Azerbaijan: legal status of business entities
Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to investigate the legal status of business entities in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Azeri government intends to establish a suitable environment for local and foreign companies working in the country.Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a scientific investigation aimed at discovering and interpreting facts related to legal entities in the Azeri context. The goal of the research process is to produce new knowledge, through the exploratory research, which structures and identifies new problems, and the constructive research, which develops solutions to a problem.Findings – The main finding is that constructing the legal entities within the legal frameworks and in compliance with the European standards play a substantial role in overall economic growth and in attracting foreign investments in the local economy as well as in implementing measures for continuing economic reforms, further improving business climate and developing the non‐oil sector in line w...
The effect of business environment on trade in Gulf Cooperation Council countries
Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the effect of business environment indicators (time required to start a business, time required to register a property, time required to enforce a contract, and time to resolve insolvency) on trade in a sample of four Gulf Co‐operation Council (GCC) countries: Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates.Design/methodology/approach – The methodology included in this paper is based on a regression analysis of annual data on trade and business environment indicators for the 2003‐2009 period. The data are pooled across the four countries. The empirical analysis uses the fixed effects estimation procedure as this is considered to be the most appropriate given the nature of the available data and sample countries.Findings – The results obtained through fixed effects estimation provide strong evidence that the time required to start a business and time required to resolve insolvencies is negatively and statistically significantly correlated with imports. The find...
Authoritarianism in Central Asia: Curse or cure?
The former Soviet republics of Central Asia-Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan-have largely resisted the movement toward democracy that has swept over other former communist states. Many factors can account for this: low levels of economic development, traditional culture, weak civil societies, the leading-role of the old nomenklatura in these new states, and ethnic cleavages. The larger question is what effect continued authoritarianism will have in these states. Should such governments be condemned as 'backwards' or do they serve a function, such as state-building, maintenance of inter-ethnic peace, or facilitators of economic growth? This article argues that the regimes of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, on balance, do serve a positive purpose, preserving order and discouraging expression of radical nationalism. On the other hand, success for democracy in these countries is far from likely, and limited democratic experience in Kyrgyzstan shows that it can exacerbate...