Economic Research Forum (ERF)

Tourism in MENA after Covid-19: from shock to structural transformation

Covid-19 is likely to result in profound changes to the attitudes, concerns and travel preferences of tourists. This column argues ...

Economic consequences of Covid-19: a counterfactual multi-country analysis

The Covid-19 pandemic poses formidable challenges to policy-makers and to the empirical analysis of its effects within the interconnected global ...

The impact of Covid-19 on the tourism sector in MENA

Following the big fall in international tourist arrivals in the Middle East and North Africa early in the pandemic, some ...

External debt vulnerability in the time of Covid-19

Covid-19 is threatening emerging markets and developing economies in multiple ways. As this column explains, these countries are even more ...

Late-movers outperform first-movers in export markets

The relationship between first-movers and late-movers in export markets has important policy implications. First-movers need to be productive enough to ...

Financing a comprehensive and equitable Covid-19 response

Some say our hopes for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) may already be a fading dream, especially for the ...

Covid-19 aggravates Jordan’s acute youth employment challenges

The tough response by Jordan’s government to the global pandemic has protected public health but exacted a sharp economic toll ...

Public sector employment in MENA: a comparison with world indicators

How exceptional are patterns of public sector employment in the Middle East and North Africa? This column reports three observations ...

Most read

Empowering Egypt’s young people for the future of work

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.

Untapped talent, unrealised growth: jobs and women in the MENAAP region

Only around one in five women of working age participate in the labour markets of the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan. As this column explains, the region can no longer afford to leave half its human capital underused. Expanding women’s labour force participation is central to growth and resilience in the face of looming demographic change.




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