Business, Economics, and Environmental Studies

This collection of case studies showcases the experiences of ten intriguing entrepreneurial ventures from emerging markets in the Arab world (Egypt, the UAE, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia). Readers will gain an in-depth insight on a variety of localized strategic, managerial, marketing, and innovative approaches and practices, which create unique challenges and opportunities in a region undergoing rapid political, social, and economic transformations. The unique case studies address different stages within the exciting entrepreneurial cycle, from start-up to growth, sustainability, and international expansion. This casebook is a valuable resource for anyone wanting to know more about launching and sustaining a business within developing Arab economies, as well as being an effective teaching tool for disciplines related to new venture management and entrepreneurship.

One of the most urgent problems facing the world today is environmental sustainability. Current practices of pollution control, waste treatment, and environmental protection are not only hugely expensive and a burden on development but also unsustainable in the long run for their steady depletion of the world’s natural resources. Any solutions must have proven economic benefits, be technologically viable, and meet prevailing environmental and social perspectives. The main objective of this new set of studies is to describe methods that help to protect the environment and conserve natural resources. This can be achieved by applying the ‘cradle-to-cradle’ concept, which aims to use materials in closed cyclic loops without generating any type of waste or pollution. The authors provide the reader with an introduction to basic concepts of sustainable development, describe the mechanisms and benefits of related technologies, and suggest potential uses on a practical level by examining innovations developed in the mechanical engineering laboratories of the American University in Cairo. Particular focus is placed on innovation as a vital means of attaining sustainability. A timely contribution to the debate on environmentally sustainable practices, this book will be indispensable to environmentalists, scientists, economists, engineers, development specialists, and policy-makers, as well as being of interest to the lay reader.

What are the long-term structural features of the Egyptian economy? What are the factors that have facilitated or inhibited its performance? This crucial and timely work answers these questions and more by examining the most important economic decisions to have impacted the Egyptian economy since 1952 and the political factors behind them.
Drawing on Khalid Ikram’s extensive knowledge of economic policymaking at the highest levels, The Political Economy of Reforms in Egypt lays out the enduring features of the Egyptian economy and its performance since 1952 before presenting an account of policymaking, growth, and structural change under the country’s successive presidents to the present day. Topics covered include agrarian reforms; the Aswan High Dam; the move towards Arab socialism and a planned economy; the reversal of strategy and the infitah; fiscal, monetary, and exchange-rate policies; consumer subsidies; external debt crises; negotiations between Egypt and international donors and financial institutions; privatization; labor and employment; and poverty and income distribution. The analysis concludes with an examination of institutional reforms and development strategies to tackle the Egyptian economy’s structural problems and lay the foundation for sustained and rapid growth.

To read an excerpt, click here.

For the Table of Contents, click here.

A multi-faceted account of Egyptian economic development by nineteen internationally recognized authorities and the critical challenges the economy is likely to face in the next twenty years

The Egyptian Economy in the Twenty-first Century addresses the question of why Egypt, despite possessing a plethora of assets—such as a fertile agriculture, a strategic geographic location, oil and gas deposits, innumerable tourist sites, a labor force prized by regional countries, and a diaspora that remits large amounts of funds—has seldom performed to its economic potential during the last sixty years. Indeed, economic weakness created political weakness, and often exposed the country to foreign diktats. What should the country do to change this state of affairs?

Nineteen internationally recognized authorities on the Egyptian economy discuss the critical challenges that the Egyptian economy is likely to face in the next two to three decades, challenges which must be overcome in order to improve the life of Egypt’s citizens and to protect the country from external pressures. Their analyses cover population and employment; development strategies; principal macroeconomic issues; development of a digital economy; fiscal and monetary matters; the external sector; poverty and income distribution; the enterprise structure; higher education; water availability; urbanization; institutional performance; and many others.

Contributors:
– Gouda Abdel Khalek, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
– Khaled M. Abu-Zeid, Regional Water Resources, CEDARE (Center for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe), Cairo, Egypt.
– Fatma El Ashmawy, World Bank.
– Ragui Assaad, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
– Izak Atiyas, Economic Research Forum, Cairo, Egypt.
– Marwa Biltagy, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
– Lahcen Bounader, International Monetary Fund.
– Ishac Diwan, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France.
– Ahmed Ghoneim, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
– Khalid Ikram, Washington DC, USA.
– Karima Korayem, al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
– Heba el-Laithy, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
– Noha el-Mikawy, Ford Foundation, Middle East and North Africa, Cairo, Egypt.
– Mohamed Mohieddin, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt.
– Heba Nassar, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
– Osman Mohamed Osman, Cairo, Egypt.
– Noha Razek, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
– David Sims, Cairo, Egypt.
– John Waterbury, Princeton, New Jersey.

To read an excerpt, click here.

For the Table of Contents, click here.