As a depletable resource oil is a useful source of economic growth, but may not be relied upon for long-term sustainable development. Diversification from oil is needed to achieve this. This research applies three models to examine the most important determinants of oil and non-oil sector economic growth in two of the largest economies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), namely Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The empirical analysis applies the Johansen approach and ECM to access the relationship between all variables, both in the long and short-term. Given the governments’ determination to reduce dependence on oil income, this study focuses on the role of non-oil sectors. Explanatory variables in the models included exports, government spending, investment (private and public), tourism (religious and international), labour and capital, while GDP is used as the dependent variable. The results reflect the fact that the main determinants of economic growth in Saudi Arabia are related to the oil sector. The analysis of the long-term relationship between selected variables in the main model find that total exports have the greatest influence on economic growth, while tourism is the least influential variable. Moreover, empirical results show that all variables are important in the growth of the Saudi economy except non-oil exports. The role of religious tourism is not found to be significant in the process of economic growth when the economy as a whole is taken into consideration. Nonetheless, when isolating the non-oil sectors, the effect of religious tourism has a greater influence on economic growth. Concrete evidence also exists as to the importance of the role of an additional variable – government spending – in enhancing economic growth. In the UAE, the impact of both oil and non-oil sectors is highly prominent. This is particularly evident when the economy is divided into two segments (oil and non-oil). With the exception of government spending and public investment in the non-oil sector, the estimated results show that overall both sectors (oil and non-oil) are in fact responsible for this growth. With regard to tourism, the study’s findings confirm its importance in both models. It is found that non-oil exports in the non-oil sectors have the greatest positive impact on economic growth, followed by tourism and private investment respectively. Overall, this study's outcomes suggest that the omission or exclusion of important variables and factors in non-oil sectors such as tourism and the exclusive concentration of empirical studies on the role of oil exports and government spending as the engines of growth, might be both biased and misleading. This thesis has both theoretical and practical implications. Through isolating the non-oil sector from the oil sector, the study is able to detect and highlight the potential role of tourism as a future crucial factor in determining economic growth in oil rich countries, especially in the GCC.

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The issue of price deregulation in the downstream oil sector of Nigeria through gradual subsidy withdrawal has generated a heated debate in the country with the government claiming that it will guarantee long term stability in product, supply and price. This will translate into economic growth and development. Others, especially the organised labour, claim that deregulation will lead to higher product prices, higher cost of production, and cut of jobs and will bring about recession in the economy. Therefore, this thesis employs Vector Auto regression Model using Variance Decomposition, Impulse Response Function and Granger Causality tests to assess the effect of price deregulation through gradual subsidy withdrawal in the downstream oil sector of Nigeria on four macroeconomic variables which are; GDP, Inflation, Unemployment and Minimum wage. The research finds evidence that changes in oil price, as a result of subsidy withdrawal, is the major source of variation in GDP, Inflation and Unemployment, while it is not found to be a significant source of variation in minimum wages. The result also reveals that there is positive impact of oil price changes on GDP and Inflation but negative impact on Unemployment and Minimum wages at the beginning of the observation period which became positive in the later stage of the observation. Finally the Granger causality test indicates unidirectional causality running from Petroleum prices to GDP and from Inflation to Petroleum prices while there is no evidence of causality on Minimum wage and Unemployment. The result of the granger causality test is an indication that the positive effect of changes in petroleum prices on GDP is not as a result of increased economic activity but a result of increased government spending due to increased revenue available to it as a result of subsidy withdrawal. The study suggests that countries wishing to deregulate their downstream oil sectors should evolve ways that will reduce the impact of the policy on cost of production, protect jobs, control inflation and protect real wage. This will mitigate economic recession and promote growth.

This dissertation focuses on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the oil sector of Africa, more specifically in Nigeria and Angola. A large problem faced by most African countries is their low domestic investment. This is due to the low savings rates in these countries. FDI serves as a supplement to domestic investment and therefore allows for increased production and growth in the region that can ultimately lead to better development. Further, FDI brings forth positive spill over effects that can further increase levels of development in African countries. Therefore, it is beneficial for African countries to achieve higher levels of FDI inflows. The African oil sector has, in recent years, received much deserved attention as Africa supplied approximately 11 percent of worldwide oil supply and the African untapped oil reserves constitute approximately 10 percent of the total worldwide proven oil reserves in 2010. There are currently 19 African countries known to have significant oil reserves and further surveying may increase this number. This dissertation focuses on Nigeria and Angola as these countries are the continent’s largest producers of oil and their oil sectors are the sectors with the strongest FDI inflows. Through economic and policy reforms and increased share in global oil supply, it is believed that these countries can be the drivers of economic growth and development in the region. Greater FDI is needed to fully exploit the available oil resources. Although many studies have been done on the factors that attract FDI, very few studies have focussed on oil sector specific FDI. Therefore, the aim of this dissertation is to determine and compare the factors that attract oil sector FDI in Nigeria and Angola. This dissertation undertakes both a literature review and an empirical analysis. The literature review provides an overview of FDI theory, the motives for investment, the types and benefits thereof; an overview of the African and, more specifically, the Nigerian and Angolan oil industry and the influence that FDI inflows have had on this sector. The current FDI inflow trends and oil sector FDI in Nigeria and Angola are reviewed. The dissertation examines and compares the current state of the Nigerian and Angolan oil industries. The empirical analysis consists of a country comparison through four least square regression models (domestic models for Nigeria and Angola and global models for both countries) using data between 1990 and 2011 obtained from the World Data Bank and the 2012 BP statistical review. The data used will describe the traditional determinants of FDI inflows as set out in literature review and other determinants derived from past studies of FDI inflows in transitional economies and oil sector dependent countries. In Nigeria and Angola, the problems of lack of accurate and sufficient data over a longer time period persist, as they do in most African countries. The main findings are that significant domestic influences of FDI inflows in Angola include: lower public power to entice private gain; better policies that are effectively enforced to improve civil and public services; and the proven oil reserves. This entails that government policy, transparency and their oil reserves are held in high regard by the foreign investors in Angola. In Nigeria, however, domestic influences of FDI inflows include: better citizen ability to select a government; freedom of expression; freedom of association and a free media; better ability of the government to formulate and implement sound policies and regulations that permit and promote private sector development; and oil production. This indicates that democracy, government policy and oil production are highly regarded by foreign investors who invest in Nigeria. Therefore, it can be argued that, even though results for factors influencing FDI inflows differ, there are similarities as government policy and the oil sector in general influence both countries even though the issues in both countries are not necessarily the same. However, on a global level, investment in the two countries is driven by completely different factors. According to the models, Angolan FDI inflows are driven by global oil production (supply) in the previous year whereas FDI inflows in Nigeria are correlated to the oil price in the previous year. Both of these models, however, leave much to be desired as they have low R2 values which indicate that they explain very little of what influences FDI inflows in the countries. / MCom (International Trade), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This dissertation focuses on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the oil sector of Africa, more specifically in Nigeria and Angola. A large problem faced by most African countries is their low domestic investment. This is due to the low savings rates in these countries. FDI serves as a supplement to domestic investment and therefore allows for increased production and growth in the region that can ultimately lead to better development. Further, FDI brings forth positive spill over effects that can further increase levels of development in African countries. Therefore, it is beneficial for African countries to achieve higher levels of FDI inflows. The African oil sector has, in recent years, received much deserved attention as Africa supplied approximately 11 percent of worldwide oil supply and the African untapped oil reserves constitute approximately 10 percent of the total worldwide proven oil reserves in 2010. There are currently 19 African countries known to have significant oil reserves and further surveying may increase this number. This dissertation focuses on Nigeria and Angola as these countries are the continent’s largest producers of oil and their oil sectors are the sectors with the strongest FDI inflows. Through economic and policy reforms and increased share in global oil supply, it is believed that these countries can be the drivers of economic growth and development in the region. Greater FDI is needed to fully exploit the available oil resources. Although many studies have been done on the factors that attract FDI, very few studies have focussed on oil sector specific FDI. Therefore, the aim of this dissertation is to determine and compare the factors that attract oil sector FDI in Nigeria and Angola. This dissertation undertakes both a literature review and an empirical analysis. The literature review provides an overview of FDI theory, the motives for investment, the types and benefits thereof; an overview of the African and, more specifically, the Nigerian and Angolan oil industry and the influence that FDI inflows have had on this sector. The current FDI inflow trends and oil sector FDI in Nigeria and Angola are reviewed. The dissertation examines and compares the current state of the Nigerian and Angolan oil industries. The empirical analysis consists of a country comparison through four least square regression models (domestic models for Nigeria and Angola and global models for both countries) using data between 1990 and 2011 obtained from the World Data Bank and the 2012 BP statistical review. The data used will describe the traditional determinants of FDI inflows as set out in literature review and other determinants derived from past studies of FDI inflows in transitional economies and oil sector dependent countries. In Nigeria and Angola, the problems of lack of accurate and sufficient data over a longer time period persist, as they do in most African countries. The main findings are that significant domestic influences of FDI inflows in Angola include: lower public power to entice private gain; better policies that are effectively enforced to improve civil and public services; and the proven oil reserves. This entails that government policy, transparency and their oil reserves are held in high regard by the foreign investors in Angola. In Nigeria, however, domestic influences of FDI inflows include: better citizen ability to select a government; freedom of expression; freedom of association and a free media; better ability of the government to formulate and implement sound policies and regulations that permit and promote private sector development; and oil production. This indicates that democracy, government policy and oil production are highly regarded by foreign investors who invest in Nigeria. Therefore, it can be argued that, even though results for factors influencing FDI inflows differ, there are similarities as government policy and the oil sector in general influence both countries even though the issues in both countries are not necessarily the same. However, on a global level, investment in the two countries is driven by completely different factors. According to the models, Angolan FDI inflows are driven by global oil production (supply) in the previous year whereas FDI inflows in Nigeria are correlated to the oil price in the previous year. Both of these models, however, leave much to be desired as they have low R2 values which indicate that they explain very little of what influences FDI inflows in the countries. / MCom (International Trade), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

A debate over environmental policies and trade competitiveness, “Do environmental policies really matter to impact trade competitiveness?” still exists during the past decade. The thesis aims at investigating the impact of WTO-EU environmental policies for the international olive oil market on production and export competitiveness of developing countries. In particular, we focus our analysis on the agro-industrial sector in the Arab countries, and we take specific reference to the case of the olive oil agro-industrial sector in Syria. In the frame of a partial equilibrium trade model, we incorporate the “end-of-the-pipe” environmental policies which in turn enhance the productivity of the polluting input. Moreover, a part of the burden of environmental compliance may be shifted onto foreign consumers. The most novel part of our model consists of the augmented effect of compliance with environmental policies, which includes not only the standard impact on the effective product price, but also on the input shadow price. The empirical findings, based on Syrian data, provide strong support to the Porter Hypothesis and its application to international markets for agro-industrial products. Accordingly, the study disproves the legitimacy of concerns that stricter environmental policies in developing economies may have negative impacts on their production and export competitiveness. In contrast, our results show that compliance with environmental policies under the large country assumption has positive effects on their international competitiveness of environmentally sensitive sectors, in particular. Therefore, the policy implications suggest the implementation of strict environmental regulatory policies supporting environmentally sound technologies.

A debate over environmental policies and trade competitiveness, “Do environmental policies really matter to impact trade competitiveness?” still exists during the past decade. The thesis aims at investigating the impact of WTO-EU environmental policies for the international olive oil market on production and export competitiveness of developing countries. In particular, we focus our analysis on the agro-industrial sector in the Arab countries, and we take specific reference to the case of the olive oil agro-industrial sector in Syria. In the frame of a partial equilibrium trade model, we incorporate the “end-of-the-pipe” environmental policies which in turn enhance the productivity of the polluting input. Moreover, a part of the burden of environmental compliance may be shifted onto foreign consumers. The most novel part of our model consists of the augmented effect of compliance with environmental policies, which includes not only the standard impact on the effective product price, but also on the input shadow price. The empirical findings, based on Syrian data, provide strong support to the Porter Hypothesis and its application to international markets for agro-industrial products. Accordingly, the study disproves the legitimacy of concerns that stricter environmental policies in developing economies may have negative impacts on their production and export competitiveness. In contrast, our results show that compliance with environmental policies under the large country assumption has positive effects on their international competitiveness of environmentally sensitive sectors, in particular. Therefore, the policy implications suggest the implementation of strict environmental regulatory policies supporting environmentally sound technologies.

Cette recherche porte sur l’adaptation socio-économique de la filière oléicole palestinienne face aux dispositifs de contrôle et de séparation israéliens (1993-2013). Cette filière a fait l’objet d’une profonde réhabilitation sur le plan politique, puisque les oliviers sont progressivement devenus l’icône du peuple palestinien et le symbole de sa lutte contre l’occupation. Tout en analysant la manière dont l’occupation bouleverse en profondeur leur environnement, l’étude envisage les Palestiniens comme des acteurs qui apprennent à contourner les restrictions israéliennes en développant des pratiques spécifiques et de nouveaux réseaux. L’analyse interroge notamment le rôle ambigu que jouent les acteurs étrangers, de plus en plus nombreux à se rendre en Cisjordanie pour des raisons professionnelles, touristiques, mais aussi militantes. Les oliviers palestiniens constituent un vecteur privilégié pour canaliser aussi bien les flux d’aide internationale que les manifestations de solidarité, ce qui génère de nombreuses retombées politiques et économiques. Des acteurs variés ont ainsi développé un large éventail de projets de développement, de services touristiques et de produits vendus au nom de la solidarité avec les Palestiniens, autour de l’oléiculture. En participant à ces nouveaux marchés, ils se soumettent à des contraintes qui les obligent à modifier leurs modes de faire, leurs discours, et leurs réseaux. Partant de l’étude des transformations des pratiques oléicoles sous l’effet de la politique de séparation, ce travail ouvre plus globalement sur une analyse de « l’économie de la séparation » et des relations entre les différents acteurs des espaces israélo-palestiniens / This research focuses on the socio-economic adaptation of the Palestinian olive oil sector in the face of Israeli control and separation schemes (1993-2013). This sector has benefited from a deep political rehabilitation, since olive trees have gradually become the icon of the Palestinian people and the symbol of their struggle against the occupation. While analyzing how the occupation devices deeply disrupt their environment, the study considers the Palestinians as active players who are learning to bypass Israeli restrictions by developing specific practices, formal and informal, and developing new networks. The analysis also focuses on the central role played by the growing number of foreigners in the West Bank (business people, tourists, pilgrims or activists). Palestinian olive trees are an opportune channel for both international aid and demonstrations of solidarity, generating many political and economic benefits. Various people have developed a wide range of development projects, tourist services and products sold in the name of solidarity with the Palestinians. By participating in these new markets, they undergo logistical and competitive constraints that force them to change their practices, their speeches and their networks. These interactions involve indeed a reorganization of economic practices but also a change in power, dependence and hierarchy relations between all the stakeholders. Based on the study of the transformations of olive practices as a result of the separation policy, this work opens more broadly into an analysis of "the separation of the economy" and the relationships between both the inhabitants and the visitors of Israeli-Palestinian lands.

The Master's thesis deals with China's increased engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa after 2000 and its impact on U.S. political and economic interests on the continent. In the first decade of the new millennium, China's search for natural resources, especially oil, to satisfy its growing demand, need to find new markets for exports, as well as China's aspiration to enhance its position at the international stage led Beijing to pay greater attention to Africa. China started to engage African countries through a combination of development assistance with no strings attached, except for the one-China principle, and high-profile diplomacy. The United States has become concerned that China might jeopardize its programs on democratization and governance and become a fierce economic competitor in Africa. In the first two chapters, the thesis describes the interests of China and the U.S, respectively, the main actors involved in the countries' respective Africa policies, and strategies and concrete policies these two world powers implement in Africa. The third chapter compares the U.S. and China's engagement in three case studies - on Nigeria, Angola and Sudan. The fourth chapter provides a comparison of the general features of the American and the Chinese policies towards Sub- Saharan Africa. The chapter...

Ce travail doctoral s’intéresse aux choix du mode d’entrée des PME de service d’ingénierie souhaitant s’implanter sur les marchés émergents. Le contexte est à un double titre : un pays d’économie en transition, la Russie, et une PME du type Born Global de services à forte intensité de connaissances (SFIC), secteur parapétrolier. Notre recherche porte sur la détermination des facteurs qui permettent de franchir avec succès les barrières à l’entrée dans ce contexte. Nous avons procédé à la collecte des données empiriques primaires sur le terrain en conduisant une analyse qualitative exploratoire longitudinale d’étude de cas unique sur la période 2006-2013. L’étude de cas a été privilégiée afin de valider nos propositions de recherche issues des travaux scientifiques identifiés tel que les théories concernant les modes d’entrée, les PME Born Global, l’internationalisation des activités de services aux entreprises, les réseaux relationnels. Les résultats obtenus montrent que les PME SFIC du type Born Global se développe à l’international en suivant leurs clientèles, en s’appuyant sur le marketing relationnel et sur leur réseau comme un outil d’accès à une information fiable dans une espace volatile, à la différenciation de l’offre et à la rapidité de réaction pour exploiter une stratégie de niche. La nature d’activité des SFIC nécessite pour convaincre les clients, d’exploiter les capacités rhétoriques du personnel en contact, faire attention à l’image projetée et de gérer les relations et les interactions avec les clients centraux. Nos résultats font apparaître l’importance de l’étape pré-export pour la réussite du projet d’implantation dans ce contexte de marché. / This research work focuses on the entry mode choices that best fit the needs of SMEs of engineering services which set up their business into emerging markets. The context is twofold: a country with transition economy, Russia, and the so-called « Born Global » SME of knowledge intensive business services (KIBS), operating in the oilfield sector. Our study tries to identify factors that may help successfully overcome the entry barriers in this particular context. To conduct this research, we used an empirical approach of primary data collected directly from the field. Our exploratory qualitative analysis has been carried out longitudinally and involves data collection of single case study over the period 2006-2013. The method of single case study was privileged in order to validate our research proposals that emerged from the theoretical background related to the works about: entry mode, « Born Global » SME, the internationalization of professional business service, networks. Our descriptive results indicate that « Born Global » KIBS firms attempt to set up their business by following their clients, through relationship marketing and networks approach as a tool to get an access to reliable information in the turbulent environment, reinforced by the offer differentiation, reactivity and a niche strategy. The work and the outcomes of KIBS cannot be immediately evaluated, which require to convince customers through the management of rhetorical skills of contact persons, image production and interactions with central clients. Moreover, our results show the importance of pre-export phase to perform better the set up project in the context of emerging market.