The textile and clothing industry
The textile and clothing industry has played significant roles in middle eastern economic growth since ancient times. Most of the existing research bases this observation on its continued ability to offer employment, value addition, and foreign exchange. A section of the existing research reports that the textile and clothing industry in the middle east is responsible for the employment of a quarter of the industrial labor force. The governments in the middle eastern states have always absorbed the region’s growing labor force to address unemployment-based issues. The paper presents a proposal that attempts to look at the textile industry’s role in the growth of the middle eastern economy. The proposal is based on the need to analyze the effects of the Global Crisis on the Middle Eastern Textiles and Clothing sector.
The textile industry in the middle eastern context has thrived for quite some time since ancient times. However, with the emergence of various turmoil in the form of economic crisis, the industry has been dwindling and gradual decline over the years. () says that exports that have been subject to the Mediterranean Partnership agreements and Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ) have been affected the most by the recent economic and global crises. () also sites that domestic sales have been on the nose-dive as a result of liberalization and the lack of protection by the agreement. If domestic sales continue to fall due to decline in exports, the industry is likely to experience a significant decline.
Methodological approach
For the methodological approach, I will consider two new data-sets. The two data sets will include a firm questionnaire involving 375 Textile and clothing firms in Middle East and worker-based questionnaire covering 6, 384 Textile and Clothing workers in the region. The firm-based questionnaire will be based on six modules. These modules will include production, basic firm data, employment and exports, sales, future plans and job opportunities, emerging and existing trends after the crisis. Stratified sampling will be used to ensure that exporting and large sized firms exist. The stratified sampling technique will also be used to help offer an overview of the geographical distribution of the firms.
I will base the worker-based questionnaire on five modules. The five modules will include skills and training, basic worker conditions, effects of the crisis, job satisfaction. I will then stratify the sample into four classifications: less than 10 workers, from ten to a hundred, from ten to a thousand and > a thousand workers. 6384 workers will be surveyed. I will also include different readings economic crises the methodological approach. There are different types of economic crises. () sites them as banking crises and panics, currency crises and market freezes. Existing research argue that features emanating from these types of economic crises have been at work and have often interacted with each other to shape different economic events in the, global perspective. From a broad review of the current literature regarding the past crises, it is quite evident that the most significant challenge that faces the economists and the policy markets is the lack of an integrative economic model that can be used to describe and address current economic realities. I will also include Marx’s Labor Theory of value and explain the three ratios. I will look at the rate of profit, the rate of surplus value and the organic composition of profits. In relation to the theory I will also cover the falling rate of profit hypothesis.
To collect data for my exploration, I intend to consult existing journal articles regarding the effect of economic crises on textile on textile industry in Middle eastern economy and the globe to get a clear picture. Examples here include: Impacts of economic crises and reform on the informal textile industry in Middle Eastern Economy by Arif Hasan and Mansoor Raza. I will also include the article: The Impact of World Recession on the Textile and Garment Industries of Middle East and Asia by United National Industrial Development Organization.
These research papers will help me understand the effect of economic crisis and recession in the middle Eastern economy by shading light on issues regarding economic impact related to the export of middle eastern textile and clothing to the US and the EU markets. The articles will also help me understand the indirect effect of the global crises on the middle eastern economy regarding their sales to Japanese market which recently has been affected by the dwindling exports to the US and EU markets and the repercussions emanating from the banking crisis.
Middle east accounts for about a half of the world textile exports. The recent economic crisis has changed some of the aspects of the production and exportation. Use of the references and historical research will help understand the local effects of the economic crises and the current reforms on the textile industry in Middle eastern states at both industrial level and loom-subsector.
References