IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/10090.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

From #Hashtags to Legislation : Engagement and Support for Economic Reforms in the GulfCooperation Council Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Arezki,Rabah
  • Belmejdoub,Oussama
  • Diab,Bilal
  • Kalla,Samira
  • Ha Nguyen
  • Saif,Abdulla Fahed Abdulla Ali
  • Yotzov,Ivan Victorov

Abstract

Ownership of reforms by citizens is often presented as important for success. This paperexplores media engagement and support for economic reforms in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries using textanalysis techniques on publicly available sources. The results show that while reform efforts have intensified inrecent years in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, these efforts tend to focus on stronger rather than weakerpolicy areas, potentially limiting the growth-enhancing effect of reforms. Social media analysis using Twitter showsthat the population's support for reforms has been declining. The analysis of traditional news media points tomore engagement by international than by local media. However, sentiment from international media is less positiveabout economic reforms in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Sentiment in international media and social mediamatters, as evidenced by its positive and strong correlation with foreign direct investment inflows into the GulfCooperation Council countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Arezki,Rabah & Belmejdoub,Oussama & Diab,Bilal & Kalla,Samira & Ha Nguyen & Saif,Abdulla Fahed Abdulla Ali & Yotzov,Ivan Victorov, 2022. "From #Hashtags to Legislation : Engagement and Support for Economic Reforms in the GulfCooperation Council Countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10090, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10090
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099533106152219543/pdf/IDU0ab424d070347e0498f0b52208fdff6c39f1f.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mouna Gammoudi & Mondher Cherif, 2016. "Capital Account Openness, Political Institutions And Fdi In Mena Region: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 41(2), pages 53-76, June.
    2. Simplice Asongu & Uduak S. Akpan & Salisu R. Isihak, 2018. "Determinants of foreign direct investment in fast-growing economies: evidence from the BRICS and MINT countries," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 4(1), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Sebastian Edwards, 2009. "Sequencing of Reforms, Financial Globalization, and Macroeconomic Vulnerability," NBER Chapters, in: Financial Globalization, 20th Anniversary Conference, NBER-TCER-CEPR, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Leonardo Bursztyn & Georgy Egorov & Ruben Enikolopov & Maria Petrova, 2019. "Social Media and Xenophobia: Evidence from Russia," NBER Working Papers 26567, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Paola Giuliano & Prachi Mishra & Antonio Spilimbergo, 2013. "Democracy and Reforms: Evidence from a New Dataset," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(4), pages 179-204, October.
    6. Rabah Arezki & Markus Brückner, 2012. "Commodity Windfalls, Democracy and External Debt," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 122(561), pages 848-866, June.
    7. Andrew Feltenstein & Saleh M. Nsouli, 2003. ""Big Bang" Versus Gradualism in Economic Reforms: An Intertemporal Analysis with an Application to China," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 50(3), pages 1-6.
    8. Islam,Asif Mohammed & Lederman,Daniel, 2020. "Data Transparency and Long-Run Growth," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9493, The World Bank.
    9. Karsten Müller & Carlo Schwarz, 2021. "Fanning the Flames of Hate: Social Media and Hate Crime [Radio and the Rise of The Nazis in Prewar Germany]," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(4), pages 2131-2167.
    10. Besley, Timothy & Fetzer, Thiemo & Mueller, Hannes, 2019. "Terror and Tourism : The Economic Consequences of Media Coverage," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1235, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    11. Edwards, Sebastian, 2009. "Sequencing of reforms, financial globalization, and macroeconomic vulnerability," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 131-148, June.
    12. Stefano DellaVigna & Eliana La Ferrara, 2015. "Economic and Social Impacts of the Media," NBER Working Papers 21360, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Alberto Alesina & Davide Furceri & Jonathan D Ostry & Chris Papageorgiou & Dennis P Quinn, 2024. "Structural Reforms and Elections: Evidence from a World-Wide New Dataset," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 22(4), pages 1936-1980.
    14. Matthew Gentzkow & Jesse M. Shapiro, 2010. "What Drives Media Slant? Evidence From U.S. Daily Newspapers," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 78(1), pages 35-71, January.
    15. Ruben Enikolopov & Alexey Makarin & Maria Petrova, 2020. "Social Media and Protest Participation: Evidence From Russia," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(4), pages 1479-1514, July.
    16. Simeon Djankov, 2016. "The Doing Business Project: How It Started: Correspondence," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(1), pages 247-248, Winter.
    17. Alessandro Prati & Massimiliano Gaetano Onorato & Chris Papageorgiou, 2013. "Which Reforms Work and under What Institutional Environment? Evidence from a New Data Set on Structural Reforms," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(3), pages 946-968, July.
    18. Dani Rodrik, 2010. "Diagnostics before Prescription," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(3), pages 33-44, Summer.
    19. Johannes Binswanger & Manuel Oechslin, 2015. "Disagreement and Learning about Reforms," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 0(584), pages 853-886, May.
    20. Fernandez, Raquel & Rodrik, Dani, 1991. "Resistance to Reform: Status Quo Bias in the Presence of Individual-Specific Uncertainty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(5), pages 1146-1155, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Thomas Fujiwara & Karsten Müller & Carlo Schwarz, 2021. "The Effect of Social Media on Elections: Evidence from the United States," NBER Working Papers 28849, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Thomas Fujiwara & Karsten Müller & Carlo Schwarz, 2024. "The Effect of Social Media on Elections: Evidence from The United States," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 22(3), pages 1495-1539.
    3. Tolga Aksoy, 2016. "The Political Economy Of Structural Reforms," Ekonomi-tek - International Economics Journal, Turkish Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 25-69, January.
    4. Nan Li & Chris Papageorgiou & Tao Zha, 2021. "The S-curve: Understanding the Dynamics of Worldwide Financial Liberalization," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2021-19, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    5. Niklas Potrafke & Felix Roesel, 2022. "Online Versus Offline: Which Networks Spur Protests?," CESifo Working Paper Series 9969, CESifo.
    6. Ekaterina Zhuravskaya & Maria Petrova & Ruben Enikolopov, 2020. "Political Effects of the Internet and Social Media," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 12(1), pages 415-438, August.
    7. Marco Manacorda & Guido Tabellini & Andrea Tesei, 2022. "Mobile internet and the rise of political tribalism in Europe," CEP Discussion Papers dp1877, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    8. Tähtinen, Tuuli, 2024. "When Facebook Is the Internet: The Role of Social Media in Ethnic Conflict," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    9. Bonfiglioli, Alessandra & Gancia, Gino, 2015. "Economic Uncertainty and Structural Reforms," CEPR Discussion Papers 10937, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Binswanger, Johannes & Oechslin, Manuel, 2020. "Better statistics, better economic policies?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    11. Marco Manacorda & Guido Tabellini & Andrea Tesei, 2022. "Mobile Internet and the Rise of Communitarian Politics," CESifo Working Paper Series 9955, CESifo.
    12. Alex Armand & Paul Atwell & Joseph F. Gomes & Yannik Schenk, 2023. "It’s a Bird, it’s a Plane, it’s Superman! Using Mass Media to fight Intolerance," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2023012, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    13. Xinming Du, 2023. "Symptom or Culprit? Social Media, Air Pollution, and Violence," CESifo Working Paper Series 10296, CESifo.
    14. Geraci, Andrea & Nardotto, Mattia & Reggiani, Tommaso & Sabatini, Fabio, 2022. "Broadband Internet and social capital," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    15. Hunt Allcott & Luca Braghieri & Sarah Eichmeyer & Matthew Gentzkow, 2020. "The Welfare Effects of Social Media," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(3), pages 629-676, March.
    16. Tolga Aksoy, 2019. "Structural reforms and growth in developing countries," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 22(4), pages 325-350, October.
    17. Leonardo Bursztyn & Aakaash Rao & Christopher Roth & David Yanagizawa-Drott, 2020. "Misinformation During a Pandemic," Working Papers 2020-44, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    18. Arezki,Rabah & Djankov,Simeon & Nguyen,Ha Minh & Yotzov,Ivan Victorov, 2020. "Reform Chatter and Democracy," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9319, The World Bank.
    19. Garz, Marcel & Sörensen, Jil & Stone, Daniel F., 2020. "Partisan selective engagement: Evidence from Facebook," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 91-108.
    20. Marco Grotteria & Max Miller & S.Lakshmi Naaraayanan, 2024. "Foreign influence in US politics," Discussion Papers 2024-12, Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP).

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10090. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Roula I. Yazigi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.