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Jordan.

Jordan. At A Glance. Population: 6.4 Million Government: Constitutional Monarchy King: Abdullah II Prime Minister: Samir Rifai. Geography and Demographics. 75% desert Historical Impact 45% live in largest 5 cities Compared with 8% in the US Mostly Arab Islam is the dominant religion

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Jordan.

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  1. Jordan.

  2. At A Glance • Population: 6.4 Million • Government: Constitutional Monarchy • King: Abdullah II • Prime Minister: Samir Rifai

  3. Geography and Demographics • 75% desert • Historical Impact • 45% live in largest 5 cities • Compared with 8% in the US • Mostly Arab • Islam is the dominant religion • Arabic is spoken most frequently, English is language of commerce

  4. Ancient Economic History • Geography • Mostly desert • Next to the River Jordan • Few Cities • Bedouin Population

  5. Moving into the Modern Age • Ottoman Empire (1867-End of WWI) • Security • Formation of cities • Migration of merchants Increase in Demand for Wheat Immigration from Palestine Merchants Hijaz Railway Expanded to Amman

  6. The Modern Era • British Control post-WWI • Less Authoritarian (No Oil) • Glubb “Pasha” • World War II and Independence • Relatively Peaceful • King Hussein (1952-1999) • Relationship with Israel/US • His friend Sadaam Economic Collapse Post-Gulf War • IMF Intervention

  7. An Economic Intepretation • Rent-Seeking Economy • Lack of Oil • Role of Aid • Lack of Resources • Little role in the “market for concessions” • Not that interesting to colonizers • Economic Needs Dictated Treaties and Political History • Collapse and successful policies of the IMF and World Bank

  8. Contemporary Politics In Jordan Rated "Not Free" in 2010 by Freedom House • Began having free and fair elections in 1989 with mostly steady improvement • Rated highly in the ME in terms of freedom of the press and control of corruption • Tension between Palestinian and Jordanian segments of population • Peace with Israel

  9. Human Development Index Ranking (2010) • Rank: 82 (High) • Life expectancy: 73.1 years • Mean years of schooling: 8.6 • GDP per-capita rank minus HDI rank: 10 • Gender Inequality Index Rank: 76

  10. As expected…

  11. Economic Liberalization • Started with influence of IMF and World Bank • Decreasing Public Expenditures

  12. Present Human Capital Concerns • High Education, Low Job Growth

  13. Progressive education reforms have increased access and enrollment • But misalignment remains between education and career opportunities • “While some reforms have been undertaken to change curricula away from rote learning, the Tawjihi exam is still not designed to measure critical or independent thinking or to test student’s aptitudes for different courses of study within the higher education system. For example, students who earn an ‘A+’ score are directed toward medicine; students who earn an ‘A-’ score are directed toward engineering; and students who earn a ‘D-’ are directed toward the study of sharia law.” • (Kanaan & Hanania, 2009)

  14. TIMSS • 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study • Jordan highest science score in Middle East, second highest in Math • High numbers of students achieved high benchmark scores • Jordan on par with Scotland • Ahead of Italy, Turkey, and Ukraine • Average score for females 20 points higher than for males • Structural Problems in Education similar to rest of ME – Expansion of Public Sector leads to more education, not necessarily skill formation

  15. Youth Unemployment at 30% • Severe for highly educated Jordanians (Bachelor’s degree or higher) • 18% for young men, 49% for young women • Jobless economic growth • High reservation wage • Caused in part by large influx of remittances entering the country • Youth unwilling to work domestically for lower pay • Businesses higher cheap foreign labor instead of Jordanian workers

  16. National Youth Strategy • Launched in 2005 • 3 Objectives: • Institutional reform • Balancing macroeconomic stability and economic growth with social equity and youth empowerment • Broaden opportunities for knowledge acquisition and continuous learning for youth • Encourage & institutionalize youth participation in government & civil society

  17. References • CIA World Factbook, 2010 • Robins, Philip, 2004, A History of Jordan • Kanaan, Taher and May Hanania, 2009, The Disconnect between Education, Job Growth, and Employment in Jordan • US Census Bureau International Data Base, 2010 • World dataBank, 2010

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