Eleftherios Giovanis

Associate Professor of Economics, Department of International Trade and Business, Izmir Bakircay University

Eleftherios Giovanis studied economics at the University of Thessaly. He completed the M.Sc. in Applied Economics and Finance at the University of Macedonia and the M.Sc. in Quality Assurance at the Hellenic Open University in 2009. He completed his PhD in economics at the Royal Holloway University of London. He was awarded the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research Individual Fellowship at the University of Verona in 2015 and worked as an assistant professor in economics at Adnan Menderes University in 2017. He worked as a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the Manchester Metropolitan University from January 2018 to January 2021. He was a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow at the Adnan Menderes University between October 2019 and October 2021. Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Department of International Trade and Business at Izmir Bakircay University. He carried out projects funded by the European Commission, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), and the Economic Research Forum (ERF).

The impact of climate change and resource scarcity on conflict in MENA

The interrelationships between climate change, food production, economic instability and violent conflict have become increasingly relevant in recent decades, with climate-induced economic shocks intensifying social and political tensions, particularly in resource-constrained regions like MENA. This column reports new evidence on the impact of climate change on economic and food production outcomes – and how economic stability, agricultural productivity and shared water resources affect conflict. While international aid, economic growth and food security reduce the likelihood of conflict, resource scarcity and shared water basins contribute to high risks of conflict.

Intimate partner violence: the impact on women’s empowerment in Egypt

Although intimate partner violence is a well-documented and widely recognised problem, empirical research on its prevalence and impact is scarce in developing countries, including those in the Middle East and North Africa. This column reports evidence from a study of intra-household disparities in Egypt, taking account of attitudes toward gender roles, women’s ownership of assets, and the domestic violence that wives may experience from their husbands.

Tackling multidimensional poverty in MENA

What does most recent multidimensional poverty assessment of the Middle East and North Africa reveal about health, education, living standards and social security in the region. This column outlines the evidence and potential policy responses.

The role of state-business relations in employment growth

Improving the quality of the relationship between the private and public sectors in MENA countries is a strategy that is likely to enhance job creation and broader economic development. This column reports firm-level evidence from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys of Egypt and Turkey, which shows that political instability, high tax rates, poor electricity infrastructure and inadequate access to finance and credit are the key elements of state-business relations that are constraining employment growth.

State-business relations: the impact on firm performance and growth

Business and productivity
November 26, 2018

Resource reallocation from low to high productivity firms can generate large aggregate productivity gains with further potential benefits for growth. This column reports evidence on productivity and resource misallocation in a sample of firms in Egypt, Turkey and Yemen from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys. The main focus is on state-business relations and the impact on firm performance and economic growth.

The bargaining power of disabled wives: evidence from Iraq

The rate of labour force participation of women in MENA countries remains lower than in any other part of the world – and it is even lower for women with disabilities. This column reports evidence from Iraq of the impact of disability on the bargaining power of wives within their households.

Healthcare reform in Turkey: achievements and challenges

Healthcare reforms in Turkey have aimed to reduce the potentially heavy burden of ‘out-of-pocket’ payments on household resources and to provide health insurance for the poor. This column outlines the policies, their impact and some of the future challenges for policy-makers.

Egypt’s most urgent priority is creating more and better jobs for its growing youth population. This column reports on the first Development Dialogue, an ERF–World Bank joint initiative, which brought together students, scholars, policy-makers and private sector leaders at Cairo University to confront the country’s labour market challenge. The conversation explored why youth inclusion matters, what the data show and how dialogue and the forthcoming Country Economic Memorandum can inform practical pathways to accelerate job creation.

Preparing youth for the workforce of the future

As economies undergo rapid digital and green transformations, young people face a growing mismatch between their skills and what the modern labour market needs. This column argues that enabling youth to compete in the workforce of the future requires systemic reforms in education, skills formation and labour market institutions, especially in developing economies.

Connectivity and conflict: understanding the risks of inequality in the Middle East

While high inequality does not always lead to conflict, new research reported in this column shows that widespread internet access acts as a catalyst, transforming economic grievances into political instability. For policy-makers in the Middle East and North Africa, this means that as digital connectivity expands, the security costs of ignoring economic disparities rise dramatically. The combination of idle youth, high inequality and high-speed internet is a volatile mix.

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.

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.

The Forum ERF

ERF