ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION: THE CASE OF SAUDI ARABIA WITH REFERENCE TO RICH NATURAL RESOURCE COUNTRIES

Author

Raed Ali algowear almestneer, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleFollow

Date of Award

5-1-2018

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Economics

First Advisor

Gilbert, Scott

Abstract

The first chapter aims at investigating the factors that might reduce the Saudi Arabia’s dependence on Crude oil as the only source of income and therefore diversifying its source of revenue. The research will achieve this by constructing the first tailored diversification model of the Saudi Arabian Economy. The aim of second chapter is to ascertain the sectors that are either positively or negatively influenced or affected the most by trade liberalization or the openness of trade. Knowing this we provide more rationale in designing the Kingdom’s trade policies and one step forward to diversify the Saudi’s economy by stimulating those non-oil sectors through trade openness. Furthermore, through this analysis we could determine the economic sectors that might be negatively affected by trade openness. Therefore, imposing more protective trade policies that reduce trade liberalization on those negatively affected sectors. The third chapter’s objective is to confirm whether rich natural resource countries adapt the same non- parametric estimation results produced by Imb & Wacziarg (2003). Indeed, it will be interesting to investigate whether natural resource countries will have a u shape relationship between their level of diversification and their per capita revenue as it has been estimated and observe d by Imbs &Wacziarg (2003).