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.

Most read

Challenges of conflict and industrial policy for development

How effective is industrial policy as a tool for long-term economic growth and development? Against the backdrop of the conflict currently engulfing the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAAP), a new report argues that while industrial policies are widely used across the region, they can only address market failures and foster growth when they are aligned with country capabilities, implemented with accountability and backed by capable institutions.

The green transition in MENA economies: challenges and policy pathways

The economies of the Middle East and North Africa are at a critical turning point. Global decarbonisation pressures, energy market volatility and technological transformation are increasingly challenging hydrocarbon-based growth models. This column argues that the green transition is not only an environmental necessity but also a strategic economic imperative.

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.

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.




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