Michael Herb
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801453366
- eISBN:
- 9780801454691
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801453366.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Middle Eastern Politics
This chapter examines the labor markets of Gulf rentiers and their effects on class politics. It begins with an overview the Gulf labor markets in the middling and the extreme rentiers and asks ...
More
This chapter examines the labor markets of Gulf rentiers and their effects on class politics. It begins with an overview the Gulf labor markets in the middling and the extreme rentiers and asks whether taxes levied on the non-oil economy fund public-sector jobs. It then considers the class consequences of labor market reforms, and especially the ways that capitalists seek to drive down the price of (noncitizen) labor. It also discusses four strategies used by Gulf rentiers to increase citizen employment in the private sector: giving citizenship to long-term residents; lowering salaries in the public sector and reducing the number of jobs given to citizens; investing in citizen education; and increasing the cost of expatriate labor.Less
This chapter examines the labor markets of Gulf rentiers and their effects on class politics. It begins with an overview the Gulf labor markets in the middling and the extreme rentiers and asks whether taxes levied on the non-oil economy fund public-sector jobs. It then considers the class consequences of labor market reforms, and especially the ways that capitalists seek to drive down the price of (noncitizen) labor. It also discusses four strategies used by Gulf rentiers to increase citizen employment in the private sector: giving citizenship to long-term residents; lowering salaries in the public sector and reducing the number of jobs given to citizens; investing in citizen education; and increasing the cost of expatriate labor.
Michael Herb
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801453366
- eISBN:
- 9780801454691
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801453366.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Middle Eastern Politics
This book examines the divergent paths followed by Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE): whereas the UAE, led by Dubai, has diversified its economy beyond oil, the Kuwaiti economy remains almost ...
More
This book examines the divergent paths followed by Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE): whereas the UAE, led by Dubai, has diversified its economy beyond oil, the Kuwaiti economy remains almost entirely dependent on oil. It analyzes the distinctive politics and economics of the Gulf monarchies by focusing on how the often-competing interests of rulers, capitalists, citizens, and expatriates take shape in Gulf states with more or less political participation and in those with more or less oil rent per capita. It describes two groups of Gulf rentiers: extreme rentiers (Kuwait, UAE, and Qatar) and middling rentiers (Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Bahrain). It also considers the Kuwaiti National Assembly and how it gives the citizen majority a voice in determining economic policy. Finally, it compares the Dubai model and the Kuwait model of economic development and their influence in the Gulf. In the remainder of this chapter, the literature on the resource curse is discussed, with particular emphasis on how it deals with class politics in really rich rentiers.Less
This book examines the divergent paths followed by Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE): whereas the UAE, led by Dubai, has diversified its economy beyond oil, the Kuwaiti economy remains almost entirely dependent on oil. It analyzes the distinctive politics and economics of the Gulf monarchies by focusing on how the often-competing interests of rulers, capitalists, citizens, and expatriates take shape in Gulf states with more or less political participation and in those with more or less oil rent per capita. It describes two groups of Gulf rentiers: extreme rentiers (Kuwait, UAE, and Qatar) and middling rentiers (Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Bahrain). It also considers the Kuwaiti National Assembly and how it gives the citizen majority a voice in determining economic policy. Finally, it compares the Dubai model and the Kuwait model of economic development and their influence in the Gulf. In the remainder of this chapter, the literature on the resource curse is discussed, with particular emphasis on how it deals with class politics in really rich rentiers.
