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 ...
Fomenting intellectual revolution in the MENA region
The countries of the Middle East and North Africa desperately need a new social contract to meet the demands of ...
Lebanon’s dysfunctional political economy
Using the prospect of a flood of refugees as a bargaining chip in international negotiations, the government is happy to ...
Informality, market fragmentation and low productivity in Egypt
Egyptian firms have operated subject to low and stagnating productivity. This column outlines the recent trends in business conditions and ...
Employment polarisation and deskilling of the educated in Egypt
To what extent is Egypt’s labour market becoming polarised into well paid high-skilled occupations and low-wage manual jobs? This column ...
Lebanon: sectarianism and cronyism stifle economic reform
How did Lebanon’s economy collapse – and what happens now? This column from The Washington Post outlines what you need ...
Why data transparency matters for MENA economies
Magda Kandil was a highly regarded economist and long-time supporter of ERF and The Forum. In her final column, written ...
Seven questions about Covid-19 and its consequences
What is the nature of the Covid-19 shock? What are the consequences of and immediate responses to Covid-19? Are lockdowns ...