Abstract
This article discusses the political economy of state–business relations in the oil monarchies of the Arabian Peninsula. It explains the unusual position of the Gulf business class: GCC merchants are capital-rich and well established, yet they have become structurally isolated in the oil age, as their levels of state dependence are high and they have lost organic linkages to local citizens, since they pay almost no taxes and employ mostly foreigners. Historical and comparative dimensions of this setup are highlighted.
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Hertog, S. (2018). Business Politics in the Gulf. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_2899
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_2899
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