Abstract
This last chapter summarizes the most important findings from the previous chapters of this book. It places emphasis on fragmentation and scatted decisions as likely sources of economic and social inefficiencies when externalities or interdependencies are present. Coordination, including government interventions, is underlined to be the means for re-establishing economic and social benefits. In this context, new technologies and especially ICTs can be important inputs for better coordination and enhancement of the levels of the overall social benefits. However, further research is needed to identify the levels of causality besides all the factors that influence the access to health, education, and socioeconomic outcomes in different contexts and situations. The economies in the South Mediterranean Countries (SMC), Middle East, and North Africa, besides the Arab countries are shown having to account for further interdependencies between health, education, and the socioeconomic situations. The roles and impacts of ICTs are found to be promising for the achievement of higher socioeconomic performances.
TopFindings And Implications
This part summarizes the most important results attained. Achievements include the results that are directly related to the topic at hand. As fragmentation is most of the time found to be inducing inefficient outcomes in the presence of externalities and interdependencies, coordination is then provided as a corrective measure. While it is recognized in the economic literature, that government intervention is the major way to reduce market failures, coordination in general can re-establish the economic and social optima. However, new technologies can provide important inputs for this coordination.
Emphasis is also placed on the role of local development in relation to the existence of interdependencies and on the central importance of health and education. The need for further transversal and horizontal economic and social policies is also discussed.