Economic Research Forum (ERF)

Pinar Ceylan

Author

Pinar Ceylan
ERC Postdoctoral Researcher, Ghent University

Pinar Ceylan is an economic historian specializing in Ottoman economic and rural history. She is currently an ERC Postdoctoral Researcher at Ghent University. Previously, she held postdoctoral positions at Humboldt University and Ghent University, supported by prestigious fellowships, including the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. She earned her PhD from the London School of Economics, where she examined markets, prices, and consumption in the Ottoman Empire from the late 17th to mid-19th centuries. Her current research focuses on market integration, rural inequality in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the long-term trajectory of Ottoman waqfs. Ceylan’s work has been published in leading journals such as The Economic History Review and Agricultural History Review, and she has contributed to major edited volumes and policy reports. Beyond academia, she has been actively involved in civil society initiatives, particularly in human rights and sustainable agriculture.

Content by this Author

Market integration in the Middle East and the Balkans, 1560-1914

Trade has re-emerged as a central issue in global policy debates, as governments debate not only the costs and benefits of trade, but also the underlying determinants of market integration. To inform the discussion, this column reports new research evidence on the experiences of the former Ottoman territories in the Middle East and the Balkans over nearly four centuries, tracing the evolution, drivers and consequences of trade integration across these regions.

Most read

Beyond job creation: how can Egypt’s gender gap in work be closed?

More than 2 million jobs are needed each year to absorb new entrants into Egypt’s labour market and raise the country’s employment rate. The job challenge is even more acute for women, whose labour force participation remains low despite recent gains in education. This column reports on the second Development Dialogue, an ERF–World Bank Group joint initiative, which brought together students, scholars, policy-makers and private sector leaders at the American University in Cairo to consider how the country’s gender gap in work can be closed.

Digitalisation, global value chains and regional integration in MENA & SSA

Participation in global value chains is vital for countries pursuing structural transformation and inclusive economic development. This column summarises new evidence on how much production processes have been globalised in Africa and the Middle East relative to other regions; whether this process has taken place with partners within or outside the region; and whether it has taken place more in manufacturing or services.

The political economy of algorithms in the Middle East

The Middle East is entering a new political-economic era – one in which algorithms, data and artificial intelligence may become as strategically important as oil once was. Across the region, governments are investing heavily in digital infrastructure, smart governance and AI-driven economic transformation. This column outlines how AI and algorithmic governance are reshaping power, inequality and state capacity in the region.

How trade policy can reduce MENA’s cereal import vulnerability

Heavy dependence on imported cereals, combined with climate change, water scarcity and geopolitical uncertainty, continues to threaten food resilience across MENA. This column explains how an inclusive trade policy can play a key role in making the region’s food security less vulnerable to shocks.




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