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The Palestinian war-torn economy : aid , development and state formation

The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY After almost four decades of occupation, restrictive measures, violent confrontations and warlike conditions continue to dominate economic prospects of the Palestinian territory of the West Bank and Gaza. Setting the Palestinian economy on a path of sustained growth requires understanding the conditions that influenced its long-term development prospects, particularly the structures established after the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and the institutional setup affecting its growth dynamics. Economists and economic historians have long recognized that once structures have been formed, they tend to lock-in a certain evolutionary path. It is therefore important to recognize the adverse " path dependence " of the Palestinian economy formed during the occupation era. Needless to say, conditions of conflict, political instability, an elusive sovereignty and much-promised statehood have taken a growing toll on the ability of the PA to ensure any governance, much less of the corruption-free, best-practice model against which the PA is often measured. Despite the challenge of establishing pre-state apparatuses in the uncertain environment of 1994-2000, the PA with the support of the international community achieved significant progress in creating basic institutional and regulatory frameworks for operating the economy in the areas under its jurisdiction. This interim period has shown that the institutionalization of restrictive measures, in the context of what may be termed a policy of asymmetric containment, has inflicted a heavy toll on the economy. While the current institutional setup does feature some aspects of integration with Israel, these are mainly shaped by the asymmetric containment policy. And though the constraints imposed on the Palestinian economy since 2000 could still subside, their persistence should nevertheless be incorporated into any analysis of development options for its recovery. The economic crisis since 2000 created a widening consensus among Palestinian public and private sector actors on the need for a new development vision to reduce economic dependence on Israel, address the new economic realities generated by the protracted conflict and build public institutions featuring transparency, efficiency and accountability. These concerns along with renewed, though reserved, hopes in the renewal of a peace process …