World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies

Barcelona, July 19th - 24th 2010

· NOT_DEFINED date: MON 19, 2.30-4.30 pm

· NOT_DEFINED institution: Faculty of Economics, Tlemcen University (Algeria)

· NOT_DEFINED organizer: Benhabib Abderrezak

· NOT_DEFINED language: English/Français

· NOT_DEFINED description: The objective of this panel is to shed some light into the economics of Algeria during its transition to a market oriented economy. Five papers will then be presented covering the following topics: on the effectiveness of fiscal policy in Algeria with an empirical investigation, performance of poverty alleviation policies in Algeria, measuring water-poverty relationship in Algeria using roc curves, the impact of monetary policy on exchange rate in the maghreb countries, and ( in french) crise de l'emploi et informel en Algérie.

Chair: Benhabib Abderrezak, Faculty of Economics, Tlemcen University

Paper presenter: Benbouziane Mohamed, Faculty of Economics, Tlemcen University, “On The Effectiveness of Fiscal Policy in Algeria: An empirical investigation”
For the first paper, the effectiveness of fiscal policy has received great debates in economic literature, and heated clearly by its dual effects within the macroeconomic model and which can be summarized in the crowding-in effects and the crowding-out effects. This paper examines the evolution of the economic performance of the fiscal policy in the Algerian economy during period 1970- 2008, and thus looking for its effectiveness in achieving the desired macroeconomic objectives. To investigate empirically for this effectiveness, we have used an econometric analysis in which we projected some theoretical models to the reality of the Algerian economy.

Paper presenter: Maliki Samir & Benhabib Abderrezak, Faculty of Economics, Tlemcen University, “Measuring Water-Poverty Relationship in Algeria using ROC Curves”
The aim of the third paper is to quantify the subjective poverty of Algerian households by taking into consideration one of the last factors namely water domestic characteristics as the direct focus. We attempt to apply the ROC (receiver operating characteristics) to determine the true poor household through the water factor. This method has the advantage of eliminating the poverty line which is based on monetary factors. The methodology consists of classifying in the first step, the households into two categories, subjective poor and non subjective poor, then in the second step is applied a graded scale; In this case, the responses from the heads of the households are determinant in the scaling process. Finally we introduce the household’s water factors.

Paper presenter: Bouteldja Abdelnacer, Faculty of Economics, Tlemcen University, “The Impact of Monetary Policy on Exchange Rate in the Maghreb Countries”
The aim of the fourth paper is to investigate Dornbush exchange rate overshooting hypothesis in the Maghreb countries. Previous studies used VAR methodologies. However, many of these studies found inconsistent exchange rate effects with overshooting. This disagreement is due, according to Bjornland (2009), to the fact that these studies did not impose restrictions on the interaction between monetary policy and exchange rate in the VAR model. Our work adopts a different approach. In fact, recent studies showed some non linearities in the exchange rate and other monetary variables relationships. In this context, we use a multivariate threshold autoregressive model (MVTAR), developed by Tsay (1998), to examine the overshooting hypothesis. Furthermore, by using generalized impulse response functions (GIRF) generated from the estimated nonlinear model, we examine the real effect of monetary policy on exchange rate.

Paper presenter: Bounoua Choaib, Faculty of Economics, Tlemcen University, ”Crise de l’emploi et informel en Algérie”
The fith paper shows negative aspects of reforms such as high unemployment and a strong informal sector: "En Algérie, en dépit d’une forte libéralisation de l’économie et malgré les progrès enregistrés, cette dernière décennie, dans les divers domaines de l’activité économique, la persistance du chômage et la tendance à la hausse des emplois informels sur le marché de travail deviennent un sujet des plus préoccupants des décideurs algériens. Les réformes économiques en cours n’ont pas permis d’ériger un système productif national dynamique à même de venir à bout des contraintes productives, sociodémographiques permettant une stabilisation de l’emploi et partant une régulation efficace du marché du travail. Le propos de cette communication est de comprendre le pourquoi d’une telle situation en examinant les divers facteurs (démographiques, institutionnels, économiques…) qui ont conduit à cette hétérogénéité croissante du travail."The fith paper shows negative aspects of reforms such as high unemployment and a strong informal sector: "En Algérie, en dépit d’une forte libéralisation de l’économie et malgré les progrès enregistrés, cette dernière décennie, dans les divers domaines de l’activité économique, la persistance du chômage et la tendance à la hausse des emplois informels sur le marché de travail deviennent un sujet des plus préoccupants des décideurs algériens. Les réformes économiques en cours n’ont pas permis d’ériger un système productif national dynamique à même de venir à bout des contraintes productives, sociodémographiques permettant une stabilisation de l’emploi et partant une régulation efficace du marché du travail. Le propos de cette communication est de comprendre le pourquoi d’une telle situation en examinant les divers facteurs (démographiques, institutionnels, économiques…) qui ont conduit à cette hétérogénéité croissante du travail."