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This study aims to examine stock price synchronicity during the COVID-19 crisis using 32,452 firms from 61 countries. This paper explores the impact of government effectiveness on synchronicity while distinguishing between developed and emerging markets.

The research analysis employs ordinary OLS pooled regression analysis.

This paper presents worldwide evidence that stock price synchronicity was significantly higher during February and March 2020. This paper shows that synchronicity increased with the intensity of the crisis. In addition, the government's role reduced the COVID-19 impact on synchronicity, which was stronger in developed markets than in emerging markets.

The novelty of the study lies in documenting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on stock price synchronicity. The findings add to a deeper understanding of market behavior amid significant disruptive shocks.

Why did inflation fall so dramatically after the establishment of a currency board in Bulgaria in 1997? The establishment of the currency board was the response to a very severe financial crisis where inflation reached hyperinflationary levels. After the currency board was introduced, inflation fell even more spectacularly than it had risen with prices rising less than 10% annually during 1998 and 1999. Was this sudden drop in inflation due to a “discipline” effect caused by a reduction in money growth rates or to a “confidence” effect that created lower inflation expectations thus leading to higher money demand? We find strong indirect evidence for a confidence effect but less support for a discipline effect.

A petroleum fraction having a boiling range 200–250°C (kerosene), free from aromatic and n‐paraffin hydrocarbons was oxidised by bubbling air at 130–150°C, at normal pressure, in the presence of cobalt naphthenate as a catalyst. Optimum yield of oxynaphthenic acid was obtained after sixteen hours and thirty minutes oxidation at 140°C. Two layers were formed, the bottom product was a viscous liquid insoluble in petroleum ether and alcohols. Oxyacids, mainly hydroxy naphthenic acids, were obtained after treatment and purification of the viscous liquid.

Culture and economic settings are often perceived as key influential elements in formulating the entrepreneurial ecosystem, either on the organizations level or the entire social system. In their different forms, culture and economic conditions have always been critical drivers for innovation and entrepreneurship. Understanding the community's cultural traits and economic status helps entrepreneurs map their entrepreneurial objectives and define enablers and deterrents. This chapter investigated the cultural and economic environment within the Gulf Council Countries (GCC), mapped their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices and entrepreneurial performance. It was evident that some cultural traits, such as tribalism, could play an adverse role in supporting entrepreneurship. However, the economic system, which mainly relies on oil and gas production, could be the best enabler for entrepreneurship, which has a unique nature in the GCC and receives high government reinforcement through massive capital surpluses generated from the oil revenue. The latest statistics ranking the global entrepreneurship performance indicated that the GCC lay in the middle area among other countries worldwide. Qatar came on the top of the GCC with a global rank of 22, while Saudi Arabia came last, at position 45 globally. The government legislative and economic support for entrepreneurship activities contributes to preparing a proper authoritative climate that promotes entrepreneurship and could be a golden opportunity for entrepreneurs in the GCC.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the factors that attract (pull) or discourage (push) Palestinian students from Israel (PSI) to study at a Palestinian university, the Arab American University in Jenin (AAUJ), for the first time since the establishment of Israel in 1948.

A qualitative research method using in-depth interviews with 15 PSI who study at AAUJ attempts to define the motivations behind PSI preferring AAUJ, on one hand, and constraints, on the other hand.

The findings of the study show factors that attract PSI to study at the AAUJ and what subjects they choose to study there, the encounter with a similar culture and nationalism in a Palestinian campus in the occupied West Bank; the most significant difficulties and impediments they face there, whether economic or political, are discussed. This paper contributes to an understanding of the new national re-encounter between two Palestinian groups in a university campus, one under Israel’s occupation and the other that has Israeli citizenship.

It is a unique phenomenon in the trends of international students’ mobility in the world.

A pandemic causes abrupt and unanticipated disruptions in many facets of society. A lot of authorities have quickly turned to online teaching methods. The best methods for online teaching have become a hot topic of discussion due to this urgent fast transmission. It was difficult to teach physiology to medical and paramedical students online because of concerns about how to give the students an effective interactive online teaching practice and how to guarantee successful outcomes. Therefore, three approaches have been individually applied to medical and nursing students for the first time in the physiology department of the Faculty of Medicine in Rabigh, King Abdulaziz University. Through online lectures and assignments, the strategies attempted to capture the students’ interest and interaction. The second-year nursing students were given a mind map project to complete after the lecture. The third-year medical students used a crossword puzzle game to test the students’ understanding. The third-year medical students were presented with short stories to better comprehend the physiological processes covered in the lectures. Overall, the three instructional strategies received positive feedback from the students. Incorporating such cutting-edge and imaginative educational approaches, in conclusion, could significantly aid in managing the pressures that arise during pandemics.

This paper aims to analyse the research contributions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the field of applied linguistics (AL) indexed in the Web of Science core collection for the period between 2011 and 2020.

The author searched key terms in the Social Science Citation Index and Science Citation Index Expanded categories that publish documents in AL. The author compiled the data, classified these documents according to their research focus and investigated different metrics such as keywords analysis, citation analysis, overseas collaboration and productivity over authors, institutions and sources by using VOSviewer and Excel sheet.

Results found that publications in Saudi Arabia have tremendously increased around three times in the years 2016–2020 than before. As unexpected, highly cited researchers, sources and institutions for the social science and arts and humanities disciplines were higher than the scientific disciplines that investigated linguistic issues such as neurology, audiology and computer science. The area of language teaching and learning was the most researched area in which the highly cited author, journals and keywords analysis metrics occurred within its scope. The highly cited articles were those that collaborated with the world contributing authors and acted as corresponding authors.

The study contributes to the body of literature of AL which shares other categories that investigated language as a central issue. The study provides a fine-grained picture about the research productivity of AL in scientific and social science categories in Saudi Arabia.

The paper aims to provide the prospects and challenges of cooperation concerning natural gas (NG) resources between the European Union (EU) and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), based on a “critical review” of the current state of the GCC region regarding NG production, consumption, trading movements, policy framework and existing/planned projects and programs for each GCC country individually.

The methodological four‐steps approach adopted is based on the context of the project “Creation and Operation of an EU‐GCC Clean Energy Network” (www.eugcc‐cleanergy.net). This paper summarizes the dynamic NG supply/demand situation in the GCC countries in a structured way, touching upon some pertinent policy issues and relating specific projects.

The key finding of the paper is the assessment of GCC countries' potential for future collaboration, especially with the EU. The collaboration opportunities, based on a detailed overview of existing and planned practices in the GCC countries, linking the policy to the practical commercial level, as well as the national system context is elaborated.

To the best of their knowledge, a study focused on the EU‐GCC cooperation for NG is not present in the literature. This study highlights how policy measures differ depending on the supply/demand situation of a particular country, bringing a unique perspective on how diverse the GCC region really is. Moreover, based on the specific energy projects presented, the policy level is linked to the practical commercial level. The presented approach and the related outcomes support the policy makers to enable the environment needed for concrete NG cooperation actions of mutual benefit for both regions.