Economic Research Forum (ERF)

Transformation under radical uncertainty: the challenge for MENA

Shifting from a centralised rent-seeking society to a decentralised productive society is such a major transformation that it cannot be ...


Kuwait and New Zealand: comparing GDP, competitiveness and social progress

A comparison between two economic indicators shows how competitiveness is more closely related to social progress than to GDP. This ...


The benefits of year-round daylight saving time: evidence from Turkey

Ever since Benjamin Franklin’s observation in the late eighteenth century that people wasted daylight by sleeping after sunrise and squandered ...


Location and firm performance: evidence from Italy, Tunisia and Turkey

Clustering of economic activity has long been seen as an important way to boost employment, innovation and productivity. This column ...


Knowledge, research networks and development policy: the ERF at 25

ERF’s annual conference has become the premier regional event for economists of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). This ...


Religion as a catalyst for trade: evidence from Turkish exports

Does religious affinity help firms to get access to foreign markets? This column reports evidence that sharing Islamic beliefs with ...


Improving the economic policy debate in the MENA region

The Forum, a policy portal for the Middle East and North Africa, was launched in October 2017 with the aim ...


Equity capital inflows, corporate finance and growth in emerging economies

Studies of the relationship between foreign investor participation in public equity markets and aggregate economic activity in emerging economies find ...