When we examine the lives of geniuses, it often seems that, in addition to their raw brain power, they benefited from fortunate circumstances: being spotted by the right mentor, or going to the right school.
Inevitably, this leaves us wondering how many potential geniuses never realised their potential because they were unlucky. This is a particularly pressing question for the Arab countries, because they seemingly produce fewer geniuses than the rest of the world. What is holding them back?
Many scholars have sought to tackle this vexing issue, and with the economic turmoil in the region rising, the stakes have become higher than ever. Economists investigating innovation have tended to focus on the big picture: what are the determinants of innovation at the level of the economy, and why do countries like South Korea produce so much more cutting-edge research than ethnically similar neighbours, such as North Korea?
These studies have emphasised a variety of macroeconomic factors, such as the legal and regulatory environment; the educational system; colonial heritage; and cultural attitudes toward innovation. Rarely have economists dug deeper into what traits generational innovators - or geniuses -possess, and the specifics of the environments they grow up in, primarily because of a lack of accurate data.
By obtaining highly detailed data on more than one million American inventors, a recent study by Alex Bell (Harvard University), Raj Chetty (Stanford University), Xavier Jaravel (London School of Economics), Neviana Petkova (US Treasury), and John Van Reenen (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) sheds light on the genesis of these innovators, furnishing policymakers all over the world with insights on how to nurture the next batch of Einsteins.
The researchers’ first major finding is an unsurprising one: inventors and innovators tend to be high-ability people, as measured by standardised tests in mathematics and science. However, being high ability is far from sufficient, as many other factors play an important role. This is especially true of women and minorities, who are systematically underrepresented in the ranks of leading innovators, even when they exhibit the requisite innate abilities.
The second major finding is the most illuminating: growing up in close physical proximity to other innovators, in an environment of innovation, is a very strong contributing factor to becoming an innovator. This is reflected even in the domain of the innovation: for example, if you grew up surrounded by people who develop telephone technology, then you are much more likely to become a telephone technology innovator, rather than just a generic one. The researchers deduced this by exploiting highly detailed data on the locations in which these innovators grew up.
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From the perspective of the Arab countries, this suggests that being locked in a negative cycle may be part of the problem that they face. Once a country is able to create pockets of innovation, they can become self-sustaining, by automatically producing the next generation of innovators, often in the very same fields. Conversely, by failing to create effective innovation clusters, especially ones where citizens are the ones doing the innovation and are immersed in it (unlike many of the technology clusters in the Arabian Gulf that are manned by foreign experts), the Arab countries have given the new generation of innovators a much steeper hill to climb to achieve what their global counterparts do.
What does the study imply for policymakers? There are two important takeaways.
First, the study underlines the importance of detecting high-ability people as early as possible, so that they can be furnished with the sort of support that helps them realise their potential. Such schemes definitely exist in the Arab world, but sometimes they are structured around interventions that happen too late in the developmental process. For example, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulla Scholarship Programme is offered to the bright lights at the conclusion of their secondary education when, ideally, those thousands of dollars would have been better spent prior to the applicants’ tenth birthdays.
Second, the interventions should place higher emphasis on exposure to innovation, rather than simply focusing on the traditional disciplines. This is especially true of women, both on egalitarian grounds and also because they represent one of the Arab world’s most under-deployed resources. While the researchers are unable to definitively point to specific programmes that deliver the desired results, they speculate that mentoring by current inventors and internships at local companies are likely to be effective tools for transforming potential Einsteins into actual ones.
During Islam’s Golden Era, when innovation was omnipresent across the Middle East, Europe suffered a protracted period of relative intellectual stagnation, termed the “Dark Ages”. Its emergence from this quagmire, and eventual transition into one of the greatest drivers of innovation in human history, was not down to any biological transformation. Instead, it was caused by changes in the way society made use of the human resources available.
Middle Eastern societies need to remind themselves that intelligent systems for getting the best out of their people are all that stands between them and more Nobel prizes.
Omar Al-Ubaydli (@omareconomics) is a researcher at Derasat, Bahrain.
WHAT%20IS%20THE%20LICENSING%20PROCESS%20FOR%20VARA%3F
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
'I Want You Back'
Director:Jason Orley
Stars:Jenny Slate, Charlie Day
Rating:4/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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RESULTS
5pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Racing Festival Purebred Arabian Cup Conditions (PA) Dh 200,000 (Turf) 1,600m
Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Abdallah Al Hammadi (trainer)
5.30pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Cup Conditions (PA) Dh 200,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: Winked, Connor Beasley, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Cup Listed (TB) Dh 380,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: Boerhan, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard
6.30pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Group 3 (PA) Dh 500,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Jewel Crown Group 1 (PA) Dh 5,000,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Messi, Pat Dobbs, Timo Keersmaekers
7.30pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Racing Festival Handicap (PA) Dh 150,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Harrab, Ryan Curatolo, Jean de Roualle
8pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 100,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: AF Alareeq, Connor Beasley, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
