palestine. The statistical approach of econometrics is used to construct linear techniques like regression models and null hypothesis testing. Econometrics is an additional method for predicting future trends in the economy.
Findings
The results demonstrate that FDI has a statistically significant and favourable effect on salaries and wages in Palestine and Jordan. The statistical impact of unemployment on wages and salaries is small, but it harms Palestine and Jordan. GDP per capita has a statistically significant effect on salaries and wages, although it does so in Jordan adversely and in Palestine positively. In Palestine, the labour force has a statistically substantial and favourable influence on wages and salaries; in Jordan, however, this impact is not as great. FDI boosts employment prospects when business owners, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders establish new ventures overseas.
Practical implications
The findings of this study have some policy implications. Investors must open new businesses abroad, and FDI increases possibilities and creates new employment. As a consequence, residents may earn more money and have more purchasing power, which will support the growth of the targeted economies in Jordan and Palestine. By enhancing the investment climate, the governments of Jordan and Palestine should encourage the flow of international direct investment. Low-technology companies and construction projects are more susceptible to the direct implications of FDI. To maximize the policy's effectiveness, both governments ought to devise specific measures to attract FDI to key economic sectors.
Originality/value
The study provides insight into how FDI enhances business opportunities when business owners, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders create new ventures abroad and locally within the two countries. This study contributes to the literature as it is considered the first study to address the impact of the relationship of FDI with wages and salaries in the Palestinian and Jordanian contexts. This study is also considered one of the very few studies that conducted empirical research from 2000 to 2020 to estimate the importance and impact of the relationship between FDI and wages or salaries.
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Kofi A. Amoateng and Javad Kargar
The desire to increase investor interest in emerging markets has motivated many studies of return and risk characteristics of equity prices in these markets. Using data from…
Abstract
The desire to increase investor interest in emerging markets has motivated many studies of return and risk characteristics of equity prices in these markets. Using data from January 1999 to December 2002, we examine the dynamic relationships between oil, currency, and stock prices in the four major markets in the Middle East. Three of the four are highly correlated with the major stock markets. The potential for diversifying in Middle East markets is limited. The Egyptian and Jordanian markets, on one hand, and the Israeli and Saudi markets, on the other, are marginally integrated. While Israeli shekels significantly explain their equity prices, crude oil futures prices fairly explain oil‐rich Saudi and Egyptian equity prices. We conclude that it takes a long time for crude oil futures prices to reach equilibrium with stock prices in Israel when there is a shock to the system. However, it takes relatively a short time for crude spot oil prices and currency price to reach equilibrium with stock prices when there is a shock in the system of Saudi Arabia or Egypt. Our results suggest that, in the short and long term, investor decisions in these markets are influenced by oil and currency prices.
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The purpose of this study is to estimate the long‐run elasticities of the demand (consumption) for total energy in Jordan for the 1980‐1999 period. Assuming a simple linear…
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to estimate the long‐run elasticities of the demand (consumption) for total energy in Jordan for the 1980‐1999 period. Assuming a simple linear relationship, in order to estimates the elasticities of a simple long‐run demand equation, we then employ a procedure just recently prescribed by Stock‐Watson (1993) known as Dynamic OLS (DOLS). The DOLS procedure allows for co‐integrated variables as well as tackling the problem of simultaneity amongst the regressors. Furthermore, Stock and Watson showed that DOLS is more favorable, particularly in small size samples, compared to a number of alternative estimators of longrun parameters, including those proposed by Engle‐Granger (1987), Johansen (1988) and error correction model. The analysis provided in this paper showed that the income elasticity of final energy consumption is 1.15, which indicated that the economic growth is accompanied by proportional increase in energy consumption. The responsiveness of energy consumption to price change is ‐1.14 suggesting that taxes on their own are likely to achieve government goals for energy conservation.
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This research paper aims to examine the Dutch disease syndrome in the more diversified economies of the Economic and Social Commission of Western Asia (ESCWA).
Abstract
Purpose
This research paper aims to examine the Dutch disease syndrome in the more diversified economies of the Economic and Social Commission of Western Asia (ESCWA).
Design/methodology/approach
An econometric model was applied to observe the impact of this syndrome on the different sectors of the economy. A regression analysis examined the relationship between this inflow of capital and lagging sector of these economies. Similarly, Granger‐causality was applied to determine the direction of causality between the variables.
Findings
Results indicate that worker remittances, foreign grants, and oil revenues are the main factors behind the Dutch syndrome in the ESCWA region. Channeling remittances through investments, subsidizing output of lagging sectors, and imposing higher import tariffs are recommended to reduce the negative externalities of the Dutch disease.
Research limitations/implications
It is to be noted that the paper has some limitations since data/statistics for the ESCWA region may not be totally reliable.
Originality/value
The paper sheds some light on the impact of this syndrome in the developing economies of Western Asia.
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Faten Moussa and Ezzeddine Delhoumi
Several theoretical and empirical studies have shown the significant effects of economic and environmental factors on a large number of financial indicators. In this paper the…
Abstract
Purpose
Several theoretical and empirical studies have shown the significant effects of economic and environmental factors on a large number of financial indicators. In this paper the authors are going to study whether the main stock market index, is impacted by the variations of the exchange rate and the interest rates.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper studies the response of the index market return to fluctuations in the interest rate and the exchange rate in five countries from the MENA region (Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Turkey and Jordan). To investigate whether this impact exists, the authors used the non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model with daily data from June 1998 to June 2018.
Findings
The application of the non-linear ARDL model confirms the presence of cointegration between return index, interest rate and exchange rate. The results show that the asymmetry hypothesis is only valid for the short run which suggests that the market index is sensitive to the variation in the interest rate and exchange rate. This means that these macroeconomic factors play an important role in the MENA region stock markets.
Originality/value
The findings confirm that the index returns in the MENA region stock markets are related to macroeconomic fundamentals such as the exchange rate and the real interest rate. The reaction of some indices is sensitive to whether the shocks are positive or negative. This finding may help investors to choose their strategies starting from these changes. Accordingly, policy makers must pay attention to the development progress of stock market.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the long-run impact of foreign aid and workers’ remittances on Jordanian economic growth using time series data for the period…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the long-run impact of foreign aid and workers’ remittances on Jordanian economic growth using time series data for the period 1970–2014. Following the most recent literature, the author also assess whether economic policy enhances economic growth and whether aid effectiveness is conditional on levels of economic policy.
Design/methodology/approach
The author employs unit root tests that allow for endogenously determined structural breaks (Perron, 1997) and properly utilize the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) or bounds testing approach to cointegration by applying both the F- and the t-test statistics (Pesaran et al., 2001). The analysis is applied to 12 different models that incorporates the various types and sources of foreign aid.
Findings
Empirical results suggest that aid and its various components, and workers’ remittances have had a positive and significant long-run impact on economic growth. Empirical results also show: no evidence supporting the hypothesis that aid is only or more effective in spurring economic growth during periods of “good” macroeconomic policy, i.e., when Jordan has undertaken World Bank Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs); no robust evidence supporting the World Bank’s claim that SAPs are growth enhancing. Moreover, the author found strong empirical evidence suggesting that exports and human capital are also major determinants of long-run growth in Jordan.
Research limitations/implications
Although Jordan and the region at large have experienced periods of major political instability that may have had a varying impact on the economy, lack of a reliable and lengthy time series measure that accounts for political instability is not available to include in the study.
Practical implications
Using cointegration analysis, our empirical evidence reveals that foreign aid, labor remittances, exports and human capital have had a robust positive long-run impact on economic growth. Hence, the Jordanian government should promote policies that encourage donor countries and agencies to further extend aid to Jordan. Moreover, policies that promote exports and facilitate labor mobility to neighboring countries should also be encouraged and promoted.
Originality/value
Despite receiving a significant amount of foreign aid and labor remittances in the last 50 years, the author found no time series study that tested the long-run impact of these external financing sources on growth in Jordan. This study fills that gap and extends the analysis to test whether macroeconomic policy is growth enhancing and whether aid (and several of its components) are only effective or more effective in promoting growth during periods of “good” macroeconomic policy, i.e., when Jordan has undertaken a World Bank SAP.
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This study seeks to measure the behaviour of stock prices in the Bahrain Stock Exchange (BSE), which is expected to follow a random walk. The aim of the study is to measure the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to measure the behaviour of stock prices in the Bahrain Stock Exchange (BSE), which is expected to follow a random walk. The aim of the study is to measure the weak‐form efficiency.
Design/methodology/approach
Random walk models such as unit root and Dickey‐Fuller tests are used as basic stochastic tests for a non‐stationarity of the daily prices for all the listed companies in the BSE. In addition, autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and exponential smoothing methods are also used. Cross‐sectional‐time‐series is used for the 40 listed companies over the period 1 June 1990 up until 31 December 2000.
Findings
Random walk with no drift and trend is confirmed for all daily stock prices and each individual sector. Other tests, such as ARIMA (AR1), autocorrelation tests and exponential smoothing tests also supported the efficiency of the BSE in the weak‐form.
Practical implications
The finding of the study is a necessary piece of information for all investors whether in Bahrain or dealing with Bahrain stock market. Listed firms could also benefit from the findings by seeing the true picture of their stock price. Since, Bahrain is considered as an emerging market, the new methodologies used could be replicated for all other emerging markets. In addition, the finding is used as a base for testing the market efficiency in the semi‐strong form, which has not yet been tested by any researcher.
Originality/value
This study will add value to the literature of market efficiency in emerging market since it is the only study which covers all the listed companies and over a long period of time. To confirm the weak‐form efficiency in Bahrain, the study is unique in using five different methods in the same paper which have not been found in the previous literature.
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Malak Samih Abu Murad and Nooh Alshyab
Political instability may have far-reaching implications for economic performance. This paper aims to analyze the impact of political instability on economic growth by focusing on…
Abstract
Purpose
Political instability may have far-reaching implications for economic performance. This paper aims to analyze the impact of political instability on economic growth by focusing on the case of Jordan, a small country located in the Middle East, which represents a highly political instable region.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis is performed by regressing different indicators for internal and external political instability on economic growth for the period from 1980 to 2015 using the fully modified ordinary least squares approach.
Findings
The results point at a significant impact of political instability on the economic growth of the country in all the specifications considered; in particular, the analysis reveals a positive impact of external political instability indexed by border countries’ political instability and a negative impact of internal political instability, as proxied by the number of crimes and cabinet changes. Further, regarding the effect of the level of freedom, the authors find evidence for the so-called conflict perspective.
Originality/value
This paper is original and relevant for two main reasons. First, it adds to the debate on the effects of political instability on economic growth, and hereby, disentangles the effects of internal and external political instability. Second, it makes an important contribution by focusing on the case of Jordan, which has received little attention in the literature on political instability so far, even though political instability is a constant threat to the country.