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Middle East and Central Asia > Oman

You are looking at 1 - 6 of 6 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
  • Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure x
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Cover IMF Working Papers
Comparing the Employment-Output Elasticities of Expatriates and Nationals in the Gulf Cooperation Council
Mr. Alberto Behar
We estimate the elasticity of private-sector employment to non-oil GDP in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for GCC nationals and expatriates using a Seemingly Unrelated Error Correction (SUREC) model. Our results indicate that the employment response is lower for nationals, who have an estimated short-run elasticity of only 0.15 and a long-run response of 0.7 or less. The elasticity is almost unity for expatriates in the long run and 0.35 in the short run. We interpret low elasticities as indirect evidence of labor market adjustment costs, which could include hiring and firing rigidities, skills mismatches, and reluctance to accept private sector jobs. Forecasts suggest that, absent measures to reduce adjustment costs, the private sector will only be able to absorb a small portion of nationals entering the labor force.
Keywords:
WP; labor market; Employment Elasticities; Labor Market Adjustment Costs; GCC; Gulf Cooperation Council; Inclusive Growth; GCC country; employment growth; GCC employment; GCC labor market structure; employment response; growth forecast; employment elasticity; GCC elasticity; employment projection; employment-growth relationship; employment rigidity; GCC aggregate; Employment; Labor markets; Public employment; Labor force; Public sector; Middle East; Middle East and Central Asia; North Africa; East Africa; Global
Cover Policy Papers
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - Labor Market Reforms to Boost Employment and Productivity in the GCC
International Monetary Fund
The GCC growth model has delivered substantial improvements in living standards over several decades. Access to foreign labor has supported rapid growth in the non-oil sector and price stability in the region. It has also resulted in positive spillovers to the migrant-sending countries through large remittance flows. At the same time, governments have increased public-sector employment and have helped raise standards of living. However, the growth model has involved costs: the public-sector wage bill is relatively high, there is limited employment of nationals in the private sector, labor productivity has declined or stagnated, and there is limited progress on economic diversification
Keywords:
PP; GCC country; wage subsidy; public-sector wage bill; labor force; foreign worker; wage restriction; employment quota; crowding out; output gap; subsidies temporary; GCC growth model; Employment; Labor markets; Wages; Foreign labor; Employment subsidies; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Does Public-Sector Employment Fully Crowd Out Private-Sector Employment?
Mr. Alberto Behar
and
Mr. Junghwan Mok
We quantify the extent to which public-sector employment crowds out private-sector employment using specially assembled datasets for a large cross-section of developing and advanced countries, and discuss the implications for countries in the Middle East, North Africa, Caucasus and Central Asia. These countries simultaneously display high unemployment rates, low private-sector employment rates and high proportions of government-sector employment. Regressions of either private-sector employment rates or unemployment rates on two measures of public-sector employment point to full crowding out. This means that high rates of public employment, which incur substantial fiscal costs, have a large negative impact on private employment rates and do not reduce overall unemployment rates.
Keywords:
WP; private sector; private-sector employment; Employment; Crowding out; Middle East and Central Asia; employment rate; crowding-out effect; C. private-sector employment; employment dataset; MENAP country; outcomes in the MCD; MCD country; employment equation; MCD countries' employment data; CCA country; labor force; Public employment; Employment rate; Government debt management; Unemployment; Middle East
Cover IMF Working Papers
Emerging Strains in GCC Labor Markets
Mr. Ugo Fasano-Filho
and
Rishi Goyal
Unemployment pressures among nationals are emerging in the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC). 2 At a time when a rapidly growing number of young nationals are entering the labor force and governments are no longer able to act as employers of first and last resort, the non-oil sector continues to rely on expatriate labor to meet its labor requirements in most GCC countries. In this environment, policymakers face the related challenges of addressing unemployment pressures while striking a balance between maintaining a liberal foreign labor policy and a reasonable level of competitiveness of the non-oil sector. Using a matching function framework, this paper examines labor market policies that are likely to expand the ability to hire nationals in the non-oil sector. It finds that an effective labor strategy should focus on strengthening investment in human capital, adopting institutional reforms, and promoting a vibrant non-oil economy.
Keywords:
WP; wage; private sector; GCC country; GCC countries; labor market policies; matching function framework; unemployment rate; reservation wage; wage bill; wage expectation; Labor markets; Wages; Employment; Labor force; Unemployment; Europe; Asia and Pacific
Cover GCC Countries
GCC Countries
From Oil Dependence to Diversification
Mr. Zubair Iqbal
and
Mr. Ugo Fasano-Filho

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the unprecedented economic and social transformation witnessed by the member countries of the Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC)-Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates-over the last three decades.

Keywords:
MISC PUBS; Misc.; GCC country; GCC; country; state enterprise; government; GCC economy; GCC population; GCC countries' effort; GCC area; state enterprise reform; GCC member states; GCC workforce; Labor force; Employment; Privatization; Labor markets; Stock markets; Global
Cover Financial Systems and Labor Markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries
Financial Systems and Labor Markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries
International Monetary Fund

Abstract

This volume comprises two separate papers on key structural aspects of the reform process in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The first paper addresses issues related to financial intermediation and reform in the context of the evolving economic environment in the GCC countries. The second discusses the labor market challenges and policy issues in the GCC countries and their implications for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Keywords:
BOOK; GCC country; country; GCC; policy; labor market issue; national; reform measure; GCC policymaker; GCC national; Labor markets; Employment; Labor force; Stock markets; East Asia; Asia and Pacific; Middle East; South Asia; Global; Foreign labor