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  • Book
  • Open Access
  • © 2021

When Can Oil Economies Be Deemed Sustainable?

Palgrave Macmillan
  • This is an Open Access Book
  • The first systematic discussion of what makes an oil economy sustainable
  • Debunks commonly held notions of what makes an oil economy sustainable
  • Highlights which oil economies are making progress towards sustainability
  • Questions if all oil economies necessarily doomed to fail

Part of the book series: The Political Economy of the Middle East (PEME)

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxi
  2. Introduction: Economic Sustainability of Oil Economies

    • Giacomo Luciani, Tom Moerenhout
    Pages 1-8Open Access
  3. Framing the Economic Sustainability of Oil Economies

    • Giacomo Luciani
    Pages 9-30Open Access
  4. Outlook for Producer Economies

    • Ali Al-Saffar
    Pages 55-71Open Access
  5. Fiscal Sustainability and Hydrocarbon Endowment Per Capita in the GCC

    • Monica Malik, Thirumalai Nagesh
    Pages 215-253Open Access
  6. GCC Fiscal Reforms and Labor Market Policies

    • Monica Malik, Thirumalai Nagesh
    Pages 255-279Open Access
  7. The Sustainability of GCC Development Under the New Global Oil Order

    • Ibrahim A. Elbadawi, Samir Makdisi
    Pages 329-348Open Access
  8. When Can Oil Economies be Deemed Sustainable?

    • Giacomo Luciani, Tom Moerenhout
    Pages 349-365Open Access

About this book

This open access book questions the stereotype depicting all Gulf (GCC) economies as not sustainable, and starts a critical discussion of what these economies and polities should do to guarantee themselves a relatively stable future.


Volatile international oil markets and the acceleration of the energy transition has challenged the notion that oil revenues are sufficient to sustain oil economies in the near to medium term. 
But what is the meaning of economic sustainability? The book discusses the multiple dimensions of the concept: economic diversification, continuing value of resources, taxation and fiscal development, labor market sustainability, sustainable income distribution, environmental sustainability, political order (democracy or authoritarianism) and sustainability, regional integration.


The overarching message in this book is that we should move on from the simplistic branding of the Gulf economies as unsustainable and tackle the details of which adaptations they might need to undertake.






Editors and Affiliations

  • Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland

    Giacomo Luciani

  • Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, New York, USA

    Tom Moerenhout

About the editors

Giacomo Luciani teaches at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, and at the Paris School of International Affairs, Sciences Po in Paris. His edited book “The Rentier State” (1987, with H. Beblawi), is frequently cited as reference for the concept. His latest edited book, “Combining Economic and Political Development” (2017), discusses economic policies to support democratic transitions and is available in open access.


Tom Moerenhout teaches at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and is a scholar at SIPA’s Center on Global Energy Policy. He is involved as a practitioner on energy sector and structural reforms through his work as a consultant for the World Bank, International Institute for Sustainable Development and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, among others.




Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

Softcover Book USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access