Economic Research Forum (ERF)

Sumru Altug
Sumru Altug
American University in Beirut

Sumru Altug was Professor of Economics at Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey between 2002-2018, and before that held professor positions at the Universities of Durham and York in the UK between 1999–2002. She held an assistant professor appointment at the University of Minnesota between 1984-1994. She received her B.A. and M.A. degrees in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh in 1978 and 1980, respectively, and her Ph. D. in Economics from Carnegie-Mellon in 1985. 

Content by this Author

Trading with China: implications for growth in MENA countries

What is the impact of trade with China on growth in the Middle East and North Africa? This column presents new findings that reveal the absolute dominance of China's growth in generating positive spillover effects for the region.

Lebanon’s austerity budget of 2019: a last resort to avoid crisis?

Lebanon’s high and rising public debt has become unsustainable. This column explains why it is essential that the austerity measures in the draft budget of 2019 are approved in order to avert imminent debt and exchange rate crises.

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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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