Measuring underlying energy efficiency in the GCC countries using a newly constructed dataset

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the intellectual capital (IC) performance of banks in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and to empirically investigate if IC has an impact on financial performance as well as to identify the IC components that may be the drivers of the traditional indicators of bank success.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical data are drawn from banks’ annual reports over the three-year period of 2008 to 2010. Ordinary least squares regression analysis is constructed to examine the relationships between IC and the banks’ financial performance indicators. Pulic’s value-added intellectual coefficient method (VAIC) is applied to measure IC performance.FindingsEmpirical findings, after controlling for bank size and global financial crisis, indicate that IC is positively associated with bank financial performance indicators in all GCC countries. However, when VAIC is split into its three components, the relationships between these components and bank financial performance indicators are varied.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation of this study is the use of IC measurement model. Its basic advantage (simplicity and ease of use) is also its main limitation. The main problem is measuring the contribution of something which is not physical and cannot be easily quantified. The key issue is that the value created by IC is indirect. However, at present, no perfect solution is available for intellectual capital measurement, as the area is still exploring the best possible solutions.Practical implicationsThe results may extend the understanding of the role of IC in banking sector in GCC region and may give inputs to managers of GCC banks to structure relevant strategies to obtain, utilize, develop and retain IC. The findings also could help policy makers in GCC to formulate and implement policies for establishing a resilient banking sector.Originality/valueThis study adds to the literature by extending the knowledge of IC performance and its utilization for increasing the financial performance of GCC banks. There has only been one previous empirical study that explores the IC and its relationship with the traditional measures of bank performance in GCC region (only in Bahrain). It is the first comparative study across GCC countries.

Sickle Cell Health Awareness, Perspectives, and Experiences (SHAPE) Survey: Findings on the Burden of Sickle Cell Disease and Impact on the Quality of Life of Patients and Caregivers in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries

Hydrogen economy for sustainable development in GCC countries: A SWOT analysis considering current situation, challenges, and prospects

India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have age old relations. Indians and people from these countries have frequently travelled to each other’s countries for trade as well as other activities. Indians have been traced in GCC countries for a long time. Indians going to those countries for business, work and other purposes have been a very old phenomenon. Even in pre-oil era, thousands of Indians went to earn a livelihood in GCC countries and many of them settled there forever. However, Indians going to work on a massive scale to these countries is a post-1973 oil era phenomena. The massive inflow of oil revenues consequent to the high rise in global oil price saw unprecedented level of economic development in these countries. However, such development required massive level of manpower, which these countries did not have and this is why these countries are characterized as capital rich labour scarce countries. The economic development in post-1973 oil era in these countries resulted in large scale import of manpower from abroad. As Indians were not new to these lands, the Indian workers also started migrating to these countries in search of employment and better life. Today Indians are present in each sector of economies of GCC countries. Millions of Indian migrant workers abound the GCC countries and contribute their bit in building those economies. However, this benefits them also as well as the Indian economy. These Indian migrant workers are crucial for both Indian as well as GCC countries. This study is a detailed probe into this phenomenon.

To mitigate climate change in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, it is vital to understand how energy is being consumed in the different sectors. The GCC countries rely heavily on fossil fuel to meet the increasing demand for electricity especially from the residential sector. Consumption of fossil fuels has several impacts on the environment including the increase of carbon dioxide, a major contributor to climate change. Several measures exist to reduce electricity demand from the residential sector. These measures range from regulatory, technology, economic and information measures. To achieve successful adoption of these measures, a holistic understanding of the drivers and impacts of the growing trend of residential electricity consumption is required. This paper aims to understand the drivers and impacts resulting from the increase in the residential electricity consumption in Kuwait, one of the GCC countries. A Driving forces-Pressures-State-Impacts-Responses (DPSIR) framework is applied. Several indicators related to the socio-economic factors, energy consumption, energy intensity and carbon intensity are calculated using quantitative data for the period from 2000 to 2015. The results of analysis show that the increase in the residential electricity consumption is mainly driven by population growth and economic development. This has resulted in an increase in the fossil fuel consumption and the consequent CO2 emissions. This paper recommends conducting a residential electricity consumption survey to provide data required to inform decision making on energy saving in Kuwait. This recommendation is also extended to other GCC countries where a regional database can be developed to share experiences related to reducing residential electricity consumption

PurposeThis study objective is twofold. This study aims to present an institutional analysis of the implications of job localization programs in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Further, it highlights the impacts of these programs on the accounting profession.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based primarily on the desktop research method, where data is collected from the review of previous studies, published data on Internet Websites and reports released by International organizations such as the United Nations. In addition, the study benefitted from conducting six interviews with government officials from GCC countries. Theoretically, this study draws upon insights from the institutional logics theory to discern higher-order institutions deriving job localization decisions in the GCC region.FindingsThis paper explained how job localization policies in the GCC region are informed by three central logics: economic, socio-political and professional. Despite contributing to achieving some socio-political goals for policymakers, these policies could have serious consequences for the practice of the professions and, hence, the local business environment. Besides, this paper highlighted the serious localization policies' impacts on the accounting profession, especially the quality of the workforce (accountants) and their job readiness.Practical implicationsThis study highlights the various implications of job localization policies for locals, foreigners, public and private sector entities and governments. Besides, it has recommended some actions to mitigate the negative influences of such policies on the surrounding society.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature by following an interpretative approach in explaining the localization of the accounting profession from an institutional perspective by bringing new evidence from GCC emerging markets.

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to adopt Morlet’s wavelet method to examine the differences in the level of volatility (i.e. riskiness) between the conventional and Shari’ah indexes during the COVID-19 pandemic (February 4 to June 19, 2020) on selected Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN) and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. As a comparison, the equivalent time period of relative tranquillity is used; February 4 to June 19, 2019.Design/methodology/approachMorlet’s wavelet method is used in analyzing the volatility levels for both the conventional and Shari’ah indexes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic for the selected ASEAN and GCC countries.FindingsThis study has several findings; first, the markets in the ASEAN region appear to be more volatile during the pandemic than in the GCC region. Second, most of the Shari’ah indexes were more volatile during the COVID-19 pandemic than their conventional counterparts. Nevertheless, the GCC index pairs appear to show more similarities between both the Shari’ah and conventional index.Practical implicationsThe findings from this study indicate that investors, government, regulators and all other stakeholders should stay vigilant during a pandemic or health threat period as it has become a pertinent source of volatility spillovers. As such, investors should devise optimal asset allocation strategies, portfolio diversification and portfolio rebalancing measures, taking into consideration not only financial adversity but also public health gravity as a potential source of turbulent markets.Originality/valueThis study uses the wavelet method to examine the volatility level of both the Shari’ah and conventional indexes during the COVID-19 pandemic and its equivalent time frame in 2019. It has further added to the Islamic literature by comparing the volatility between selected ASEAN and GCC countries. The wavelet method is most appropriate for short-duration studies as it captures both the time and frequency domains of the time-series behavior.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are located in the driest part of the world with an annual per capita water availability of 500 m3 compared to the world average of 6000 m3. Agricultural water demand, which is more than 80% of the total water consumption, is primarily met through the massive exploitation of groundwater. The enormous imbalance between groundwater discharge (27.8 billion m3) and recharge (5.3 billion m3) is causing the excessive lowering of groundwater levels. Therefore, GCC countries are investing heavily in the production of nonconventional water resources such as desalination of seawater and treated wastewater. Currently, 439 desalination plants are annually producing 5.75 billion m3 of desalinated water in the GCC countries. The annual wastewater collection is about 4.0 billion m3, of which 73% is treated with the help of 300 wastewater treatment plants. Despite extreme water poverty, only 39% of the treated wastewater is reused, and the remaining is discharged into the sea. The treated wastewater (TWW) is used for the landscape, forestry, and construction industries. However, its reuse to irrigate food and forage crops is restricted due to health, social, religious, and environmental concerns. Substantial research evidence exists that treated wastewater can safely be used to grow food and forage crops under the agroclimatic conditions of the GCC countries by adopting appropriate management measures. Therefore, GCC countries should work on increasing the use of TWW in the agriculture sector. Increased use of TWW in agriculture can significantly reduce the pressure on freshwater resources. For this purpose, a comprehensive awareness campaign needs to be initiated to address the social and religious concerns of farming communities and consumers. Several internal and external risks can jeopardize the sustainable use of treated wastewater in the GCC countries. These include climate change, increasing costs, technological and market-driven changes, and regional security issues. Therefore, effective response mechanisms should be developed to mitigate future risks and threats. For this purpose, an integrated approach involving all concerned local and regional stakeholders needs to be adopted.

Climate change is a problem that many municipalities in the world are facing today. Due to the fragile ecosystem, and harsh climates that are experienced by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the region has become vulnerable to a wide variety of ecosystem and climate change issues. Aside from the climate affecting the area severely, its dependence on hydrocarbons, also makes it vulnerable to climate changes. There are climate change policies adopted by the GCC region for prosperous future and sustainability. These include, policies to affect impacts of energy and carbon intensities, response measures being adopted for climate change, the mitigation potentials of the region, along with the suitability of the markets to harness potentials. This analysis focuses on utilizing Marginal Abatement Cost curves, along with econometric techniques that will assess the emissions of Green House Gases (GHGs), the potential for mitigation in the GCC region, and computable general equilibriums that invest the impacts of measures, exploring suitability of instruments that can help to harness the potential mitigation measures for the region. Main policy insights that can be concluded based on the analysis is the role that incentives play to help promote energy efficient mechanics, while reducing emissions of carbon emissions within the region, contributions made to climate policies for air quality, along with the roles that green tax reforms play to help improve the economics of welfare, while pursuing carbon policies for the domestic areas in the region. Globally, there are a lot of energy efficiency policies. The GCC has been witnessing a phenomenal amount of growth when it comes to meeting the needs of domestic households. The region is facing extreme demographic pressure, and as a result has decided to accelerate energy intensive drives. The requirements that the GCC has to meet is causing trade-offs and challenging implications regarding allocation and development of hydrocarbon resources to adhere to domestic and export demands. In conclusion, four issues that have arisen within the GCC in relations to climate change policies have been addressed in this paper. These issues include the rising amounts of energy and carbon intensities, the impacts that the response measures that are being implemented by developed countries have on developing countries, as well as the mitigation potentials that exist within the region, as a method to harness the potentials that are available. Energy efficiency is believed to be a primary candidate to deal with the challenges the GCC is facing. Detailed assessments regarding energy efficiency for the GCC economies is addressed, along with how these intensities relate to outside world economies. This analysis focuses on utilizing Marginal Abatement Cost curves, along with econometric techniques that will assess the emissions of Green House Gases, the potential for mitigation in the GCC region, and Computable General Equilibriums that invest the impacts of measures, exploring suitability of instruments that can help to harness the potential mitigation measures for the region. Main policy insights that can be concluded based on the analysis is the roles that incentives play to help promote energy efficient mechanics, while reducing emissions of carbon emissions within the region, contributions made to climate policies for air quality, along with the roles that green tax reforms play to help improve the economics of welfare, while pursuing carbon policies for the domestic areas in the region. Globally, there are a lot of energy efficiency policies and measures that are being taken. The GCC, which is an acronym for Gulf Cooperative Council, has been witnessing a phenomenal amount of growth when it comes to meeting the needs of domestic households. The region is facing extreme demographic pressure, and as a result have decided to accelerate energy intensive drives. The requirements that the GCC has to meet is causing trade-offs and challenging implications regarding allocation and development of hydrocarbon resources to adhere to domestic and export demands. Energy efficiency is believed to be a primary candidate to deal with the challenges the GCC is facing. Detailed assessments regarding energy efficiency for the GCC economies is addressed, along with how these intensities relate to outside world economies.

This chapter delves into the innovation of blockchain technology and its benefits for advancing the economic growth in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Blockchain technology provides the security and reliability that is required in the GCC region for enhancing the technology acceptance level of its population. Apart from providing security, blockchain technology offers financial efficiency, cost reduction, and the elimination of operational risks. Blockchain technology is equally beneficial for nonfinancial industries, such as the healthcare and education industry of the GCC region. The digital revolution based on blockchain technology is beneficial for GCC countries to shift their economic dependence from oil to innovations driven by technology. This will move the GCC to develop more smart cities as the GCC region has an ample amount of financial and human resources that are required for successful integration of blockchain technology in its numerous industries.

Purpose This study investigates how the Russian invasion of Ukraine affected the stock markets of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in comparison to Europe and explores the varying responses of GCC markets. Design/methodology/approach Using an event study framework, the impact of the Russian invasion on equity markets in Europe and the GCC countries was analyzed by calculating abnormal returns around the event day, February 24, 2022. The study’s null hypothesis posits that abnormal returns on and around the event day are zero. Findings The analysis of abnormal returns revealed a negative impact of the event on both Europe and the GCC countries on the event day. While European markets continued to show negative abnormal returns, GCC markets rebounded with positive abnormal returns. The study also found diverse responses among GCC markets. Originality/value This paper is the first to examine the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the GCC countries and compares the market reactions to a political event in an energy-exporting region versus an energy-importing region. It also highlights the differences in responses among GCC stock markets, which may be influenced by market size and energy exports to Europe.

This study presents a comparative analysis of culture and business systems, focusing on their impact on multinational organizations operating in the United States and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The research aims to explore how cultural dimensions and business systems shape organizational practices, leadership styles and human resource management in these regions. Utilizing a comprehensive review of existing literature, the study draws on established cultural theories, including Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Trompenaars' cultural value orientations and the GLOBE study, to establish a theoretical foundation for understanding cultural diversity. The analysis reveals clear cultural distinctions between the United States and GCC countries, each exhibiting unique cultural characteristics that significantly influence organizational behavior. The United States is characterized by a culture of individualism, innovation and competitive business practices, while the GCC region is defined by collectivism, religious values and hierarchical organizational structures. These cultural differences directly impact management practices, decision-making processes and employee relations within multinational organizations operating in these regions. Key findings emphasize the importance of cultural sensitivity, adaptive leadership and context-specific human resource management in enhancing organizational effectiveness across diverse cultural settings. The study concludes that multinational organizations must develop culturally adaptive strategies, invest in cultural awareness training and foster an inclusive organizational culture to achieve sustainable growth. Organizations are advised to continuously assess their cultural strategies and align their business practices with the cultural and business systems of their host countries. This study contributes to the understanding of the complex relationship between culture and business systems, offering valuable insights for scholars, business leaders and policymakers engaged in the global marketplace.

Research performance of the GCC countries: A comparative analysis of quantity and quality

Groundwater quality levels are currently deteriorating in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries due to excessive surface and subsurface human activities. Agricultural and industrial activities, landfill seepage and seawater intrusion have been attributed to the deterioration of groundwater quality in GCC states. Such a deterioration of groundwater quality could affect water security in the region, including human health and the ecosystem. Therefore, this review aims to identify the key causes of groundwater contamination across the GCC countries from the published literature. In addition, the review summarizes the major components of the groundwater contaminants across the GCC countries. The results have shown that heavy metals, several cations and anions are the leading cause of groundwater pollution. In most cases, the level of metals and ion contaminants exceeds both the local and international water quality standards. The results have observed the presence of high levels of coliform and radioactive elements in groundwater, especially Uranium and Radium, thereby posing additional risk to human health through consumption. Considering the scarcity of freshwater resources in GCC, urgent actions are required from the decision-makers and relevant regulatory bodies to set up and implement long-term mitigation strategies and stringent policies that will protect the groundwater resources from the adverse effects of anthropogenic activities.

This study examines the impact of ownership concentration, board features and external audit on related party transactions (RPTs) of listed firms in four Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, namely Bahrain, KSA, Kuwait and UAE. A sample of 460 firm-year observations was investigated during 2016-2018. Six models of hierarchical multiple regression (HMR) were performed to regress five independent variables (ownership concentration, board size, role duality, board independence, audit quality) on RPTs which include three transactions (key management compensation, due from RP and due to RP). HMR results indicate that ownership concentration, board size and board independence are associated with only one type of RPTs, which is key management compensation by listed firms in GCC countries. However, other types of RPTs are not explained by most of independent variables. Providing practical evidence on listed firms in GCC may provide a new dimension on this part of empirical accounting research and may help in improving governance practices. This research is the first attempt in the Gulf region to investigate the impact of CG mechanisms on RPTs. It makes a unique contribution and enrichment to this area of the accounting research in emerging markets in general and in GCC countries in particular.