Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the current state of the knowledge-based economy in two distinctive case studies in the Arab World: Qatar and Lebanon. Based on five aspects of the knowledge-based economy namely: ICT, human capital and education; innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic and institutional regime, we provide a careful view of the obstacles and challenges that Qatar and Lebanon are facing and how this is hindering their transformation to a knowledge-based economy.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology of this research is based on a literature review and information collected through semi-structured interviews with the different stakeholders of the knowledge-based economy in Qatar and Lebanon.

Findings

The research reveals that numerous factors shape the knowledge-based economy in Qatar and Lebanon. In Qatar, the main strength of the knowledge-based economy is the determination of the Qatari government to diversify the economy and the main weaknesses are the shortage of qualified human resources, the fear of failure and the low performance of the innovation system. In Lebanon, the knowledge-based economy is driven by the education system and the entrepreneurship culture, nevertheless the political instability of the country and the weak ICT infrastructure impede its development.

Originality/value

These findings contribute to the clarification and critical analysis of the current state of the knowledge-based economy in Qatar and Lebanon, which would have several policy implications.

中文翻译：

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阿拉伯世界知识经济的现状：卡塔尔和黎巴嫩的案例

目的

本文的目的是在阿拉伯世界的两个不同案例研究中考察知识经济的现状：卡塔尔和黎巴嫩。基于知识经济的五个方面，即：信息通信技术、人力资本和教育；在创新、企业家精神以及经济和体制体制方面，我们仔细审视了卡塔尔和黎巴嫩面临的障碍和挑战，以及这如何阻碍他们向知识型经济转型。

设计/方法/方法

本研究的方法基于文献综述和通过对卡塔尔和黎巴嫩知识经济的不同利益相关者进行半结构化访谈收集的信息。

发现

研究表明，卡塔尔和黎巴嫩的知识型经济受多种因素影响。在卡塔尔，知识经济的主要优势是卡塔尔政府对经济多元化的决心，主要弱点是合格人力资源短缺、对失败的恐惧和创新体系的低绩效。在黎巴嫩，知识经济由教育系统和创业文化驱动，但该国政治不稳定和薄弱的信息通信技术基础设施阻碍了其发展。

原创性/价值

这些发现有助于澄清和批判性分析卡塔尔和黎巴嫩知识经济的现状，这将产生若干政策影响。