This study empirically investigates the dynamics of the relationship between import demand and foreign exchange reserves for an oil-rich and high-income developing country, Oman. This study employs the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model to investigate the impact of real income, domestic prices, and foreign exchange reserves on aggregate and disaggregated import demand function. Results reveal that total imports are significantly affected by domestic prices only; whereas, demand for goods import is influenced by income. The level of foreign exchange reserves does not influence import demand function. These findings indicate that currency peg stabilization efforts, foreign asset leakages and varying sources of foreign currency could have weakened the link between foreign reserves and import levels. Considering domestic prices and income, competition and efficient production of local goods and services should be further encouraged, especially concerning ongoing issues like food security. Understanding import dynamics enhances robust import forecasts, international trade planning and policy formulation.

The dramatic increase in the number of uncontrollable wildfires in the United States has become an important policy issue as they threaten valuable forests and human property. The derived stochastic dynamic model of this study is capable of determining optimal fuel treatment timing and level simultaneously and as a function of fire risk and fuel biomass dynamics. This study develops a stochastic dynamic model to evaluate the interaction of fuel treatment decisions for two adjacent landowners under various scenarios of misinformation about fire occurrence and spread. Findings indicate that a landowner tends to free ride on fuel treatment undertaken by his adjacent landowner. However, the study finds that the free riding potential of a landowner could be alleviated to some extent by having a neighboring landowner who is aware of fire spillover effects. In addition, the study reveals that the social cost resultant from free riding behavior is lower that the social cost associated with complete absence of fire externality awareness for both landowners. These findings imply that governments could introduce more effective educational programs to ensure that all landowners are fully aware of cross-parcel benefits of fuel treatment in order to align socially and privately optimal decisions, thus minimizing externality costs.

The growth of tourism in the Middle East suffers from ongoing political unrest and conflicts across the region. While previous studies have discussed the impact of psychological factors and political unrest on the tourism industry in the Arab world at an aggregated level, the role of major and dominant political factors such as perceived risks, media, and neutral diplomatic foreign relations on tourism have not yet been investigated. The objectives of this study are to compare the differences between local and international tourists, in the psychological and political risk factors affecting their loyalty to Oman as a tourist destination; investigate how attitudinal and behavioral loyalty is influenced by tourists’ satisfaction, perceived value, attachment, familiarity, and motivations; and measure the extent to which political factors could mitigate the risk of political instability in the region, thereby enhancing the tourism industry in the case of Oman. This study employed qualitative (descriptive and comparison analyses) and quantitative (multiple regression and ordinal logistic models) techniques in the analyses. Findings reveal that international tourists have developed both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty toward Oman in which its neutrality does matter, despite risk perceptions of the region. International tourists significantly report higher satisfaction than locals’ satisfaction with Oman as a tourism destination. It can be concluded that the psychological factors of Omani tourists have outperformed the risk factors associated with the region. Results are important for decision-makers as they reveal the best practices to increase the quantity and quality of tourists based on their characteristics, knowledge, and behaviors. This study reveals potential reforms to increase re-visitations that contain important implications for tourism agencies and private sectors—improving services around tourism sites; investing in sports, wildlife, and adventure tourism; hiring public relations firms for tourism marketing; eliminating any bureaucracy around investors and businesses and welcoming competition; and enhancing domestic tourism in stimulating the economy during downturns.

A bioeconomic analysis using the Gordon-Schafer surplus production model was conducted on Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta), Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), Kingfish (Scomberomorus commerson), and Indian Oil Sardine (Sardinella longiceps) based on data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Wealth, and Water Resources of Oman from 1990 to 2020. The alignment of biological and economic yields with the ideal fishing efforts needed to attain maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and maximum economic yield (MEY) was considered in order to evaluate the economic efficiency of existing fisheries management. The long-term sustainability of Oman's fisheries is improved by this analysis, which identifies inefficiencies in resource use and suggests viable remedies. Rastrelliger kanagurta exhibited the highest growth rate (r = 0.260), with similar catchability coefficients (q) between R. kanagurta (2.18E-05) and S. commerson (2.93E-05), and T. albacares (8.48E-06) and S. longiceps (8.41E-06). Optimal fishing effort was calculated using the catch per unit effort (CPUE) hypothesis. The effort to achieve maximum sustainable yield (E_MSY) for R. kanagurta, T. albacares, S. commerson, and S. longiceps were estimated at 5982, 6614, 2222, and 6913, respectively. The harvest limit to achieve maximum economic yield (H_MEY) was 9987.41 tons for R. kanagurta, 12928.77 tons for T. albacares, 2267.75 tons for S. commerson, and 135490.31 tons for S. longiceps. A discount rate of 10-20 % was suggested for long-term expansion. The findings aim to guide policymakers in designing sustainable management plans for Oman's fisheries. Stricter fishing rules and the use of industry taxes to control effort levels are two of the study's recommended remedies for overfishing. The objective of these strategies is to maintain long-term sustainability while balancing biological and economic returns, under the supervision of both public and private sector entities.