Sustainable development: influence of economic decisions taken at the state level in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Abstract

Economic decision making is complex due to a number of factors influencing the process as well as the long term and significant impact of the decisions of the stakeholders. The process is further complicated by the need for governments to seek sustainability in economic, environmental and social areas with pros and cons offered by specialization and diversification options. The research attempted to create a sustainable development model to express how economic growth and regional economic performance are functions of specialization, diversification, government decision making and sustainability, so that it can be used as a guidance for best practice. Competitive Advantage Theory and the Tripod Sustainability Model were adopted in the study to accurately provide guidelines for economic decision making with the aim of achieving sustainable development. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with UAE-based and international experts on sustainable development, diversification and specialization as well as researchers and academic consultants in the area. The results confirmed that economic decisions are sustainable when they enable economies to gain competitive advantage along with sustaining social, economic and environmental aspects. The study developed and validated a conceptual framework. The key good decision making practices revealed, include policy integration, an inter-generational timeframe, economic indicators, analysis, cross-body coordination, governance, review and evaluation and stakeholder involvement. Diversification factors identified include risk management, economic structure, the role of innovation and skills development. Key factors of specialization found include, labour intensive activities, export trade, areas of business and opportunities development. The research confirms various sustainability aspects such as a long term focus on resource management, creating better opportunities for people through enhancing their skills, making people adaptable to changes, offering equal opportunities to people, revising business models to reduce the harmful impact on the environment and using advanced technology for economic, social and environment sustainability. The contribution of effective decision making processes was established from the study in sustainable development through good practices as well as through referring to sustainable development measurements and indicators.

Date of Award	Jul 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bedfordshire
Supervisor	Rodolphe Ocler (Supervisor) & David Crowther (Second supervisor)