Economic Research Forum (ERF)

Maye Ehab

Author

Maye Ehab
Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg and University of Bamberg, Germany

Maye Ehab is currently a Doctoral Fellow at the Bamberg Graduate School of Social Sciences and a Research Associate at the chair of Sociology, especially Methods of Empirical Social Research at the University of Bamberg. Ehab received an MA in Economics from the American University in Cairo in 2010 and received her Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science in Cairo University in 2008. Ehab held a number of positions with the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies in Cairo, the Egyptian Competition Authority, El-Watan Research and was a Visiting Fellow with UNCTAD at the Division on Investment and Enterprise in Geneva. Maye’s areas of interest are Gender economics, Labor Market Outcomes and Policy Analysis. Her latest publications are around topics of the gender gap and female participation, geographical mobility, as well as job quality and health outcomes in the Egyptian Labor Market.

Content by this Author

Egypt’s care economy needs to address deteriorating working conditions

A robust and high-quality care economy is critical for supporting women’s employment – as both an employer of women and a mechanism for redistributing unpaid care work to the market. Yet in Egypt, despite national goals of expanding care services, employment in the sector has been shrinking, while becoming increasingly privatised. As this column reports, care jobs have also experienced worsening conditions of work, including reduced formality and the emergence of a pay penalty for care workers.

Most read

Global value chains and sustainable development

What is the role of exchange rate undervaluation in promoting participation in global value chains by firms in developing countries? What is the impact of the stringency of national environmental regulations on firms’ GVC participation? And how do firms’ political connections affect their participation in GVCs? These questions will be explored for the MENA region at a special session of the ERF annual conference, which takes place in Cairo in April 2025.

Adoption of decentralised solar energy: lessons from Palestinian households

The experience of Palestinian households offers a compelling case study of behavioural adaptation to energy poverty via solar water heater adoption. This column highlights the key barriers to solar energy adoption in terms of both the socio-economic status and dwellings of potential users. Policy-makers need to address these barriers to ensure a just and equitable transition, particularly for households in conflict-affected areas across the MENA region.

Migration, human capital and labour markets in MENA

Migration is a longstanding and integral part of the MENA region’s economic and social fabric, with profound implications for labour markets and human capital development. To harness the potential of migration for promoting economic and social development, policy-makers must aim to deliver mutual benefits for origin countries, host countries and migrants. Such a triple-win strategy requires better data, investment in return migration, skill partnerships, reduced remittance costs and sustained support for host countries.

Shifting gears: how the private sector can be an engine of growth in MENA

Businesses are a key source of productivity growth, innovation and jobs. But in the Middle East and North Africa, the private sector is not dynamic and the region has a long history of low growth. This column summarises a new report explaining how a brighter future for MENA’s private sector is within reach if governments rethink their role and firms harness talent effectively.




Linkedin