Abstract
Details
Keywords
As with many rapidly growing developing nations that suffer from inequity and political oppression, popular rebellion has long been likely in Egypt. As uprisings burgeoned in 2008…
Abstract
Purpose
As with many rapidly growing developing nations that suffer from inequity and political oppression, popular rebellion has long been likely in Egypt. As uprisings burgeoned in 2008 and it became especially evident that a popular revolution was imminent, which made it crucial to detect the root causes of Egyptians' discontent. The purpose of this paper is two fold: to identify the main sources of socioeconomic predicaments of the economically deprived members of the Egyptian society, and to build a composite indicator of poverty (CIP) based on their preferences to act as a national benchmark for poverty alleviation.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was administered shortly before the eruption of the Egyptian Revolution. A series of regression models were run to uncover what Egyptians perceive to be the causes of poverty. Finally, a CIP was built to rank societal welfare preferences. The research culminates below in a proposed reform framework.
Findings
The results of the CIP reveal that poverty was reduced to a reasonable degree, albeit that the deprivation of basic commodities and services increased popular discontent. The lowest socioeconomic groups blame poverty on structural fragility and the inefficacy of government policies, while middle‐income groups attribute poverty to personal incompetence. This legitimises the exclusive provision of social safety nets to lower income groups.
Originality/value
By building a community‐based composite poverty index, this research pioneers a country‐specific CIP benchmark to measure advances in poverty alleviation according to the perceptions of the society. It could prove useful for developing nations encountering similar problems and impending mass rebellions.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the effectiveness of monetary policy in boosting the housing sectors in each of Egypt and South Africa, and to detect the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the effectiveness of monetary policy in boosting the housing sectors in each of Egypt and South Africa, and to detect the ability of the monetary agents of both nations to tame house prices.
Design/methodology/approach
An eight-variate two-stage structural vector autoregressive model compares the efficacy of monetary policy during the period from 1975 to 2010 in alleviating housing shortages in both nations.
Findings
The impact of monetary policy on the housing sector is not found to be uniformly effective. In economies with more developed mortgage markets, like South Africa, monetary agents can affect credit availability, provided that they react promptly to supply and demand shocks. In countries depending on off-plan sales, such as Egypt, monetary policy has a substantial impact on housing starts.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the economic development literature since it elucidates how monetary policy could be employed as an unconventional tool to alleviate housing shortages in developing nations.
Details
Keywords
Monal Abdel-Baki and Valerio Leone Sciabolazza
Islamic banking is a viable sustainable banking model that has shown resilience to financial crises. The aim of this research is to design a consensus-based ethical and…
Abstract
Purpose
Islamic banking is a viable sustainable banking model that has shown resilience to financial crises. The aim of this research is to design a consensus-based ethical and market-driven corporate governance index (CGI) to boost financial performance and ensure compliance with Islamic rulings.
Design/methodology/approach
The design of the CGI is the outcome of the feedback obtained from a cross-country survey to measure bank efforts in enhancing corporate governance (CG) throughout the ten-year period of 2001-2011. The CGI is divided into six core CG themes and 40 sub-themes.
Findings
First, the results of the multiple regression analysis show a consistent positive relationship between CG and financial performance metrics. Second, the authors detect misaligned compensation structures for directors. Third, poor governance leads to higher risk exposures.
Research limitations/implications
CG in Islamic banks is yet an evolving discipline and infant practice. This research aims to introduce a CGI that should be updated and improved as the discipline evolves.
Practical implications
The research concludes by proposing a CG paradigm. The outcome of the research could also be of use to both Islamic banks and to the rapidly growing sustainable banking sector in designing a similar CGI and CG model incorporating the ethical features of sustainable finance.
Social implications
The core ethos of Islam are: avoiding the exploitation of the needy, avoiding excessively risky transactions, avoiding unethical transactions and justice, equity and income redistribution. If properly applied, Islamic banking will display all features of sustainable finance as well as enhance social welfare.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first CGI that is based on an ethical and all-inclusive input of all stakeholders.
Details
Keywords
The Egyptian banking sector has acted as an arena for multiple alliances, some of which bred crony capitalism and others acted as growth alliances. The purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
The Egyptian banking sector has acted as an arena for multiple alliances, some of which bred crony capitalism and others acted as growth alliances. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of private sector advocacy in the Egyptian banking sector on macroeconomic performance, with the prime aim of designing an Egyptian-centric roadmap outlining precepts of good advocacy between bankers, policymakers and businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a two-stage model. In the first stage an advocacy construct is developed using confirmatory factor analysis. In the second stage the relationship between advocacy and macroeconomic growth is measured by running a set of parsimonious regressions.
Findings
The empirical results show a strong relationship between advocacy and growth, albeit not on inflation rates, suggesting that an innovative set of public policy instruments is needed to promote private advocacy efforts and to institutionalise private-public partnerships. This is an innately pressing mission for the new government to mitigate the impact of the double-digit inflation that has prevailed since the Triple-F – food, fuel and finance – Crisis of 2006.
Practical implications
The ousted Egyptian government failed to protect its citizens from crony alliances and corruption, be it abuse of public resources or unfair access to bank credit. Hence, the prime aim is to design a future roadmap for the endorsement of effective growth alliances between businesses, bankers and policymakers. The recommendations proposed by this study would prove helpful to future public policymakers in the fulfilment of the macroeconomic aspirations of the Egyptian society as well as to other emerging and developing nations that share similar problems.
Social implications
The research addresses how reforms can be designed in an egalitarian fashion to direct credit to growth enhancing and job-generating sectors since a prompt treatment of these problems at their roots is apt to minimise the probabilities of future social turmoil. This is apt to assist the Egyptian people to transition to a truly democratic society and to convert street rebellions into inclusive institutional activism.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the literature a measurable construct gauging the relationship between advocacy in the banking sector and growth. Another contribution is the set of policies proposed to institutionalise rightful advocacy efforts.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this editorial is to provide a quick glance at the dominant issues that have characterized the developing economics debate during the past five decades. It seeks to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this editorial is to provide a quick glance at the dominant issues that have characterized the developing economics debate during the past five decades. It seeks to offer a backdrop for the papers in the present volume of AJEMS.
Design/methodology/approach
It is based on a review of a selection of literature that highlights the dominant perspectives in development economics.
Findings
It draws a distinction between soft and hard economics, arguing that economic growth must be converted into social change that benefits poor for it to be described as development-oriented.
Originality/value
It provides a direction for future research into issues of economic growth and poverty alleviation in Sub-Sahara Africa.