Perspectives on Human Capital Development

This book examines human capital development in the Middle East. It focuses on the investment in human capabilities, namely education and health, the two most critical components of growth and development. The book assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the healthcare sector, with particular attention paid to effectiveness of public health policies and services, health expenditure, mortality rates, and psychological effects of the pandemic on the wider society. It also evaluates the pandemic effects on the education sector, more specifically medical education, physical education, emotional effects on students and teachers, method of communications, learning and teaching, and the extent to which digital readiness has minimized these effects. The book reveals the severity of the pandemic on human capabilities in terms of loss of lives, illness, vaccinations, knowledge acquisitions, skills development, and productivity, while providing new insights for governments to deal with similar crises in the future. It uses a variety of research methods and quantitative and qualitative techniques, country case studies, and primary data collected through survey questionnaires, interviews, and official reports to analyse the impact of the pandemic on health and education. The analyses are supported by statistical data and illustrated by tables and figures. Readers, students, researchers, industry practitioners and policy makers will benefit from the new insights offered by a diverse group of 40 professors, researchers, and industry experts from across the Middle East and beyond. Ashraf Mishrif is the founding chair of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry Research Chair for Economic Studies, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. Prior to that he was Associate Professor at King’s College London and taught at several universities in the United Kingdom and the Gulf countries. He also served as Cultural Advisor for the Egyptian Embassy Cultural Bureau in London, Managing Director of the London-based consulting firm EU-Med International, and industrial development consultant, UNIDO, Vienna. He is an expert in economic development and the political economy of the Middle East and has authored more than 90 books, chapters, and peer-reviewed papers, including two volumes on economic diversification and nationalization of the labour market in the GCC.