Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-158). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thèse--Paris. / "Edition mise à jour." Bibliographie: p. [401]-408

Aim: This research aims to analyze the different market challenges faced by multinational corporations when operating in frontier markets, taking the Lebanese market as the case example. Methodology: The adopted methodology is based on a perspective multi-case study carried out through a qualitative conduct with several multinational corporations operating in frontier markets and Lebanon in specific. Accordingly, the data collection is based on semi-structured face-to-face, telephone and email interviews with different personnel in allocated companies based on their observations and experiences regarding business operations and market conditions in the country. Subsequently, the gathered primary data is analyzed, discussed and compared with secondary data provided by academic journals, books and trustworthy databases. Findings: Against the background of growing international competition companies increasingly follow internationalization strategies and expand their operations into new markets. Thereby, frontier markets, a subcategory of emerging markets, gain in importance. Simultaneously, new opportunities often go hand in hand with various risks and challenges. In this study four different categories of market challenges were applied and investigated: (1) Political Instability; (2) Economic & Financial Constraints; (3) Corruption & Nepotism; and (4) Cultural Differences. The interviews conducted with several MNCs operating in Lebanon devoted that only the country’s Political Instability affected the case companies’ business operations. Economic & Financial Constraints played a tangential role. Whereas, Corruption & Nepotism and Cultural Differences did not affect the enterprises’ operations at all. Hence, the primary data gathered revealed partially contradictory results in comparison to the findings obtained from the literature review. Contribution: This study addresses various market challenges occurring in frontier markets, a comparably new and uncharted subcategory of emerging markets. Particularly, the market challenges in the case country Lebanon are unexplored yet. Thus, the study contributes novel results and aims to close a research gap. Limitations: The findings presented cannot be generalized, neither to other ME countries nor to frontier markets in general. The scope of this study is limited to one specific market, providing companies’ perceptions about various market challenges when operating in Lebanon. In addition, due to the applied qualitative approach and the authors’ geographical distance to the researched market, the sample size is relatively small limiting the generalization of the study outcomes. Suggestions for Future Research: Due to the recently introduced terminology and categorization, research about frontier markets is limited yet. So far, the ME region in general and the case country Lebanon were not in the researchers’ focus regarding market challenges. This study provides initial points of reference about market challenges MNCs face in Lebanon. Further research with a greater variety of investigated enterprises and industries would be conceivable. Moreover, a research focus on SMEs operating in the country might reveal different findings.

Le Liban, malgré les années de crise, s’obstine à vouloir construire sa modernité, qui repose notamment sur des finances et une fiscalité saines. Ce pays a besoin, plus que jamais, d’optimiser ses recettes fiscales. Entreprise qui passe nécessairement par l’institution d’un système fiscal évolué et par une structure administrative capable de gérer ce système. La thèse propose d’optimiser lesdites recettes selon un processus technique agissant à travers deux axes principaux. Dans une première partie, nous étudions le système fiscal libanais pour évaluer sa pertinence et sa capacité à résoudre la problématique concernée ; nous suscitons des réflexions sur les solutions envisageables pour reformer ce système. Dans une seconde partie, nous évaluons les aspects positifs et négatifs de l’administration fiscale libanaise, dispositif clé dans la gestion du système d’imposition et de mobilisation des ressources fiscales. Nos travaux nous ont conduit à un diagnostic de ce système et de son administration qui se révèlent sensibles à plusieurs facteurs. En premier lieu l’ouverture économique du Liban sur le monde l’a exposé aux effets de la crise financière mondiale ; la société libanaise a subi l’impact des transformations structurelles, comme la mondialisation des échanges et l’intrusion des nouvelles technologies de l’information et de la communication. En second lieu, nous avons constaté et déploré l’inefficacité de l’administration fiscale libanaise en matière de gouvernance et plus particulièrement de recouvrement. Nous avons également souligné l’effet nocif des faibles relations entre l’administration et les contribuables et son impact négatif sur les recettes fiscales. / Despite many years of unrest, Lebanon insists on building its modernity, which is largely based on sound tax system and tax administration. Based on the significant contribution of tax revenues to Lebanon total revenues (more than 70 percent), improving tax performance has become a necessity to settle the public debt and its servicing, and to satisfy new demands. The thesis proposes to optimize such revenues in a technical process acting through two main axes. In a first part, the Lebanese tax system has been evaluated in order to assess its relevance and ability to solve the raised issue; reflections on options to reform the system have been generated. The second part evaluates the positive and negative aspects of the Lebanese tax administration, a key device in the mobilization of tax revenues. Our research leads to a diagnosis of the system and its administration, which are sensitive to several factors. First, Lebanon is not immune to the global financial turmoil due to its economic openness to the external world. These challenges urge the Lebanese government more than anytime else to retain its current revenues as well as search for additional funds. Second, this thesis suggests that raising taxes in Lebanon might be hampered by poor public governance, and that the Lebanese government must undertake significant tax reform programs if they are to lift the essential additional tax revenues. Evidently, a strong commitment has been shown during the last decade to implement tax reforms, which are considered as crucial foremost steps to improve governance quality. However, despite the remarkable accomplishments, a great deal needs to be achieved by the Lebanese government.

abstract: Protracted Refugee Situations (PRS) are of serious concern due to their adverse impacts on human rights and stability in host countries. This thesis profiles three, so-called, durable solutions for refugees: local integration, third country resettlement, and voluntary repatriation. However, refugees living in PRS are not given any durable solutions, and they remain confined to refugee camps while the conflicts that forced them from their homelands continue. Refugees usually find themselves in PRS as a result of the restrictive policies of the country in which they have sought refuge. These conditions not only deprive refugees of basic human rights, but act as catalysts for political violence, insurgency, and radicalization. This thesis examines, in detail, one such case: Nahr al-Bared, a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon where refugees have been living in PRS for decades due to stringent refugee policies that contributed to violent clashes that took place in May 2007. The denial of human rights for Palestinians in Lebanon has effectively marginalized already disempowered refugee populations, thereby increasing the likelihood of instability and radicalization. The denial of rights, a lack of opportunities, and confinement to the poor conditions of the refugee camp, are driving forces of political violence and militant rhetoric. This situation can endanger the refugee host country as well as the refugees, who are civilians in need of international protection. Therefore, there is a strong connection between the inclusion of rights for refugee populations in a host country, and peace and security. The case of Palestinians in Lebanon is examined as a microcosm of the notion that human rights and state security are interdependent. Recognition of this interdependence necessitates a paradigm shift in perspectives and policies of international refugee protection and state security, from regarding PRS as an indefinite state of emergency to be contained, to acknowledgment that the indefinite duty to protect refugees in protracted situations simultaneously serves the host country's security concerns. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Social Justice and Human Rights 2010

L’objet de cette thèse est l’étude du conte libanais et sa transmission. Nous nous proposons donc d’étudier le conte de la tradition orale dans un espace géographique donné : le Liban. Nous nous intéressons à la transmission du conte ainsi qu’aux transmetteurs tout en tenant compte du contexte social, historique et géographique. Pour dresser cette étude, nous tentons de répondre à de nombreuses questions. D’abord, quelle place occupe le conte au Liban aujourd’hui et où et par qui est-il raconté ? Ensuite, en tenant compte des particularités du pays ainsi que de ses nombreuses communautés, nous nous demandons si l’on peut parler d’un corpus de contes du Liban ou s’il s’agit plutôt de corpora de contes communautaires. Par ailleurs, la question de la relation entre ce corpus libanais et le corpus plus large correspondant à l’ensemble régional se posera nécessairement. Peut-on ou non parler d’une spécificité libanaise ? Et si la réponse était affirmative, quelles seraient alors les caractéristiques de ce corpus que l’on pourrait qualifier de « spécifiquement libanaises » ? / The purpose of this work is the study of the Lebanese tale and its transmission. The tale from oral tradition is studied in a specific socio geographic space: Lebanon. I focus on the tale transmission as well as on its transmitters. This analysis takes into account the social, historical and geographical context. This work tries to answer several questions. First of all, what is the place of the tale in Lebanon nowadays? Where and by whom is it told? Secondly, while taking into account the particularities of the country and its many communities, one may wonder if we can speak of a Lebanese tales corpus or whether it is rather a corpora of tales from different communities? Moreover, the question of the relationship between the Lebanese corpus and the wider regional corpus will necessarily arise. Can we talk about a Lebanese specificity? And if the answer is yes, then what are the characteristics of this corpus that could be described as "specifically Lebanese"?

Ces dix dernières années, de nombreux rapports et études comparatives ont mis en évidence l'impact des arts et de la culture sur le comportement des jeunes. La valeur de l'éducation artistique ainsi que son impact positif sur les élèves ont été étudiés, analysés et justifiés par des groupes de recherches, des organismes de direction et de gestion. Nous partons de ce constat pour essayer au travers de l'étude comparative des curricula relatifs à l'éducation artistique (arts plastiques et visuels) d'aller au-delà de la simple mise en parallèle entre les textes et les pratiques de chaque pays relatifs à cette matière pour tenter d'en dégager les points forts à travers une synthèse qui serait le reflet des enseignements positifs.L'étude a mis en valeur quelques points communs. Mais ce qui sera souligné est l'évolution différente de la conception des curricula scolaires. La spécialisation des enseignants libanais en matière d'arts plastiques diverge avec le cas français où les maîtres sont polyvalents à l'école élémentaire. Notre problématique consiste à explorer les raisons de cette évolution divergente dans la conception des textes officiels ainsi que dans la pratique malgré une histoire commune. Quels sont les facteurs qui expliquent cette évolution ? Résulte-t-elle a fortiori d'une divergence de conception de la politique culturelle ? / In the last 10 years, many reports and comparative studies highlighted the impact of art and culture on youth behavior. The value of art education and its positive impact on students have been studied, analyzed andjustified by research and management groups. Considering this fact, we will try, through a comparative study of curricula relative to art education (visual arts), togo beyond the simple putting in parallel texts and practice of each country and try to bring out key points through a synthesis that would be the reflection of positive teaching . The study showed sorne common points and underlined the different conception of school curricula. The specialization of Lebanese teachers in visual arts diverge with the French case where teachers are multi-purpose in elementary school. Our problem consisted in exploring the reasons of this divergent evolution in the conception of official texts and in practice despite a common history. What are the factors that could explain this evolution? Does it result all the more from a divergent conception of cultural policy?

abstract: This study is a feminist historiography of Al-Raida, a Lebanese feminist journal introduced in 1976 by the Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World at the Lebanese American University. This study recovers foundations of modern Lebanese feminist discourses as they are articulated in the journal by employing Foucauldian CDA as a means to trace discourse strands, or conversations, which include Family Planning, development, politics and narratives of the Lebanese civil war. This study explores, by situating each discourse strand within dominant and local historical contexts, the shifting rhetorical function of the journal through various historical moments. Tracing the dominant discourse strands within the first decade of the journal, this study rhetorically analyzes the ways in which arguments are positioned, research studies are presented, and methodologies are employed to forge viable solutions to Middle Eastern women's issues. First, the study traces the conversation on Family Planning in Lebanon and its relevance to the economic and social situation during the late 70s. Second, the study presents the shift in the early 80s towards a discourse on development and explores how Al-Raida presents the issue of development, attempts to define it, and in doing so outlines some of the concerns at this time, including illiteracy, access to health care, access to paid employment, and women's access to developmental opportunities. Third, the study presents the discourse in the mid-80s on the civil war in Lebanon and highlights Al-Raida's rhetorical function by documenting trauma and war narratives through personal interviews, testimonies, and ethnographies. The shift in the methodologies of the research articles published in the first decade, from quantitative studies towards qualitative studies, indicates the journal is rhetorically situated within both the dominant international discourse and within the local context, exhibiting an ability to respond to the nuances in the local Lebanese women's movement while simultaneously maintaining international visibility. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. English 2012

Ces travaux essaient de répondre à la question de savoir quelles sont les meilleures politiques fiscales à adopter par le Liban, tant sur le plan interne qu'international, afin de générer des fonds pour le Trésor public qui permettent de subvenir aux besoins de reconstruction du pays, d'augmentation de sa croissance économique et d'amélioration du bien-être de ses citoyens. Toutefois, l'apport de ces travaux réside dans le défi qu'ils se fixent, celui de trouver des moyens de subvenir aux besoins énumérés ci-dessus et de rembourser la dette publique qui augmente exponentiellement, sans recourir à l'augmentation des impôts existants ou de la charge fiscale actuelle pesant sur les personnes physiques ou morales, ni recourir à l'emprunt ou à de nouvelles émissions de monnaies. Ils visent pour ce faire, à attirer le maximum d'investissements étrangers aussi bien directs qu'indirects vers le Liban. A cet effet, ils examinent dans une première partie l' attractivité de la fiscalité internationale libanaise tant au niveau du droit interne que conventionnel par rapport à celles des pays voisins concurrents du Liban en étudiant le droit fiscal des investissements en Syrie, Jordanie, Koweït, Egypte, Maroc et Tunisie. Ensuite, ils essaient dans la deuxième partie de trouver les mesures à adopter dans le cadre d'une stratégie globale de réforme de la fiscalité libanaise afin de la rendre la plus compétitive de la région du Moyen Orient et du Nord de l'Afrique sans se lancer dans une guerre pour le moins disant fiscal qui priverait le pays de la ressource vitale que constituent pour lui les impôts et sans compromettre son but de réalisation d'une croissance durable et équitable. / The thesis aims to find the best fiscal policies to be adopted in Lebanon, both on the national and the international levels, in order to generate enough funds for the Treasury to enable it to finance the reconstruction process in the country, increase its economic growth and improve the well-being of its citizens. However, the added value of the present thesis resides in the fact that it challenges itse1f to find the means that would allow the country to finance the needs mentioned above, without increasing the existing taxes, or the fiscal burden on the physical and legal persons and without going for borrowing or new money emissions. To do so, the thesis attempts to attract the maximum of foreign investments, whether direct or indirect ones, to Lebanon. Thus, it assesses in its first part the level of competitiveness and attractivity of the Lebanese fiscal system in comparison with the attractivity of the fiscal systems of Lebanon's neighbor competitors, by studying the fiscal treatment of the investments in Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. Based on that, it tries in its second part to find the measures to be adopted in Lebanon, in the context of a global fiscal reform, in order to convert the Lebanese fiscal system into the most competitive and attractive one in the Middle East and North Africa region, without having to make compromises that would deprive Lebanon from the taxes that constitute one of its main sources of income and without having to make concessions that would alter the thesis's objective of generating an equitable and sustainable growth in Lebanon.

ix, 179 p. / This thesis, based on field research in Lebanon, explores how the confessional nature of the Lebanese state affects the construction of civil society. It elaborates on the state's role as a social service provider and its legal and bureaucratic relationship with the Lebanese NGO community while also exploring how the state's role as a service provider is perceived in the Lebanese media. Pulling from a variety of archival sources in Lebanon, this thesis surveys 26 Arabic language newspaper articles published between 2006 and 2008. It also utilizes a myriad of primary sources including government and donor documents, unpublished NGO studies and statistical data. This thesis argues that confessionalism inhibits the state's capacity to provide social services efficiently. The politicization of these services conditions the relationship between the state, sectarian political parties and the NGO community. This phenomenon is reproduced in the Lebanese media and allows confessional relationships to infect civil society. / Committee in charge: Dr. Anita M. Weiss, Chairperson; Dr. Alexander B. Murphy, Member; Dr. Frederick S. Colby, Member