Economic Research Forum (ERF)

August

Fighting poverty: innovative policy lessons from the second Arab Multidimensional Poverty Report

Poverty is a complex and multidimensional policy challenge. Understanding the interconnected causes and effects of poverty is a critical first step for policy-makers trying to improve people’s lives. This column presents an updated model for measuring deprivation levels in the Arab region, and proposes a series of policy suggestions to improve economic and social outcomes. Put simply, any reforms in the region should be based on a joined-up policy approach, built on an understanding of the interplay between different aspects of poverty and inequality.

The human toll: Assessing the damage caused by revolution and war in Iran

Wars and revolutions have a notable effect on several socio-economic metrics, including life expectancy. Measuring these impacts is not always straightforward. This column presents new findings from a study on Iran, using a counterfactual scenario to estimate how the Islamic Revolution and subsequent war with Iraq affected life outcomes for Iranians. The effects are substantial, with the combination of the regime change and conflict that followed leading to a five-year fall in average life expectancy. In other words, had there been no revolution and war, the life expectancy of an average Iranian would have been half a decade longer.

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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.

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.

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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