PUBLICATIONS
The Dubai Initiative publishes the works of its Senior Fellows, Research Fellows, Associates, and others affiliated with the organization. We also offer complimentary hard-copies of our Working Papers and Policy Briefs series. Please contact us at dubai_initiative@hks.harvard.edu for more information.
Spring 2011
A Conversation with Diana Buttu
Dubai Initiative Research Fellow Diana Buttu speaks about her research and her work as legal advisor to the Palestinian Liberation Organization. She was interviewed by Belfer Center Communications Intern Brittany Card on January 7, 2011.
AP Photo
April 2008
"Estimating the Impact of the Hajj: Religion and Tolerance in Islam's Global Gathering"
By Asim Khwaja, Faculty Affiliate, Middle East Initiative, David Clingingsmith and Michael Kremer
This working paper, co-authored by DI Faculty Affiliate Asim Khwaja, argues that the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca increases observance of global Islamic practices while decreasing participation in localized practices and beliefs. The authors' evidence suggests that these changes are more a result of exposure to and interaction with Hajjis from around the world, rather than religious instruction or a changed social role of pilgrims upon return.
Down the full text for free here.
September 2007
"Weak Democracy, Strong Information: The Role of Information Technology in the Rulemaking Process"
By Cary Coglianese, Former Associate Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
Expanding Regulatory Pluralism: The Role for Information Technology in Rulemaking
By Cary Coglianese, Former Associate Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
January, 2011
Economic Growth with Unlimited Supplies of Foreign Labor
By Tarek Coury, Former Associate 9/2008-12/2011, The Dubai Initiative
Dubai Initiative Associate Tarek Coury and Associate Dean of the Dubai School of Government Mohamed Lahouel develop a modified version of the standard Solow and Ramsey growth models suited for countries with high proportions of foreign workers: firms hire foreign workers who are assumed to send a proportion of their wages as remittances. The paper shows that as the (foreign) supply of labor becomes more elastic, per capita income growth along the transitional dynamics converges to zero, the effect of TFP growth on per capita growth gradually disappears and growth in overall output converges to an AK-style model of growth.
November, 2009
Oil, Labor Markets, and Economic Diversification in the GCC: An Empirical Assessment
By Tarek Coury, Former Associate 9/2008-12/2011, The Dubai Initiative and Chetan Dave
In a bid to reduce their dependency on oil and natural gas revenues, GCC governments have recently invested considerable resources to diversify their economies.This paper provides an empirical assessment of economic diversification in the GCC for the period 1980-2005. In particular we assess whether oil and natural gas revenues, government policies and foreign flows of labor have contributed to greater economic diversification, proxied by real growth in non-hydrocarbon GDP per worker. To our knowledge, this is the first paper that analyzes economic diversification in the Gulf using panel data techniques that explicitly treat the GCC as an economic block.
We find that lagged hydrocarbon revenue is the only variable consistently associated with subsequent economic diversification; this is in contrast to government expenditures whose impact on diversification is negative, large, and significant. We also find that population growth has little impact on either growth of overall GDP per worker or non-hydrocarbon GDP per worker; we present an economic growth model that takes into account features of the labor market structure in the Gulf to explain this finding. Finally, we present some empirical evidence consistent with claims of greater macroeconomic and financial integration within the GCC.
December, 2011
Political Economics: The Challenges of Economic Development in Palestine
By Karam Dana, Former Research Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
Since the Six-Day War and Occupation of 1967, economics, an area of study that affects social and political formulations and transformations, has entered the study of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to a much larger extent: Palestinian workers in Israel, to an underdeveloped infrastructure in the Palestinian territories. More than four decades later, economic challenges continue to play a role in the affairs of the Palestinians: from affecting people’s lives and their leadership on the one hand, and the relationship between the Palestinian and Israel on the other. Within Palestinian society itself, the dynamics of state-society relations have demonstrably been affected by economic transformations, but have yet to be fully studied in places of continuous occupation and conflict like the West bank and the Gaza Strip. This paper explores the challenges that have faced developmental attempts in Palestine since the occupation of 1967.
November 14, 2011
"American Muslims: Where is the vote going?"
By Karam Dana, Former Research Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
Dubai Initiative associate Karam Dana is interviewd for an article about the 2012 presidential elections in the U.S. and the influence Muslim-Americans will have on the vote. The article also cites Dana's paper on Muslim-American political participation, "The American Muslim Voter: What Explains Voting When Nobody Cares?"
October 2011
Muslims in America
By Karam Dana, Former Research Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
The perception of Muslims living in the United States has deteriorated dramatically since the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. U.S.-Muslims, a group that had already faced discrimination prior to the attacks, became even more visible to the public. Non-Muslim Americans began questioning American Muslim loyalties to the United States as well as their commitment to being “good” citizens. Such doubt extended to the political arena as well, prompting intrusive inquiries into Muslim-affiliated civic and political organizations and their members. Even non-Muslims with Muslim affiliations or Muslim-sounding names or appearances have been subject to public scrutiny.
September 27, 2011
Mosques as American Institutions: Mosque Attendance, Religiosity and Integration into the Political System among American Muslims
By Karam Dana, Former Research Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
Religious institutions and places of worship have played a pivotal role in American Politics. What about the role of the mosque? Does the mosque, as an institution, in any sense play a different role than that of churches or synagogues in political participation? Some scholars have argued that Islam as a religion and a culture is incompatible with liberal, democratic American values; not only is Islam inconsistent with the West, but it poses a direct conflict.
