In the recent years the “black economy” has held immense
attraction for academics as well as policy-makers. This is because the
presence of the black economy is responsible for distortions in the
official estimates of macro-economic variables like income generation,
employment, rate of inflation, etc., and thus the possible effect on the
economic policies cannot be ascertained properly. It, therefore, becomes
imperative to investigate this area of research. Researchers have
defined the underground economy in alternative ways. The underground
economy defined by varied names like black, shadow, hidden, informal,
clandestine, second, parallel economy has been divided in four
categories for the use of a standard basis of classification [Feige
(1990)].
<p class="Default">Date sector is a considerate sector worldwide with an estimated trade value equivalent to about 3.72 billion Saudi Riyals (SR) in 2013. Enhancing marketing efficiency of dates becomes imperative to nations that date sector has a special status in their economies and social heritage such that of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.</p><p class="Default">This research paper is targeted to estimate the marketing efficiency of dates at different marketing channels qualitatively using a typical five level LIKERT scale and quantitatively using the Two-Stage Data Envelopment Analysis (2s DEA), to estimate the potential economic impact of improving marketing efficiency on the date marketing channels and on the national economy, and to introduce a set of policies and mechanisms that enhance the competitiveness of the Saudi dates at the local and international markets.</p>The estimated results showed that the total market value of the Saudi dates is about 22.65 billion SR annually, and there is a great potential to improve date marketing efficiency to achieve an additional 30 per cent of value added to traders and the national economy, equivalent to about 6.88 billion SR annually. The research paper concluded with a set of policies and mechanisms to enhance the marketing efficiency and the competitiveness of the Saudi dates at the local and international markets.
is pursuing a PhD at the Graduate School of Environment, Macquarie University. I would like to thank Professor DJ. Thampapillai, Graduate School of Environment, Macquarie University, Dr J.A. Doeleman, Visiting Lecturer, Graduate School of Environment, Macquarie University, Ms Seeme Mallick and Ms Robin Coombes, Library, Macquarie University for their useful comments and suggestions.55 1. The net revenue from sales of a natural resource is divided into user cost and value added.The user cost represents the capital element of the natural resource. It is the difference between the value of the resource-extracted (R) and total income (X). For estimating the user cost, a discount rate (r) and the time period over which the natural resource will be used (t) need to be determined (Ahmed et al, 1989) Environmental Depreciation=(R-X] = W(l +r)'+'
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.