Essays on economic integration among the Gulf Cooperation Council countries

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.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Ph.D.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Southampton

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Alsadoun, Nayef Abdullah

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Mateos Planas, F.M.
• Bluedorn, John