Hasan Murat Ertuğrul is an Associate Professor working as Economic Counselor in Turkish Embassy in Rome. He has previously worked as senior associate in Ministry of Treasury and Finance of Turkey. He gave a lot of lectures and seminars both for undergraduate and graduate levels. His current research focuses on applied macroeconomic modeling, forecasting, financial modeling and energy economics. Dr. Ertugrul’s work has been published in the Housing Studies, European Journal of Health Economics, Defense and Peace Economics, Current Issues in Tourism, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, among others. He has been as visiting fellow at European University Institute and holds a PhD in Economics from Hacettepe University.
Does the construction industry still lead economic growth in countries in the Middle East and North Africa? This column reports evidence on the relationship between construction investments and economic development for the ten biggest economies in the region over nearly half a century. The results indicate that the relative importance of construction in these countries has started to decline as GDP per capita grows.