The Defense-Growth Nexus: An Application for the Israeli-Arab Conflict

This paper revisits the defence-growth nexus for the rivals of the Israeli-Arab conflict over the last four decades. To this end, we utilize the Toda and Yamamoto (1995) causality test and the generalized variance decomposition. Contrary to the conventional wisdom and many earlier studies, we fail to detect any persistent adverse impact of military expenditures on economic growth. Our conclusions are kept intact even when we account for the possibility of endogenous structural breaks and during the post-1979 peace treaty period. Our findings imply insignificant peace dividends once the conflict is resolved and the military spending is cut to internationally acceptable standards.Growth, Middle East, Israeli-Arab conflict, Causality, Generalized Forecast Error Variance Decomposition

The Defense-growth nexus: An application for the Israeli-Arab conflict

This paper revisits the defence-growth nexus for the rivals of the Israeli-Arab conflict over the last four decades. To this end, we utilize the Toda and Yamamoto (1995) causality test and the generalized variance decomposition. Contrary to the conventional wisdom and many earlier studies, we fail to detect any persistent adverse impact of military expenditures on economic growth. Our conclusions are kept intact even when we account for the possibility of endogenous structural breaks and during the post-1979 peace treaty period. Our findings imply insignificant peace dividends once the conflict is resolved and the military spending is cut to internationally acceptable standards.Growth, Middle East, Israeli-Arab conflict, Causality, Generalized Forecast Error Variance Decomposition

Measurement of the multiplicity dependence of charm production in proton--proton collisions at \sqrt{s}=7 TeV with the ALICE experiment at the CERN-LHC

Potential of the charm quark as a probe to study the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) is best harnessed when its production mechanisms are disentangled from its propagation through the QGP. Proton-proton (pp) collisions help us to study charmed hadron production mechanisms. The measurement of D-meson yields in pp collisions as a function of the multiplicity of produced particles allows one to gain some insight into the processes occurring in the collision at a microscopic level. Here, the preliminary results are presented from this measurement at \sqrt{s} = 7 TeV. The analysis strategy, the applied corrections, and the determination of the systematic uncertainties are described. The preliminary results are presented and compared with those from a similar, published, measurement of J/\psi production.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings of the 13th National Symposium on Frontiers in Physics (Peshawar, Pakistan), to be submitted to the IOP, Journal of Physics, Conference Series, December 201

Synthesis and Crystal Structure of 1-(3-fluorophenyl)-3-(3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyl)thiourea

The title thiourea was synthesized by reaction of 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyl isothiocyante with 3-fluoroaniline. The 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyl isothiocyante was produced in situ by reaction of 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyl chloride with ammonium thiocyanate in dry acetonitrile. The structure was confirmed by the spectroscopic, elemental analysis and single crystal X-ray diffraction data. It crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c with unit cell dimensions a = 13.0966(9), b = 16.6460(13), c = 7.8448(5), β = 106.721(5)°, V 1637.9(2) ų, Z = 4

Getting Income Shares Right: A Panel Data Investigation for OECD Countries

In this paper we reassess the conventional measure of the capital share in income by estimating the shares of inputs in income for 23 OECD countries for the period 1960-2003 utilizing panel data techniques. A share of physical capital of over 0.50, and not one-third as commonly accepted, is found to be robust to a variety of specifications of the production function and the econometric models used. Additionally, we find that following the first oil shock the share of physical capital dropped while the share of human capital rose. Consequently, using the conventional shares may have led to overstating the severity of the post-1973 productivity slowdown.OECD, Shares of Inputs, Growth Accounting, TFP, Panel Data

Financial Development and Economic Growth: Time Series Evidence from Egypt

This paper examines the causal relationship between financial development and economic growth in Egypt during the period 1960-2001 within a trivariate VAR setting. We employ four different measures of financial development and apply Granger causality tests using the cointegration and vector error correction methodology. Our results significantly support the view that financial development Granger-causes economic growth either through increasing investment efficiency or through increasing resources for investment. This finding suggests that the financial reforms launched in 1990 can explain the rebound in economic performance since then and that further deepening of the financial sector is an important instrument to stimulate saving/investment and therefore long-term economic growth.Financial development, Economic growth, Egypt, Granger causality, Error-correction models, Cointegration

On the Dynamics of the Israeli-Arab Arms Race

This paper investigates the causal relationships between the military expenditures and military burden of the four major sides of the Israeli-Arab conflict, namely, Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Syria over the period 1960-2004. We utilize both the causality test suggested by Toda and Yamamoto (1995) and the generalized forecast error variance decomposition method of Pesaran and Shin (1998). Our findings suggest weak causality that runs usually from Israel’s to Arab’s military spending. The strongest links are between Israel and Syria that are still in a state of enmity. No causality was detected between Israel’s and Jordan’s military spending.Arms race, Middle East, Israeli-Arab conflict, Causality, Generalized Forecast Error Variance Decomposition

Financial Developent and Economic Growth Nexus: Time Series Evidence from Middle Eastern and North African Countries

This paper examines the causal relationship between financial development and economic growth in five Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries for different periods ranging from 1960 to 2004, within a trivariate vector autoregressive (VAR) framework. We employ four different measures of financial development and apply Granger causality tests using the cointegration and vector error-correction (VEC) methodology. Our empirical results show weak support for a long-run relationship between financial development and economic growth, and for the hypothesis that finance leads growth. In cases where cointegration was detected, Granger causality was either bidirectional or it ran from output to financial development.Financial development, Economic growth, MENA, Granger causality, Error-correction models, Cointegration

Getting Income Shares Right: A Panel Data Investigation for OECD Countries

In this paper we reassess the conventional measure of the capital share in income by estimating the shares of inputs in income for 23 OECD countries for the period 1960-2003 utilizing panel data techniques. A share of physical capital of over 0.50, and not one-third as commonly accepted, is found to be robust to a variety of specifications of the production function and the econometric models used. Additionally, we find that following the first oil shock the share of physical capital dropped while the share of human capital rose. Consequently, using the conventional shares may have led to overstating the severity of the post-1973 productivity slowdown.OECD, Shares of Inputs, Growth Accounting, TFP, Panel Data