{"id":{"repo_id":"soton","oai_identifier":"oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:79438"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/soton/oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:79438","repository":{"repo_id":"soton","name":"University of Southampton","base_url":"https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2"},"display":{"title":"Essays on economic integration among the Gulf Cooperation Council countries","abstract":"This dissertation focuses on three empirical research questions regarding economic<br/>integration among the GCC countries. Chapter 2 presents the first essay, which<br/>addresses the impact of the GCC economic agreements on intra-GCC trade, non-oil<br/>trade in particular as little is known about the scope for increased non-oil trade within<br/>the GCC. The gravity model of bilateral trade flows is applied to explain patterns of<br/>trade, and possible existence of trade creation between members. Understanding the<br/>determining factors of the GCC’s non-oil trade volumes is a practical empirical task,<br/>as diversification of exports a way from natural resources is seen as one of the main<br/>goals of the GCC policies.<br/><br/>The second essay, chapter 3, looks at the determinants of business cycles<br/>synchronization among the GCC countries and their major trading partners. More<br/>specifically, the essay empirically investigates the relationship between trade, patterns<br/>of specialization and financial openness and how they determine the synchronization<br/>of business cycles. These factors will be evaluated in the context of a system of<br/>simultaneous equations approach, which provide an adequate investigation of the<br/>direct as well as indirect impact of trade, specialization, and financial openness on<br/>output synchronization. Analyzing what determines business cycle synchronization is<br/>an important task for a better evaluation of the costs and benefits of adopting the<br/>proposed common currency among GCC members.<br/><br/>Chapter 4 present the last essay, which considers how much income and<br/>consumption smoothing is undertaken by the GCC countries, where an efficient<br/>smoothing of output fluctuations is vital for reducing the impact of asymmetric<br/>shocks, therefore reducing the cost of adopting a common monetary policy. The<br/>empirical approaches are based on decomposing cross-sectional variance in income<br/>within the GCC countries, and will shed light on the channels through which income<br/>and consumption smoothing take place. Furthermore, the essay focuses on the role of<br/>investment portfolio diversification on smoothing income and consumption.","abstract_html":"This dissertation focuses on three empirical research questions regarding economic&lt;br/&gt;integration among the GCC countries. Chapter 2 presents the first essay, which&lt;br/&gt;addresses the impact of the GCC economic agreements on intra-GCC trade, non-oil&lt;br/&gt;trade in particular as little is known about the scope for increased non-oil trade within&lt;br/&gt;the GCC. The gravity model of bilateral trade flows is applied to explain patterns of&lt;br/&gt;trade, and possible existence of trade creation between members. Understanding the&lt;br/&gt;determining factors of the GCC’s non-oil trade volumes is a practical empirical task,&lt;br/&gt;as diversification of exports a way from natural resources is seen as one of the main&lt;br/&gt;goals of the GCC policies.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;The second essay, chapter 3, looks at the determinants of business cycles&lt;br/&gt;synchronization among the GCC countries and their major trading partners. More&lt;br/&gt;specifically, the essay empirically investigates the relationship between trade, patterns&lt;br/&gt;of specialization and financial openness and how they determine the synchronization&lt;br/&gt;of business cycles. These factors will be evaluated in the context of a system of&lt;br/&gt;simultaneous equations approach, which provide an adequate investigation of the&lt;br/&gt;direct as well as indirect impact of trade, specialization, and financial openness on&lt;br/&gt;output synchronization. Analyzing what determines business cycle synchronization is&lt;br/&gt;an important task for a better evaluation of the costs and benefits of adopting the&lt;br/&gt;proposed common currency among GCC members.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Chapter 4 present the last essay, which considers how much income and&lt;br/&gt;consumption smoothing is undertaken by the GCC countries, where an efficient&lt;br/&gt;smoothing of output fluctuations is vital for reducing the impact of asymmetric&lt;br/&gt;shocks, therefore reducing the cost of adopting a common monetary policy. The&lt;br/&gt;empirical approaches are based on decomposing cross-sectional variance in income&lt;br/&gt;within the GCC countries, and will shed light on the channels through which income&lt;br/&gt;and consumption smoothing take place. Furthermore, the essay focuses on the role of&lt;br/&gt;investment portfolio diversification on smoothing income and consumption.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Alsadoun, Nayef Abdullah"],"institution":"University of Southampton","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"doctoral","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Mateos Planas, F.M.","Bluedorn, John"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-08","date_published":"2009-08","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:36:10Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":null,"outbound_label":null,"outbound_source":null},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Mateos Planas, F.M.","Bluedorn, John"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Alsadoun, Nayef Abdullah"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2009-08"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2009-08"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Economics (pre 2011 reorg)","School of Social Sciences"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Southampton"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby","values":["https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/79438/"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["doctoral"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["Ph.D."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/79438/1/Nayef_Alsadoun_PhD_thesis.pdf"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This dissertation focuses on three empirical research questions regarding economic<br/>integration among the GCC countries. Chapter 2 presents the first essay, which<br/>addresses the impact of the GCC economic agreements on intra-GCC trade, non-oil<br/>trade in particular as little is known about the scope for increased non-oil trade within<br/>the GCC. The gravity model of bilateral trade flows is applied to explain patterns of<br/>trade, and possible existence of trade creation between members. Understanding the<br/>determining factors of the GCC’s non-oil trade volumes is a practical empirical task,<br/>as diversification of exports a way from natural resources is seen as one of the main<br/>goals of the GCC policies.<br/><br/>The second essay, chapter 3, looks at the determinants of business cycles<br/>synchronization among the GCC countries and their major trading partners. More<br/>specifically, the essay empirically investigates the relationship between trade, patterns<br/>of specialization and financial openness and how they determine the synchronization<br/>of business cycles. These factors will be evaluated in the context of a system of<br/>simultaneous equations approach, which provide an adequate investigation of the<br/>direct as well as indirect impact of trade, specialization, and financial openness on<br/>output synchronization. Analyzing what determines business cycle synchronization is<br/>an important task for a better evaluation of the costs and benefits of adopting the<br/>proposed common currency among GCC members.<br/><br/>Chapter 4 present the last essay, which considers how much income and<br/>consumption smoothing is undertaken by the GCC countries, where an efficient<br/>smoothing of output fluctuations is vital for reducing the impact of asymmetric<br/>shocks, therefore reducing the cost of adopting a common monetary policy. The<br/>empirical approaches are based on decomposing cross-sectional variance in income<br/>within the GCC countries, and will shed light on the channels through which income<br/>and consumption smoothing take place. Furthermore, the essay focuses on the role of<br/>investment portfolio diversification on smoothing income and consumption."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["text"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Essays on economic integration among the Gulf Cooperation Council countries"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Mateos Planas, F.M.","Bluedorn, John"],"dc:creator":["Alsadoun, Nayef Abdullah"],"dc:date":["2009-08"],"dc:date.issued":["2009-08"],"dc:description.abstract":["This dissertation focuses on three empirical research questions regarding economic<br/>integration among the GCC countries. Chapter 2 presents the first essay, which<br/>addresses the impact of the GCC economic agreements on intra-GCC trade, non-oil<br/>trade in particular as little is known about the scope for increased non-oil trade within<br/>the GCC. The gravity model of bilateral trade flows is applied to explain patterns of<br/>trade, and possible existence of trade creation between members. Understanding the<br/>determining factors of the GCC’s non-oil trade volumes is a practical empirical task,<br/>as diversification of exports a way from natural resources is seen as one of the main<br/>goals of the GCC policies.<br/><br/>The second essay, chapter 3, looks at the determinants of business cycles<br/>synchronization among the GCC countries and their major trading partners. More<br/>specifically, the essay empirically investigates the relationship between trade, patterns<br/>of specialization and financial openness and how they determine the synchronization<br/>of business cycles. These factors will be evaluated in the context of a system of<br/>simultaneous equations approach, which provide an adequate investigation of the<br/>direct as well as indirect impact of trade, specialization, and financial openness on<br/>output synchronization. Analyzing what determines business cycle synchronization is<br/>an important task for a better evaluation of the costs and benefits of adopting the<br/>proposed common currency among GCC members.<br/><br/>Chapter 4 present the last essay, which considers how much income and<br/>consumption smoothing is undertaken by the GCC countries, where an efficient<br/>smoothing of output fluctuations is vital for reducing the impact of asymmetric<br/>shocks, therefore reducing the cost of adopting a common monetary policy. The<br/>empirical approaches are based on decomposing cross-sectional variance in income<br/>within the GCC countries, and will shed light on the channels through which income<br/>and consumption smoothing take place. Furthermore, the essay focuses on the role of<br/>investment portfolio diversification on smoothing income and consumption."],"dc:format":["text"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/79438/1/Nayef_Alsadoun_PhD_thesis.pdf"],"dc:publisher.department":["Economics (pre 2011 reorg)","School of Social Sciences"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Southampton"],"dc:relation.isreferencedby":["https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/79438/"],"dc:title":["Essays on economic integration among the Gulf Cooperation Council countries"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["doctoral"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["Ph.D."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:36:10Z"}