Abstract
While the average age varies from one country to another, collectively the Arabs constitute one of the world’s most youthful populations. For Arab governments with few or no social services, dysfunctional educational systems and inadequate innovation and entrepreneurial capabilities, their young populations are rapidly turning from an onerous burden into a grave menace. This chapter reviews a number of critical challenges that need to be addressed to rectify the situation, with special emphasis on the GCC countries and with reference to the rentier culture that pervades many walks of life across the region. Compounded by persistent ethnic, religious and political conflict, it is argued that this culture is seriously undermining research, innovation, and entrepreneurship capabilities. Nothing less than a radical overhaul of governance procedures and institutional arrangements is required to turn the numerous challenges facing the region into opportunities and long lasting benefits.
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Notes
- 1.
This figure is based on government or market exchange rates. On this basis the combined GDP of all the Arab countries amounts to US$2,007 billion, with the GCC countriesaccounting for around US$1081.9. The combined GDP based on purchasing power parity is much higher at around US$2,800 billion, according to most recent International Monetary Fund and World Bank data.
- 2.
GDP figures for the Arab countries, combined, make up a higher percentage, 3.8Â % of total global GDP, computed in terms of purchasing power parity in US dollars.
- 3.
Three GCC countries—Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait—are consistently classified among the world’s high income nations, while the remaining three GCC states—Bahrain , Oman and Saudi Arabia —are classified as upper-middle-income countries.
- 4.
There is considerable variation among GCC countries with regard to their dependence on oil and gas resources. Thus, oil accounted for 41.3 % of Oman’s nominal GDP in 2010. See the EIU Country Report, August 2011 (ISSN 1462-6667). In Bahrain by contrast, oil revenue was expected to account for 91 % of revenue in 2011–2012. See the EIU Country Report, July 2011 (ISSN 1473-8937).
- 5.
Rent may also accrue to some states in the region on the basis of their strategic importance for international and regional powers. In such cases it would take the form of international aid and special trade concessions and privileges. International aid, however, is seldom of sufficient volume to give rise to a predominantly rentier economy. Nevertheless, when such aid provides substantial contributions to a country’s economy and well-being, rentier practices would be expected to arise.
- 6.
The situation in these countries is contrasted with that arising in countries where internal rent predominates, automatically presupposing the existence of productive capacities elsewhere in the same economy.
- 7.
Threats posed by a rentier culture may be considered the more serious since replacing this culture and instituting work ethics attuned to productive models would require years, if not decades or even generations.
- 8.
Examples of such activities include emerging industries in petrochemicals or pharmaceuticals in Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries.
- 9.
Reports by international organisations consistently lack up-to-date figures on all three parameters in most Arab countries. Most recent data included on poverty and unemployment in the database established by the World Bank’s Knowledge Assessment Methodology date back to the year 2007. Though the database includes data on nearly 140 countries figures, only 13 of the 22 Arab countries are included. The Human Development Report, published annually by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), routinely addresses a poverty, unemployment and inequality but invariably lacks figures on poverty or income inequality in a large proportion of Arab, and particularly GCC, countries.
- 10.
The United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report for the year 2010 introduced the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), acknowledging the multifaceted nature of poverty, which extends beyond inadequate income to include poor health and nutrition, low levels of education and skills, inadequate living standards, bad housing conditions, social exclusion and lack of participation. The MPI identifies deprivations across the same three dimensions as the Human Development Index (HDI), namely health, education and living standards, as reflected in ten indicators, each with equal weight within its dimension. The ten indicators taken up in computing the MPI relate to: nutrition, child mortality, years of schooling and children enrolled, as well as standard-of-living indicators measuring lack of electricity, clean drinking water, adequate sanitation, use of “dirty” cooking fuels (such as dung, wood or charcoal) and having a home with a dirt floor, and lack of ownership of a car, truck or similar motorised vehicle and ownership of at most one of the following assets: bicycle, motorcycle, radio, refrigerator, telephone or television.
- 11.
This may be contrasted with official statements indicating that government is committed to a plan cutting Saudi Arabia’s  poverty rate to 2.2 % by 2020.
- 12.
Rent even in the most modest locations averages around $4,200 per year. This clearly puts housing beyond the means of impoverished and low-paid Saudis.
- 13.
The last official census in Saudi Arabia was conducted in 2004 and put the national Saudi population at 16.5 million. See: http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2010042069914.
- 14.
Available population statistics for the GCC countries do not differentiate nationals from expatriates. Hence, the above figures may be biased towards higher age groups, with the average age of GCC populations actually being lower, and the proportion of the population younger than 14 higher, than actually reported.
- 15.
A period of at least 9 years, generally designed for children aged between 6 and 15, is commonly referred to as “basic education”.
- 16.
The corresponding percentage exceeds 80Â % in industrialised developed nations and the countries of Central Asia.
- 17.
Confidence in trend lines such as those presented in Fig. 8.5 is generally expressed by the value of a variable (R2), which may be computed on the basis of standard statistical methods. R2 values corresponding to trend lines are embedded within the figure. The value of R2 for the trend line describing variation of the Education  with GDP per capita for the world’s countries is close to 0.75, reflecting a high degree of confidence in the correlation. At 0.66, the R2 value for the trend lines describing the corresponding relationship for the Arab countriessignifies reasonable confidence.
- 18.
“Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 Results: What Students Know and Can Do. Student Performance in Reading, Mathematics and Science , Vol. I”, ISBN: 978-92-64-09145-0, downloaded from http://browse.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/pdfs/free/9810071e.pdf. August 2011.
- 19.
It may be noted here that although the OECD comprises some of the world’s richer countries it also includes quite a few other countries in which per capita incomes are on a par with some Arab countries.
- 20.
“Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS )”; The National Centre for Education  Statistics. See Highlights from 2007 TIMSS, downloaded from: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009001.pdf. August 2011.
- 21.
Arab countriesunderperform the average scores for all countries taking part in the assessment cycles reported by Figs. 8.6 and 8.7. They heavily underperform top scorers, such as South Korea, Finland and Shanghai (China), in PISA tests. Pupils participating from schools in these locations scored 536, 539 and 556, respectively with regard to overall reading skills, 541, 546 and 600, respectively in mathematics, and 554, 538 and 575 in science.
- 22.
As recently indicated, for example, by the Nobel Laureate A. Zewail in the “Global Research Report, Exploring the Changing Landscape of Arabian, Persian and Turkish Research”, J. Adams et al., February 2011. Thomson Reuters Science . ISBN: 1–904431–27–5.
- 23.
Few Arab countries, notably Lebanon and Saudi Arabia , have formulated comprehensive STI strategies, mostly during the first few years of the twenty-first century. Others have simply carried over traditional science and technology strategies drawn up during the 1970s and 1980s. On the other hand, all Arab countries formulated information and communications technology strategies in 2003–2005.
- 24.
For the most part, information and communications technology strategies formulated by some Arab countries are essentially carbon copies of policy handouts by international organisations, with limited attention to national and local particularities.
- 25.
Data is available and only regarding to eight Arab countries. This underscores the need for better arrangements for data collection on R&D activity.
- 26.
The KAM Innovation  Index  is the simple average of the normalised scores on three variables: total royalty payments and receipts, patent applications granted by the United States Patents and Trademarks Office, and scientific and technical journal articles.
- 27.
Values of the correlation coefficient R2, which measures the degree of confidence that might be placed in the trend lines depicting change in the Innovation  index with GDP per capita, stand at around 0.87 and 0.68 for all the world’s countries and the Arab countriesrespectively. Such values normally prompt reasonable–good confidence. The lower R2 value shown for the Arab countries is due to the wider spread of values for the Innovation Index computed for these countries, relative to respective values of GDP per capita.
- 28.
“Global Research Report, Exploring the Changing Landscape of Arabian, Persian and Turkish Research”, J. Adams et al.; February 2011. Thomson Reuters Science. ISBN: 1–904431–27–5.
- 29.
Thus, respondents in a recent UNESCO survey indicated that at least 116 scientific journals were published in Iraq monthly, quarterly or annually. The same questionnaire also indicated that some Iraqi researchers were also regular contributors to academic reviews published in neighbouring countries such as Egypt and Jordan . UNESCO, 2010.
- 30.
Several universities in Egypt, including Cairo, Alexandria and Ein Shams, and universities in Saudi Arabia such as King Saud University and King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology are regular contributors to prestigious international journals.
- 31.
As for scientific impact, citation rates have increased significantly for Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan compared to the early 1990s. Figure 8.10 quotes publication rates tracked in 5 year overlapping periods since 1990.
- 32.
Figure 8.11 is based on data from a United States Patents  and Trademarks Office (USPTO) report downloaded in October 2011 from: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/cst_utl.pdf.
- 33.
Internet World Stats. Downloaded in August 2011, http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats5.htm.
- 34.
This is nevertheless smaller than the world average, estimated at over 30Â %.
- 35.
This is despite the fact that inhabitants of these countries make up only around 13Â % of the total Arab population. The anomaly may be explained by the fact that many GCC inhabitants are expatriate workers with high rates of internet access and utilisation.
- 36.
E-government and e-commerce applications have been reported as having made progress during the past decade in the GCC countries. See the Regional Profile of the Information Society in Western Asia, published by ESCWA; E/ESCWA/ICTD/2009/12; 25 September 2009.
- 37.
Several GCC countrieshave established links with higher education and research institutions in the United States, Australia and Europe. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates  now host overseas campuses for several renowned universities from Australia, France and the United States.
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Bizri, O. (2013). Research, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and the Rentier Culture in the Arab Countries. In: Andersson, T., Djeflat, A. (eds) The Real Issues of the Middle East and the Arab Spring. Innovation, Technology, and Knowledge Management. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5248-5_8
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