Download or read book Privilege Resistant Policies in the Middle East and North Africa written by Syed Akhtar Mahmood and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2018-02-06 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Renewing the social contract, one of the pillars of the new World Bank Group strategy for the Middle East and North Africa, requires a new development model built on greater trust; openness, transparency, inclusive and accountable service delivery; and a stronger private sector that can create jobs and opportunities for the youth of the region. Recent analytic work trying to explain weak job creation and insufficient private sector dynamism in the region point to formal and informal barriers to entry and competition. These barriers privilege a few (often unproductive) incumbents who enjoy a competition-edge due to their connections or ability to influence policy making and delivery. Policy recommendations to date in the field of governance for private sector policymaking have been too general and too removed from concrete, actionable policy outcomes. This report proposes -for the first time- to fill this policy and operational gap by answering the following question: What good governance features should be instilled in the design of economic policies and institutions to help shield them from capture, discretion and arbitrary implementation? The report proposes an innovative conceptual and measurement framework that encapsulates the governance features that could shield policies from capture, discretion and arbitrary enforcement that limits competition. The report offers a menu of operational and technical entry-points to enhance privilege-resistant policy making in a concrete way, that is politically tractable in different country contexts.

Download or read book Towards Privilege Resistant Economic Policies in MENA written by Weltbank and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unemployment rates in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are among the highest in the world, especially for young graduates. Policy recommendations to date in the field of governance for private sector policymaking have been too general and too removed from concrete, actionable policy outcomes. This report presents, for the first time to fill this policy and operational gap by answering the following question: what good governance features should be instilled in the design of economic policies and institutions to help shield them from capture, discretion, and arbitrary implementation? The report presents an innovative conceptual framework that encapsulates the governance features that can shield policies from capture, discretion, and arbitrary enforcement that limits competition. Based on this framework, a check-list of policy features in a wide range of policy areas relevant to private sector development policy is presented, notably in terms of: (i) the process of policy-making (ex-ante); (ii) the actual policies, regulations, and their implementation (for example, business regulations, procurement, financing, trade); and (iii) competition policy and other attributes like open-business and transparency measures that help identify, and prevent or deter anti-competitive market behavior and outcomes (ex-post). The report benchmarks eight countries along the framework and checklist of indicators, pointing, for each country, to policy gaps and poor governance features that make these countries prone to capture and discretion. The report offers a menu of operational and technical entry-points to engage the capture agenda in a concrete way, one that may be more politically tractable in some of the client countries.

Download or read book From Privilege to Competition written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2009-11-04 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'From Privilege to Competition: Unlocking Private-Led Growth in the Middle East and North Africa' sheds new light on the difficult quest for stronger and more diversified growth in a region of unquestionable potential. It underlines the need to strengthen reforms in many areas specifically, by reducing policy uncertainty and improving credit and real estate markets. It also highlights other important issues that restrain the credibility and impact of reforms in many parts of the region: conflicts of interest between politicians and businesses, an investment climate that favors a few privileged firms, and a dominant private sector that often opposes reforms. The book recommends that countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) engage in more credible reform agendas by improving the implementation of policies in a manner that will reduce discretion and privileges. This renewed commitment to stronger growth would entail several developments. First, governments will need to reduce opportunities for rent-seeking and foster competition. Second, they will need to work to reform institutions: private sector development policies will need to be systematically anchored in elements of institutional and public sector reforms in order to reduce discretion and opacity and improve the quality of services to firms. Third, they will need to mobilize all stakeholders, including larger representations from the private sector, around dedicated long-term growth strategies. Short of such a fundamental shift in the way private sector policies are formulated and implemented, investor expectations that governments are committed to reform will be limited. It will take political will and time to support sustained reforms that credibly convince investors and the public that changes are real, deep, and set to last. MENA countries are endowed with strong human capital, good infrastructure, immense resources, and a great deal of untapped creativity and entrepreneurship. The economic and social payoff of embarking on a more ambitious private-led growth agenda could thus be immense for all.

Download or read book What gets measured gets done written by Meriem Ait Ali Slimane and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Countries around the globe are seeking to diversify their economies and make them competitive. For this to happen, resources need to flow to firms that can make the best use of them. This is not the case in many countries. A good example is the MENA region where, in many countries, the policy regime has evolved in a manner such that a small number of firms end up getting a disproportionate share of resources - public land, procurement contracts, energy, finance and investment incentives, to name a few - not because they are more efficient but because they are politically connected. This skewed distribution of productive resources is a major cause of the high unemployment rates in the region, especially for young graduates - ranging between 15 and 25 percent. In brief, the ones with resources do not create many jobs. The ones that could have created jobs do not get the resources to do so. Although ubiquitous in MENA, this problem afflicts many other countries. The prosperity and social cohesion of the MENA region still rests on its ability to transform its public administration to better deliver services to the private sector to absorb a young and increasingly well-educated labor force. This will particularly be the case in post conflict countries were social issues and stability concerns are more acute. Making policy areas resistant to privilege is important for this agenda. The complex political economy underlying policy capture and privilege-seeking may make this a seemingly intractable problem. However, the new study is inspired by recent literature on dynamics of policy change point to windows of opportunity within a complex political economy setting that allow incremental improvements with substantial cumulative effect over time. It breaks new ground by applying, to the private sector governance space, the motto “What gets measured gets done”

Download or read book Networks of Privilege in the Middle East The Politics of Economic Reform Revisited written by S. Heydemann and published by Springer. This book was released on 2004-08-20 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores the role of informal networks in the politics of Middle Eastern economic reform. The editor's introduction demonstrates how network-based models overcome limitations in existing approaches to the politics of economic reform. The following chapters show how business-state networks in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan have affected privatization programs and the reform of fiscal policies. They help us understand patterns and variation in the organization and outcome of economic reform programs, including the opportunities that economic reforms offered for reorganizing networks of economic privilege across the Middle East.

Download or read book The Economic Impact of Conflicts and the Refugee Crisis in the Middle East and North Africa written by Mr.Bjoern Rother and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2016-09-16 with total page 43 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent decades, the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) has experienced more frequent and severe conflicts than in any other region of the world, exacting a devastating human toll. The region now faces unprecedented challenges, including the emergence of violent non-state actors, significant destruction, and a refugee crisis bigger than any since World War II. This paper raises awareness of the economic costs of conflicts on the countries directly involved and on their neighbors. It argues that appropriate macroeconomic policies can help mitigate the impact of conflicts in the short term, and that fostering higher and more inclusive growth can help address some of the root causes of conflicts over the long term. The paper also highlights the crucial role of external partners, including the IMF, in helping MENA countries tackle these challenges.

Download or read book The Foreign Policies of Middle East States written by Raymond A. Hinnebusch and published by Lynne Rienner Publishers. This book was released on 2002 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Preface p. vii 1 Introduction: The Analytical Framework Raymond Hinnebusch p. 1 2 The Middle East Regional System Raymond Hinnebusch p. 29 3 The Impact of the International System on the Middle East B.A. Roberson p. 55 4 The Challenge of Security in the Post--Gulf War Middle East System Nadia El-Shazly and Raymond Hinnebusch p. 71 5 The Foreign Policy of Egypt Raymond Hinnebusch p. 91 6 The Foreign Policy of Israel Clive Jones p. 115 7 The Foreign Policy of Syria Raymond Hinnebusch p. 141 8 The Foreign Policy of Iraq Charles Tripp p. 167 9 The Foreign Policy of Saudi Arabia F. Gregory Gause III p. 193 10 The Foreign Policy of Libya Tim Niblock p. 213 11 The Foreign Policy of Tunisia Emma C. Murphy p. 235 12 The Foreign Policy of Yemen Fred Halliday p. 257 13 The Foreign Policy of Iran Anoushiravan Ehteshami p. 283 14 The Foreign Policy of Turkey Philip Robins p. 311 15 Conclusion: Patterns of Policy Anoushiravan Ehteshami and Raymond Hinnebusch p. 335 Glossary p. 351 Bibliography p. 355 The Contributors p. 365 Index p. 369 About the Book p. 381.

Download or read book Trust in Government written by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and published by Org. for Economic Cooperation & Development. This book was released on 2000 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At a time when there is a growing consensus among governments on what should constitute the essential elements of an effective and comprehensive ethics strategy, this OECD report constitutes a unique source of comparative information on ethics management measures in OECD countries.

Download or read book Women s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa written by Sanja Kelly and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2010-07-16 with total page 606 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Freedom HouseOs innovative publication WomenOs Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Progress Amid Resistance analyzes the status of women in the region, with a special focus on the gains and setbacks for womenOs rights since the first edition was released in 2005. The study presents a comparative evaluation of conditions for women in 17 countries and one territory: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine (Palestinian Authority and Israeli-Occupied Territories), Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The publication identifies the causes and consequences of gender inequality in the Middle East, and provides concrete recommendations for national and international policymakers and implementers. Freedom House is an independent nongovernmental organization that supports democratic change, monitors freedom, and advocates for democracy and human rights. The project has been embraced as a resource not only by international players like the United Nations and the World Bank, but also by regional womenOs rights organizations, individual activists, scholars, and governments worldwide. WomenOs rights in each country are assessed in five key areas: (1) Nondiscrimination and Access to Justice; (2) Autonomy, Security, and Freedom of the Person; (3) Economic Rights and Equal Opportunity; (4) Political Rights and Civic Voice; and (5) Social and Cultural Rights. The methodology is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the study results are presented through a set of numerical scores and analytical narrative reports.

Download or read book The MENA Region a great power competition written by AA.VV and published by Ledizioni. This book was released on 2019-10-01 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The volume deals with competition among regional and external players for the redistribution of power and international status in the Middle East and North Africa, with a focus on Russia’s renewed role and the implications for US interests. Over the last few years, a crisis of legitimacy has beset the liberal international order. In this context, the configuration of regional orders has come into question, as in the extreme case of the current collapse in the Middle East. The idea of a “Russian resurgence” in the Middle East set against a perceived American withdrawal has captured the attention of policymakers and scholars alike, warranting further examination. This volume, a joint publication by ISPI and the Atlantic Council, gathers analysis on Washington’s and Moscow’s policy choices in the MENA region and develops case studies of the two powers’ engagament in the countries beset by major crises.

Download or read book The Road Not Traveled written by Ahmed Galal and published by Mena Development Report. This book was released on 2008 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Education is a powerful force that can speed up economic growth, improve income distribution, facilitate social mobility, and reduce poverty. It can also improve the quality of life for citizens by contributing to longer life expectancy, lower fertility and infant mortality rates, and a more cohesive national identity. However, none of these positive outcomes are automatic. All too often, investment in education generates low returns to the individuals involved and society at large. Thus, while investment in education is a necessary condition for faster development and prosperity, it is by no means sufficient. This MENA flagship report explores whether past investments in education in the region have generated their maximum economic returns, and, if not, why they have failed to do so. Ultimately, the answers to these questions are being sought to help policymakers chart more fruitful strategies in the future." -- Overview (p. 1).

Download or read book Eruptions of Popular Anger written by Elena Ianchovichina and published by Mena Development Report. This book was released on 2018 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Arab Spring protests caught most of the world by surprise and precipitated a chain of events that changed the course of history in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), ushering in a period of prolonged political instability and intense civil conflicts. The analysis of the Arab Spring aftermath sheds light on the interplay between economic, behavioral, institutional, and political factors that have influenced the transitions across the region and the risk of civil conflict. The study draws on four main bodies of literature on poverty and inequality, subjective well-being, civil conflict, and macroeconomics as well as on an eclectic mix of quantitative and qualitative methods and data. Given the complex nature of the Arab Spring and its aftermath, the study touches also on areas related to political economy and governance.

Download or read book Doing Business 2020 written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2019-11-21 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seventeen in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 190 economies, Doing Business 2020 measures aspects of regulation affecting 10 areas of everyday business activity.

Download or read book Unlocking the Employment Potential in the Middle East and North Africa written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2003 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Crony Capitalism in the Middle East written by Ishac Diwan and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-05-23 with total page 528 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The popular uprisings in 2011 that overthrew Arab dictators were also a rebuke to crony capitalism, diverted against both rulers and their allied businessmen who monopolize all economic opportunities. While the Middle East has witnessed a growing nexus between business and politics in the wake of liberalization, little is discussed about the nature of business cronies, the sectors in which they operate, the mechanisms used to favour them, and the possible impact of such crony relations on the region's development. Combining inputs from leading scholars in the field, Crony Capitalism in the Middle East: Business and Politics from Liberalization to the Arab Spring presents a wealth of empirical evidence on the form and function of this aspect of the region. Crony Capitalism in the Middle East is unique in both its empirical focus and comparative scale. Analysis in individual chapters is empirically grounded and based on fine-grained data on the business activities of politically connected actors furnishing, for the first time, information on the presence, numerical strength, and activities of politically connected entrepreneurs. It also substantially enhances our understanding of the mechanisms used to privilege connected businesses, and their possible impact on undermining the growth of firms in the region. It offers a major advance on our prior knowledge of Middle Eastern political economy, and constitutes a distinct contribution to the global literature on crony capitalism and the politics of development. The book will be an essential resource for students, researchers, and policymakers alike.

Download or read book Inside Inequality in the Arab Republic of Egypt written by Paolo Verme and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2014-04-08 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inside Inequality in the Arab Republic of Egypt: Facts and Perceptions Across People, Time, and Space comprises four papers prepared in the framework of the Egypt inequality study financed by the World Bank. The first paper, by Sherine Al-Shawarby, reviews the studies on inequality in Egypt since the 1950s with the double objective of illustrating the importance attributed to inequality through time and of presenting and compare the main published statistics on inequality. The second paper, by Branko Milanovic, turns to the global and spatial dimensions of inequality. The Egyptian society remains deeply divided across space and in terms of welfare, and this study unveils some of the hidden features of this inequality. The third paper, by Paolo Verme, studies facts and perceptions of inequality during the 2000-2009 period, which preceded the Egyptian revolution. The fourth paper, by Sahar El Tawila, May Gadallah, and Enas Ali A.El-Majeed, assesses the state of poverty and inequality among the poorest villages of Egypt. The paper attempts to explain the level of inequality in an effort to disentangle those factors that derive from household abilities from those factors that derive from local opportunities. Inside Inequality in the Arab Republic of Egypt provides some initial elements that could explain the apparent mismatch between inequality measured with household surveys and inequality aversion measured by values surveys. This is a particularly important and timely topic to address in light of the unfolding developments in the Arab region. The book should be of interest to any observer of the political and economic evolution of the Arab region in the past few years and to poverty and inequality specialists interested in a deeper understanding of the distribution of incomes in Egypt and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. World Bank Studies are available individually or on standing order. The World Bank Studies series is also available online through the Open Knowledge Repository (https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/) and the World Bank e-Library (www.worldbank.org/elibrary). Book jacket.

Download or read book Fair Taxation in the Middle East and North Africa written by Mario Mansour and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2015-09-02 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fairness – and what governments can do about it – is at the forefront of economic and social debate all over the world. In MENA, this has been at the core of recent political transitions but has not been adequately addressed. This SDN explores how tax systems – a critical interface between the state and citizens – can play a role in meeting demands for greater economic fairness in MENA countries. The SDN finds that for countries with well-established non-hydrocarbon tax systems (mostly oil importers) reforms should focus on simplifying tax structures and introducing more progressivity of personal income taxes, broadening tax bases, and better designing and enforcing property taxes. Tax administration should be more efficient and user-friendly while simplifying tax regimes will reduce the scope for arbitrary implementation. MENA countries with less established non-hydrocarbon revenue systems can begin with a “starter pack” that includes introduction of low-rate value-added and corporate income taxes, excises, and property taxes while building up administrative capacity and taxation expertise together with plans for introducing a personal income tax. Across the region, effective communication, transparency, and constructive dialogue between the State and citizens are critical to the success of reforms.