Economic Research Forum (ERF)

Mohamed El-Komi

Author

Mohamed El-Komi
Associate Professor of Economics and Director of BEDMLab, American University in Cairo

Mohamed El-Komi is Associate Professor of Economics at the American University in Cairo. He was also Assistant Professor of Finance and Economics at Durham University, UK, Adjunct Professor of Economics at the University of Texas-Dallas and visiting scholar at James Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. His main areas of research are behavioral/experimental economics and Islamic finance. He was the Deputy Director of the Center for Behavioral Economics and Finance at Durham University. And he is now the Director and founder of the Behavioral and Economic Decision-Making Lab (BEDMLab) at AUC. Mohamed organized several conferences on Islamic finance, behavioral economics and experimental economics and has been the initiator and guest editor of JEBO’s special issues on Islamic finance. Mohamed’s public service career includes being a diplomat until he became minister plenipotentiary. Mohamed has MA from Warwick University, MSc. and Ph.D. from the University of Texas-Dallas.

Content by this Author

The impact of loans and grants on development: Evidence from Egypt

Evaluations of grant programmes have shown that the return to capital is high in developing countries, but the impacts of loans have only been modest. This column, originally published at VoxDev, shows that for microenterprises in Egypt, loans and grants increase incomes similarly, but only among certain recipients.

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The political economy of stalled structural reforms in MENA

There is a persistent pattern to the structural reforms that are required to underpin economic progress in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa: ambitious strategies are announced and partially implemented, but ultimately they are diluted or reversed. This column argues that the repeated stalling of reform is not primarily a failure of economic design. Rather, it reflects deep-seated political economy constraints rooted in rent dependence, elite bargaining and weak institutional credibility. Without addressing these underlying dynamics, reform efforts are likely to remain symbolic rather than transformative.

Untapped talent, unrealised growth: jobs and women in the MENAAP region

Only around one in five women of working age participate in the labour markets of the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan. As this column explains, the region can no longer afford to leave half its human capital underused. Expanding women’s labour force participation is central to growth and resilience in the face of looming demographic change.

Closing the gender gap in political participation in MENA

Women across the Middle East and North Africa participate less than men in politics – not only in political parties and elections, but also in petitions, boycotts, protests and strikes. This column reports evidence from ten countries showing that differences in education, employment and political attitudes explain part of this disparity, yet a significant gender gap remains.

Labour demand and informal employment in Egypt’s manufacturing sector

Egypt’s manufacturing sector faces a dual challenge of weak job creation and persistent informality. Drawing on survey evidence on business behaviour and labour market dynamics, this column explains why job creation is limited and informal work remains such an integral part of how firms organise production. The generation of more formal jobs requires a comprehensive policy approach, one that goes beyond enforcement of labour regulations to reshape the economic environment in which firms and workers make decisions.




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