Despite being a fixture of everyday life in the Arab world, wasta, which may be thought of as special influence by members of the same group or tribe, has received little attention from social scientists. Our casual empiricism suggests that wasta is an important determinant of how economic...

Women in Muslim countries lag way behind their counterparts in non-Muslim countries in terms of participation in the labor force. Among many explanations as to why this is the case, religion, in particular, is stated to bear the responsibility. However, a vast amount of research shows that...

We examine the effect of remittance outflows on inflation in the remitting countries. The growth of remittance outflows depresses inflation rate.

The growth in the number and in the size of remittances and the stability of these monetary transfers have made them a prime target for policymakers. Because remittance flows go directly to households in emigrants' home countries, one has to wonder about their effects on household...

An investigation into the labor force in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries primarily focusing on labor migration and remittances. The GCC countries have the highest share of foreign labor in the world. The authors examine the multidimensional aspects of such a large foreign population.