Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T08:10:34.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

16 - The Arab Economy in Israel

from Part III - Investment in Human Capital, Productivity, and Inequality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2021

By
Nitsa (Kaliner) Kasir  and
Eran Yashiv
Edited by
Avi Ben-Bassat ,
Reuben Gronau  and
Asaf Zussman
Avi Ben-Bassat
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Reuben Gronau
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Asaf Zussman
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Get access

Summary

This chapter surveys the current situation of the Arab economy in Israel and presents an empirical analysis of the barriers facing Arab society. All indicators of the Arab economy in Israel point to inferior outcomes. This situation exacerbates the inherent problems of the Arabs in Israel, who constitute a big minority. The relatively low level of economic development impacts the relations between Jews and Arabs and hinders the creation of an integrated society. A predominant feature of Arab men in Israel is their high concentration in low-skilled and low-paying occupations, while a salient characteristic of Arab women is low labor force participation. The gaps between the Arab and Jewish populations are the result of pre-labor-market barriers to investment in human capital, as well as barriers related to the labor market itself. While the data point to an improvement over time in most domains, significant gaps with respect to the Jewish population persist. We empirically test the relative effects of each of the afore-cited barriers. Key findings include an upward trend over time in barriers to the acquisition of human capital in highly skilled occupations, concurrently with a decrease in labor market barriers in all occupations.

Keywords

Arab economylabor market barriershuman capital barriersdynamics of barriers.
Type
Chapter
Information
The Israeli Economy, 1995–2017
Light and Shadow in a Market Economy
 , pp. 495 - 524
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Asali, M. (2006). Why Do Arabs Earn Less than Jews in Israel? Discussion Paper No. 06.03. Jerusalem: Maurice Falk Institute of Economic Research in Israel.Google Scholar
Bank of Israel (2016). Survey of Adult Skills: General Background. Annual Fiscal Survey and Collection of Research Analyses, 142, 16–20. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Bank of Israel (2017). Bank of Israel Annual Report 2016. Chapter 8, Welfare Issues. Jerusalem: Bank of Israel.Google Scholar
Bar, R., and Zussman, A. (2017). Customer Discrimination: Evidence from Israel. Journal of Labor Economics, 35(4), 1031–1059.Google Scholar
Becker, G. (1957). The Economics of Discrimination. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Caesarea Forum (2010). Arab Employment in Israel: The Challenge of the Israeli Economy. Jerusalem: Israel Democracy Institute. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Central Bureau of Statistics (1994). Key for Transition from the 1972 Classification to the 1994 Classification. Jerusalem. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Central Bureau of Statistics (1994). The Uniform Classification of Occupations 1994, technical publication no. 64. Jerusalem. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Central Bureau of Statistics (2016). Adult Skills in Israel, 2014–15. Special Publication 1640. Jerusalem. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Central Bureau of Statistics (2018a). The Christian Population in Israel: Data to Mark the Christmas Holiday. Press release, November 24, 2018. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Central Bureau of Statistics (2018b). As We Approach 2019 – about 9.0 million residents in the State of Israel. Press release, December 31, 2018. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Central Bureau of Statistics (2019a). The Druse Population of Israel. Press release, April 17, 2019. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Central Bureau of Statistics (2019b). The Muslim Population in Israel: Data to Mark the Festival of the Sacrifice. Press release, August 12, 2019. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Cohen, Y., and Haberfeld, Y. (2007). Development of Gender, Ethnic, and National Earnings Differences in Israel: The Role of Rising Inequality. Social Science Research, 36(2), 654–672.Google Scholar
Council for Higher Education, Planning and Budgeting Committee (2019, September 15). Table 14: Arab Students for Bachelor’s Degree, by Institution type (2000–2018). https://che.org.il/הג-ההשכלה-אודות-סטטיסטיים-נתונים-קצבי/ [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Gharrah, R. ed. (2018). Arab Society in Israel: Population, Society, Economy. Jerusalem: Van Leer Jersusalem Institute.Google Scholar
Halihal, A. (2017). The Population of Israel at the Start of 2017 and Scenarios for Future Population Growth. Paper presented at the Central Bureau of Statistics. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Hsieh, C., Hurst, E., Jones, C. I., and Klenow, P. J. (2019). The Allocation of Talent and U.S. Economic Growth. Econometrica, 87(5), 1439–1474.Google Scholar
Kasir (Kaliner), N., and Peled-Levi, O. (2015). To Search or Not to Search, That Is the Question: On Giving Up Job Search in Israel. Jerusalem: Bank of Israel. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Kasir (Kaliner), N., and Tsachor-Shai, A. (2016). The Current Situation: Economic Development in the Arab, Druse and Circassian Sectors. Givat Haviva: Center for a Shared Society, Givat Haviva. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Kasir (Kaliner), N., and Yashiv, E. (2011). Patterns of Labor Force Participation Among Israeli Arabs. The Israel Economic Review, 9(1), 53–101.Google Scholar
Kasir (Kaliner), N., and Yashiv, E. (2013). Arab Women in the Labor Market in Israel: Characteristics and Policy Measures. The Israel Economic Review, 10(2), 1–41.Google Scholar
Kasir (Kaliner), N., and Yashiv, E. (2014). The Labor Market of Israeli Arabs: Key Features and Policy Solutions. Tel-Aviv University.Google Scholar
Lazarus, A., and Miaari, S. (2015). Does Higher Education Make a Contribution? Mismatch Between Education and Employment in Creating Wage Inequality. Jerusalem: Israel Democracy Institute. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Letter to MK Yaakov Margi, Chairman of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee, January 19, 2016. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Miaari, S., Navuoni, O., and Hattab, N. (2011). Trends in Wage Differences Between Arabs and Jews 1997–2009. Jerusalem: Israel Democracy Institute. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Ministry of Education (2016). Main Findings of the 2015 TIMSS International Research. Jerusalem. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Ministry of Education (2019, July 18). Shkifut Reports. Retrieved from https://shkifut.education.gov.il/national. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Ministry of Finance (2015). Proposed Budget for the Fiscal Year 2015–16 and Introduction, submitted to the 20th Knesset – Higher Education. Jerusalem. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Ministry of Finance, Ministry for Social Equality and the Prime Minister’s Office (2016). Systemic Plan for the Economic Integration of Arab Society by Means of Eliminating Distortions in the Government Allocation Mechanisms. Jerusalem. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Ministry for Social Equality (2016). Report of the Systemic Plan for the Economic Integration of Arab Society. Jerusalem. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Pichtelberg-Bermatz, O., and Greenstein, M. (2015). Daycare Frameworks: Current Trends and Changes over the Past Decade. Research and Economics, Ministry of the Economy. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Roy, A. D. (1951). Some Thoughts on the Distribution of Earnings. Oxford Economic Papers, 3, 135–146.Google Scholar
Shahar, E., (2012). The Effect of Child Care Cost on the Labor Supply of Mothers with Young Children. Discussion Paper 2012.12. Jerusalem: Bank of Israel Research Department.Google Scholar
The State Comptroller (2016). State Measures to Encourage the Integration of the Arab Population in Employment. In Annual Report 66c for 2015 and for the 2014 Fiscal Year. Jerusalem. [Hebrew]Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×