Economic Research Forum (ERF)

Alessia Lo Turco

Author

Alessia Lo Turco
Associate Professor of Economics, Università Politecnica delle Marche

Alessia Lo Turco is Associate Professor of Economics at the Università Politecnica delle Marche (Ancona, Italy). Her research work has focussed on trade, firm production and innovation dynamics and on the labour market effects of international trade. Her latest publications include articles in Journal of Comparative Economics, Economic Journal, Journal of Development Economics and Journal of Economic Geography.

Content by this Author

Religion as a catalyst for trade: evidence from Turkish exports

Does religious affinity help firms to get access to foreign markets? This column reports evidence that sharing Islamic beliefs with potential customers abroad eases the first-time access to export markets of manufacturing firms active in Turkey. The nexus between religiosity and trade may help to explain the recent tightening of Turkey’s trading relationship with the Muslim world – and between Muslim-majority countries more generally.

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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