The Palestinian Economy: Between Imposed Integration and Voluntary Separation

Offering a comprehensive overview of the Palestinian economy in the West Bank and Gaza, this text focuses upon the features of this economy from the mid-1970s up to the late-1990s. Under Israeli occupation, the Palestinian economy suffered from poorly developed domestic labour and capital markets, and considerable dependence on the highly developed Israeli economy for employment, trade and financial resources. This text analyzes past trends, current conditions and alternative arrangements for the future. A wide range of data is used to present a picture of the Palestinian economy through tables and graphs. The authors propose new institutional arrangements between the Palestinian and Israeli economies - an economic filters plan - which will promote neither total integration nor total separation.