Impact of Renewable Energy on the Economy of Saudi Arabia

The objective of the study was to identify the impact of renewable energy on Saudi economy during 2000-2021. Analytical techniques were used to conduct this study. An analysis of the study used a set of variables, in which Renewable energy perceives as independent variable and the dependent variables are GDP per capita, net foreign direct investment, unemployment, fixed capital formation, and net foreign trade. The data of the study were analyzed using the E-views program. According to the study, renewable energy has an impact on certain economic variables and does not have an impact on others. A partial validity is found for the study's central hypothesis. According to our findings, renewable energy contributes significantly to net foreign direct investment, unemployment, and fixed capital formation, but not to GDP per capita, net foreign trade, or fixed capital formation.

The War in Ukraine: How Putin's War in Ukraine Has Ruined Russia

The first two months of war alone turned the Russian clock back decades, undoing thirty years of post-Soviet economic gains and reducing the country to an international pariah state. Three decades after the collapse of the Soviet empire, Russians are being dragged back in time to when Soviet citizens lived isolated from the rest of the world, in a bubble of failed ideology and misinformation. That system fell apart under just the kind of autarky and autocracy that Putin hopes to reimpose. Just as the Soviet system collapsed, Putin is also failing Russia, erasing the gains of the postcommunist period in a feckless attempt to rebuild a doomed empire.

How Governance Indicators Affect Foreign Ownership in the Middle East Equity Markets

The governance indicators of any country may reflect how safe is it to invest in its markets. The question is whether these indicators are being considered by foreign investors in the stock markets. A quantitative approach was used in this study to answer this question and explore how governance indicators can affect the size of the foreign ownership in the stock markets of the Middle East. The study covered the period from 2010 to 2019 excluding the time of financial crisis and the time of COVID-19. The collected data were analyzed using ordinary least squares method. Study results revealed that foreign investors in the stock markets of the Middle East do not consider governance indicators when taking their investment decisions because the foreign ownership in the equity markets was not affected by the governance indicators even when testing each country and each indicator individually.

The Effect of Foreign Direct Investment and Trade Openness on Economic Growth: Evidence from Five African Countries

Through some empirical studies, the flow of FDI and trade openness have proven to support economic growth in developing countries. This paper examines the significance of FDI and trade openness in five African countries (Ghana, Morocco, Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia). The study employed the panel data analysis method using data from the World Bank for the period 1994-2019 for the five selected countries. The result from the Random effect model indicated that FDI positively supports growth, whereas trade openness harms economic growth in these countries. The outcome further revealed that Uganda enjoys more significance than the other countries using the countries' dummies through the pooled model estimation. We recommend that various governments focus more on exports, reduce imports, attract more FDI through incentives, and create a regulatory environment that is friendly to FDI.

The Effect of Economic Policy Uncertainty on Foreign Direct Investment in the Era of Global Value Chain: Evidence from the Asian Countries

The global value chain has promoted foreign direct investments in emerging markets. Not only resources but also public policies can affect the inflows or outflows of foreign direct investments (FDI). This study investigates the effect of economic policy uncertainty on net foreign direct investment inflows in 48 Asian countries. We use the panel dataset from different sources from 1995 to 2020. Our core dependent variable is net foreign direct investment inflows, and the explanatory variable is economic policy uncertainty. The study's control variables include trade, GDP per capita, GDP growth, population, financial development, inflation, and employment. We use the generalized system method of moment (SYS_GMM). Furthermore, the robustness of our empirical results is checked by using the different proxy variables of policy uncertainty. Our results confirm the negative effect of policy uncertainty on foreign direct investment inflows in 48 Asian countries. Our results show that foreign investment inflows are more sensitive than domestic investment. The influence of domestic and global uncertainty on inward FDI is greater than domestic investment. Furthermore, the interaction effect of financial development (FD) shows that FD does not affect mitigation of the negative impact of global economic policy uncertainty on foreign investment inflow. In contrast, FD mitigates the adverse effects of domestic policy uncertainty on foreign and domestic investment. The findings imply that policies need to be attractive, effective, and transparent to woo FDI to the emerging markets.

Tourism and FDI-growth nexus in upper-middle income countries: evidence from static and dynamic panel analyses

This paper examines the role of tourism in foreign direct investment-growth relations in upper-middle-income countries. We deploy static and dynamic panel analysis to evaluate how tourism indicators influence the impact of FDI net inflows on growth using unbalanced panel data on 29 upper-middle-income countries from 2010 to 2019. The tourism indicators are receipts, arrivals, and expenditures. The results from static and dynamic analyses indicate that for the most part (1) FDI and tourism exert asymmetric effects on growth, (2) tourism indicators reduce the negative effect of FDI on growth, (4) trade openness is a positive and significant predictor of growth, and (5) domestic credit negatively contributes to growth. Deductively, results evidence that tourism indicators are critical drivers of economic growth in upper-middle-income countries. Overall, tourism receipts show the largest influence on FDI to spur the most appreciable impact on growth. Despite this, the fact that tourism indicators cannot eliminate the destructive impact of FDI on economic growth shows that tourism development policies should be based on a greener and more sustainable ground, taking into account the effects of the coronavirus.

Smallholder views on Chinese agricultural investments in Mozambique and Tanzania in the context of VGGTs

Based on a case study in each country, this study documents the views of Mozambican and Tanzanian smallholders regarding Chinese agricultural investments and the extent to which investors abide by their legitimate land tenure rights as defined by the Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Forests and Fisheries in the Context of National Food Security (VGGTs). The VGGTs offer guidelines to government on how to protect the land tenure of rural communities when land is being acquired for large-scale land investments. The study also assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on smallholders. Due to COVID-19, instead of fieldwork, we conducted telephone interviews with 20 smallholders in Mozambique and 35 in Tanzania. The Mozambican case showed that even when land set aside for investors was not in dispute, smallholders still had unmet expectations, especially regarding investors' corporate social responsibility activities. In the Tanzanian case, even though the land leased by the Chinese investor had been designated as general land, it had laid fallow for a long period, and smallholders had moved back onto the land, only to be displaced in 2017. Although smallholders' views on the investment were mixed, the case underscored the need for government to assess current land use before allocating it to investors - regardless of how the land is classified and especially in areas where land shortages are creating conflict. The cases show that even if communities are consulted about proposed land investments, guidelines need to include clauses that allow for ongoing communications between investors, communities and government officials such that if communities are unsatisfied with the results of the investment, renegotiation is possible. Further, in the event of crises, such as COVID-19, investors should partner with communities and government to limit the extent of harm in communities as a result of the crisis.

WEAPONIZING THE COVID-19 VACCINE: THE GEOPOLITICAL STRUGGLE

As the world continues to navigate a global pandemic that ignores national borders, it is not surprising to find a divide between the interests of vaccine-producing countries - and their entire supply chain networks for intermediates and raw materials - and countries that are primarily reliant on these producers for their vaccine consumption. This paper puts this debate in the context of a multi country strategic game where the major players have been able to produce a vaccine for COVID-19 and control the distribution of the vaccine and all its components. To address this issue of sovereign players, some have raised the possibility of a GATT/WTO intervention into COVID-19 vaccine sale and distribution. In addition, a legal battle is taking shape over lucrative patent rights for COVID-19 vaccines, with drug companies pitted against each other and government and academic scientists over who invented what. At the heart of the disputes is the billion-dollar question: Who can claim to have invented important elements of the COVID-19 vaccines? In June 2022, the WTO struck deals on a partial patent waiver for COVID-19 vaccines. Most observers believe that this change to the intellectual property rules will have limited impact on actual production for now because a current surplus of vaccines globally means there is little demand among vaccine makers to increase output. The implications are clear. The WTO compromise has allowed the existence of high hurdles for exports of products made under such a license. Given the limited WTO compromise agreement there are several options available to solve the problem of lack of access to the COVID-19 vaccine consuming nations at this stage. First, the US Supreme Court could invalidate each of the pharmaceutical companies' patent requests. Second, individuals could file legal actions designed to disgorge the monopoly revenue of these pharmaceutical companies. If no legal action is taken, along these lines, and the WTO compromise is insufficient to solve the COVID-19 vaccine shortages in the developing world, then the developed countries will be opening the gate to PRC delivery of their COVID-19 vaccine to the entire developing and emerging markets. © 2022 World Scientific Publishing Company.

Foreign divestment, economic growth and development in South Africa: an empirical analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of foreign direct divestments (FDD) on economic growth and development in South Africa for the period 1991–2019.Design/methodology/approachThe non-linear autoregressive distributed lag technique is used for the empirical analysis. Two regression models are specified, one for economic growth and the other for development which is proxied by poverty.FindingsThe empirical results suggest that foreign divestments are detrimental to both economic growth and development. Furthermore, the results suggest that the negative effects of foreign divestments outweigh the positive effects of FDI inflows.Practical implicationsSouth African policymakers should thus use policies that promote the retention of FDI inflows together with those that attract inflows. Furthermore, policies that promote economic freedom such as transparency and reduction in the time frame for granting government permits for business operations are also of paramount importance.Originality/valueMost of the available literature on FDD focuses on the firm perspective. Available studies on the effect of FDD on economic growth do not investigate the effect of divestment on economic development. Economic growth is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the achievement of socioeconomic development.

Towards a Multidimensional Model for Evaluating the Sustainable Effect of FDI on the Development of Host Developing Countries: Evidence from Africa

This study aims to comprehensively evaluate the sustainable impact of FDI on the development of host African countries. Previous empirical studies seem to have overestimated the impact of FDI by limiting its effects to one aspect or sub-aspect of sustainable development. This study focuses on the sustainable/net effect of FDI on development in Africa. To achieve this, a multidimensional model that combines two opposing views (mainstream theory of economic development and dependent theory) was tested. Panel data of 35 African countries with the PMG/ARDL approach were used to probe the sustainable effect of FDI from 1990 to 2020. The key findings of this study reveal that the overall estimated sustainable effect of FDI on real GDP per capita is statistically minuscule for the entire sample. Thus, the effect of FDI on the development of host African countries is not inherently more important. The most striking result that emerged from the data is that environmental degradation is the dominant variable that adversely influences overall development in Africa. Another striking finding that emerged from the data is that income inequality, in general, has a significant negative impact on real GDP per capita in the long run. More importantly, the results of this study confirm that CO2, GINI, and GOV play important roles in the relationship between FDI and African development. Estimates of the error correction term for each specific country are negative and statistically significant. The fastest speed of adjustment was observed in Morocco, while the lowest was recorded in South Africa. Furthermore, this study presents different policy implications based on the long-term results.

The Arab Spring and Its Implications for FDI Inflows to the MENA Region

The Arab Spring (AS) marked an unprecedented event in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and it generated political and economic uncertainties and triggered violent conflicts and political rifts. This paper empirically examines the short-run and long-run effects of the AS on foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to the MENA region and to individual MENA countries. The empirical analysis is implemented through the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator for dynamic panel models, using different empirical specifications. The benchmark results show that the AS has led to important reductions in FDI inflows to the MENA region. A more detailed empirical analysis reveals significant variations in the AS effects on FDI inflows across MENA countries and it underscores distinct patterns over different time periods. These findings imply that governments in the MENA region are required to maintain political stability, and to adopt distinctive policies that lessen the adverse implications of the AS and that set favorable conditions for FDI inflows in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era.

FORIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS IN ROMANIA DURING THE PANDEMIC

Foreign direct investments have been considered one of the most important source of economic development for the countries throughout the world. As such, the national governments became more and more open to this phenomenon and created all the needed infrastructure to increase the movement of foreign capitals. For Romania, the FDIs offered the possibility to trade internationally, to be an important player, especially inside the European Union. The COVID-19 pandemic is the second big crisis that the Romanian economy has had to overcome, after the financial crisis from 2007, when the country lost more foreign investments than any other country in the region. The current crisis, although has impacted the global economic activity, in Romania's case, there were not all bad news, as the investors, although cautious, they remained within the economy to conduct their business.

Can the Growth of the Digital Economy Be Beneficial for Urban Decarbonization? A Study from Chinese Cities

An environmentally friendly city is a livable home for the future. Can the rapidly developing digital economy help decrease carbon emissions and realize a low-carbon and clean city promptly? This study focuses on examining how multi-dimensional digital economic growth has influenced CO2 emissions across 280 Chinese cities from 2011 to 2019. Findings discover that (1) An "n”-type curve nexus exists between CO2 emissions and the digital economy in Chinese cities, which means that digital economy expansion initially strengthens CO2 emissions, but at a certain level, it can help achieve the target of urban decarbonization;(2) The digital economy's influence on CO2 emissions is spatially spilled and regionally heterogeneous, and by means of economies of scale and industrial composition upgrades, it can help the city to lower carbon emissions and benefit the low carbonization of neighboring cities. However, based on the "rebound effect”, the intermediary role of technological effects in reducing emissions in the short term is not apparent;(3) The expansion of trade openness and appropriately stringent environmental rules in line with national conditions are beneficial to lower CO2 emissions in the city and the surrounding cities in the short term. It is recommended that policy makers actively promote the development of the digital economy, strengthen exchanges and cooperation between cities, narrow the gap between cities, and actively learn the advanced management concepts of surrounding cities through the development of economies of scale and industrial structure transformation to accomplish the target of "carbon neutrality” sooner rather than later.

India in 2022: Deepening Democratic Decline

India continued its recovery from COVID-19 in 2022. The Omicron strain was less lethal than previous waves and consequently had a smaller economic footprint. The economy began rebounding, with trade and foreign direct and portfolio investments recovering to pre-pandemic levels. India remained one of the fastest-growing economies in the world in 2022. However, it suffered very significant setbacks to its democracy, with increased attacks on civil and political liberties and human rights, and on its institutions, by BJP-led governments at the center and in the states. India effectively managed foreign policy challenges stemming from the Ukraine–Russia conflict, incursions into Indian territory by China, and the Islamophobic rhetoric of its own party leaders. Overall, 2022 was marked by a slew of BJP victories in six out of seven states and by the negative consequences of the BJP's political strength for Indian democracy.

International practice analysis of the negative list: Chinese Example of shipping market access

The international shipping industry is unique and important. The negative list related to the opening up of the shipping industry is an important part of the reform and innovation of China's pilot free trade zones. In recent years, as countries around the world continue to promote the process of opening up in the fields of trade and services, the negative list system has been used more in international investment and trade agreements. In the field of International Shipping, how to correctly grasp and apply the negative list system is an important topic. Starting with the general concept of the negative list system of shipping market access, this paper reviews and summarizes the developmental processes of the negative list of foreign capital market access in the shipping field since the establishment of Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone. It compares and analyzes the international contracting practice of the European Union and the United States as reflected in the negative list of shipping market access. It equally points out that the system connection between the negative list still existing in China's shipping field and the international high standard negative list is not enough. It argues that the transparency of the negative list still needs to be further strengthened as the rules behind the list and the awareness of its risk prevention are weak. In view of these hitches, this paper makes some suggestions that are tilted towards improving the negative list system of China's shipping market access. It also continues the optimization of the negative list of shipping market access, and the improvement of a conscious awareness aimed at avoiding the possible risks of the negative list. Finally, it makes a strong argument for a continuous improvement of China's international shipping competitiveness.

TRADE BALANCE AND THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: THE CASE OF JORDAN

This research aimed to study the main determinants of trade deficit in the Jordanian economy for the quarterly periods from 2009 to 2021. Specifically, the study examined the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on trade balance, in addition to other variables. The methodology for this study used Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method which, after applying the necessary diagnostic tests, was verified as the appropriate method. The main result of this paper shows that the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the trade balance, as expected. However, this result is statistically insignificant since the pandemic would improve the growth of the trade balance (TD) from the imports side but would worsen it from the exports side. The results also found that foreign investment was significant in affecting the trade balance. The implication of these results is that the Jordanian economy is vulnerable to outside shocks due to its openness. The government should adopt export-oriented policy to ensure the sustainability of the trade balance. © 2022 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved.

Covid-19 impact on financial growth and guidelines for green recovery in BRICS: fresh insights from econometric analysis

Sustainable development and socioeconomic growth are balanced through green economic recovery post pandemic. To statistically examine the coordinated development of green economic growth, foreign direct investment, stock market return and financial development, this paper constructs a complete indicator system for green economic recovery and financial development, by using a VAR model for the BRICS over the period of 2000–2020. Our results demonstrate that FDI significantly improves environmental quality by lowering pollution levels and improve the green economic growth in the region (BRICS). Stock market also has a significant positive effect on green economic growth. On the other side, FDI has a significant detrimental effect on financial development. Finally, financial development has a considerable detrimental impact on environmental deterioration. Our analysis recommends that besides the initiatives in financial growth, FDI and stock market be given priority in order to improve sustainable development.

Domestic Investment Laws, International Economic Law, and Economic Development

‘Development' is a legal concept which has been central to the practice of international economic law (IEL). This Article examines how ‘development' continues to be at the heart of struggles between domestic investment laws (DILs) and international economic law. By examining over 3000 international investment agreements (IIAs) and DILs signed in the last seven decades, this Article identifies the ways in which the concept of development has evolved in tandem with the growth of international economic law by dividing the history of international investment law into six main phases. It traces the emergence of ‘development' in DIL to the decolonization era arguing that post 1990, the proliferation of international investment treaties and growth of investment treaty arbitration have been used as tools of liberalization on the weak premise that this would lead to economic development. In this context, this Article examines closely the interpretation of ‘investment' by ICSID tribunals, promotion of international arbitration for economic development, attempts to internationalize economic development contracts, continued relevance of the New International Economic Order, and shift to sustainable development in IEL discourse.

Fragility of FDI flows in sub-Saharan Africa region: does the paradox persist?

The circumstances of the SSA region regarding the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) present a puzzle. In spite of the high rate of return on investment, the inflow of foreign investments keeps eluding the region, and the COVID-19 pandemic even perplexes the flow fragility the more. What factors then determine FDI flows aside from return on investment? Could there be more persuasive relative cost complexes? The study aimed at testing the effects of determining factors that influence FDI flows and their impact on economic development, considering the COVID-19 period. The study used cross-country pooled data from 30 SSA countries collected between 2001 and 2020. The study utilized five panel estimation techniques, namely Pooled Regression, Fixed Effect (FE), Random Effect (RE), Panel Two-Stage Least Square and Differenced Generalized Moments of Method (DGMM). The study found that the inflow of FDI has significant positive impact on economic development in the sub-Saharan African region. It is also ascertained that the outflow of FDI, and political stability has an inverse relationship with economic development. The study recommends that governments of host economies should hence ensure an enabling framework for their economies, so as to improve infrastructure, political stability, and institutional quality, in order to sufficiently encourage the inflow of FDI into the SSA region and make the environment inviting, sustainable, and beneficial for foreign investors and host economies alike.

Factors Affecting the Green Economy Based on the Attraction of Foreign Direct Investment in the Context of Climate Change, Vietnam

The complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic have made enterprises' investment and business cooperation activities in general, and foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises face many challenges and risks in particular. In Vietnam, foreign direct investment plays a vital role in socio-economic development. Realized FDI capital increased on average annually and accounted for over 25% of the total recognized investment capital of the whole society;the average GDP share of the foreign-invested sector accounts for more than 20% annually in the total GDP of the whole economy;attracting nearly 5 million workers. However, Vietnam has faced environmental and social consequences of developing the brown economy. Countries have gradually transitioned to a green economy - an economy that cares about happiness, social justice, and the environment in addition to other benefits and economic goals. Vietnam is no exception to this trend. Thus, the article's purpose is to analyze the key factors affecting the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) for the green economy of Vietnam and recommendations for green economic development in Vietnam. Besides, the authors applied quantitative methods processed by SPSS 20.0 and Amos software based on surveying 700 foreign investors with descriptive statistical tools, measuring scales with Cronbach's Alpha, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), structural equation modeling (SEM). The article's findings have three key factors affecting the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) for the green economy of Vietnam, with a significance of 1.0 percent. Three factors include investment policy (IP), Investment environment (IE), and quality of human resources (QHR). Finally, the study's value is to help policymakers and leaders of provinces and cities improve capital attraction efficiency and contribute to green economic growth in climate change and international integration.