nep-ara New Economics Papers
on MENA - Middle East and North Africa
Issue of 2025–04–07
nineteen papers chosen by
Paul Makdissi, Université d’Ottawa
  1. Gendered Impacts of Colonial Education: the Role of Access and Norms Transmission in French Morocco By Amelie Allegre; Oana Borcan; Christa Brunnschweiler
  2. Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2023 By World Bank
  3. THE EBBS AND FLOWS OF EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN GAS POLITICS IN 2025 By Ferid Belhaj
  4. Tunisia Economic Monitor, Fall 2023: Migration Amid a Challenging Economic Context By World Bank
  5. Lebanon Country Climate and Development Report By World Bank Group
  6. Jordan Economic Monitor, Fall 2023 - Building Success, Breaking Barriers By World Bank
  7. Tunisia: Problem-Driven and Adaptive Approach for Citizen-Centric Service Delivery By World Bank
  8. Iran Poverty Diagnostic By World Bank
  9. Identifying the Impact of Exposure to Armed Conflict on Individual Preferences and Field Behavior : Evidence from Turkish Draft Veterans By Kıbrıs, Arzu; Cesur, Resul; Uler, Neslihan; Yıldırım, Sadullah
  10. Jordan: The SANAD Portal for Digital Government Services By World Bank
  11. Comprehensive Assessment of the Childcare Landscape in Lebanon By World Bank
  12. MENA Country Climate and Development Report By World Bank Group
  13. Unlocking Electric Mobility Potential in MENA By World Bank
  14. Gulf Economic Update, Fall 2023 By World Bank
  15. Algeria Diagnostic on Climate and Disaster Risk Management By World Bank
  16. Automation Imports and Upgrading in Firm Production Networks By Seda Koymen Ozer; Alessia Lo Turco; Daniela Maggioni
  17. Critical Mass And Bank Risk: Examining The Threshold Effect Of Women On Boards In The Mena Region By Sedki Zaiane
  18. Yemen - Connecting the Yemeni Private Sector to the World By World Bank
  19. Libya Economic Monitor, Fall 2023 By World Bank
  1. By: Amelie Allegre (School of Economics, University of East Anglia); Oana Borcan (School of Economics, University of East Anglia); Christa Brunnschweiler (Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology)
    Abstract: We examine colonial-era primary education as a determinant of modern-day attainment and gender disparities in education. We construct a novel dataset from the French Protectorate in Morocco, combining archival data on colonial school locations in 1931 and 1954 with the most recent Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data in arbitrary grids. We analyse the influence of colonial schools on the probability of attaining primary and secondary education in 2004. Overall, schools dedicated to Moroccans in 1931 exhibit a persistent positive impact on education outcomes, but only in the absence of nearby schools reserved for Europeans. Stark gender gaps in access during the Protectorate were narrowed in places with schools for Jewish Moroccans. These had a positive impact on girls’ contemporary levels of education, but a negative impact on the enrolment for boys following the dismantling of Jewish communities after 1948. DHS measures of preferences for female education point to a social norms transmission mechanism between Jewish and Muslim Moroccan communities.
    Keywords: education, colonial legacy, female education, Morocco, French Protectorate
    JEL: N37 O15 I21
    Date: 2025–02
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uea:ueaeco:2025-02
  2. By: World Bank
    Keywords: Macroeconomics and Economic Growth-Economic Development Conflict and Development-Armed Conflict Finance and Financial Sector Development-Access to Finance
    Date: 2023–12
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:40785
  3. By: Ferid Belhaj
    Abstract: Geopolitical tensions and competing interests define the Eastern Mediterranean's energy landscape. Vast natural gas reserves offer economic potential, but overlapping maritime claims and ongoing conflicts—particularly the Israel-Lebanon war and the Gaza conflict—threaten existing agreements and future projects. The European Union’s efforts to reduce dependence on Russian gas initially positioned the region as a key supplier, but escalating instability now puts these ambitions at risk. Key factors include the impact of conflicts on gas exploration and exports, the roles of Turkey, Egypt, and Qatar, the influence of global powers and multinational corporations, and the uncertain prospects for regional energy cooperation.
    Date: 2025–02
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ocp:pbcoen:pb011_25
  4. By: World Bank
    Keywords: Poverty Reduction-Migration and Development
    Date: 2023–12
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:40676
  5. By: World Bank Group
    Date: 2024–03
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:41159
  6. By: World Bank
    Keywords: Gender-Gender and Development Macroeconomics and Economic Growth-Inflation Social Protections and Labor-Labor Markets
    Date: 2023–12
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:40786
  7. By: World Bank
    Keywords: Governance-E-Government
    Date: 2024–02
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:41109
  8. By: World Bank
    Keywords: Poverty Reduction-Achieving Shared Growth Poverty Reduction-Inequality Poverty Reduction-Poverty Assessment
    Date: 2023–12
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:40713
  9. By: Kıbrıs, Arzu (University of Warwick, Department of Politics and International Studies.); Cesur, Resul (University of Connecticut, IZA & NBER); Uler, Neslihan (University of Maryland and University of Michigan); Yıldırım, Sadullah (Marmara University)
    Abstract: This research identifies the causal impact of exposure to armed conflict on risk, ambiguity and time preferences and related field behaviors for the average male randomly picked from the population. Our study builds on a natural experiment, engendered by the mandatory conscription system and the long-running civil conflict in Turkey, with a survey design that measures preferences through lab-in-he-field-experiments. The setting we explore allows us to analyze the change in preferences without confoundment by community-level effects of conflict. Results show that conflict exposure increases risk tolerance, ambiguity neutrality, patience and time consistency. Tracing the effects on real life behaviors, we find that while conflict exposure leads to an increase in entrepreneurial activity, it has no significant impacts on risky health behaviors such as being overweight, smoking, or daily drinking. Evidence highlights post-traumatic growth in the form of elevated agency as a novel explanation for the observed changes in preferences.
    Keywords: Political Violence ; Artefactual Field Experiment ; Risk Preferences ; Ambiguity Preferences ; Time Preferences. JEL Codes: C90 ; C93 ; D01 ; D74 ; D81 ; I01 ; O17 ; Z13
    Date: 2025
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:wqapec:27
  10. By: World Bank
    Keywords: Governance-E-Government
    Date: 2024–02
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:41110
  11. By: World Bank
    Keywords: Education-Early Childhood Development Social Protections and Labor-Social Protections & Assistance
    Date: 2024–01
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:40845
  12. By: World Bank Group
    Keywords: Environment-Adaptation to Climate Change
    Date: 2023–12
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:40650
  13. By: World Bank
    Keywords: Urban Development-Transport in Urban Areas Environment-Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases
    Date: 2023–10
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:40483
  14. By: World Bank
    Keywords: Macroeconomics and Economic Growth-Economic Growth Gender-Gender and Development
    Date: 2024–01
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:40880
  15. By: World Bank
    Keywords: Environment-Natural Disasters Environment-Adaptation to Climate Change
    Date: 2024–01
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:40883
  16. By: Seda Koymen Ozer (Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey); Alessia Lo Turco (Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM)); Daniela Maggioni (Department of Economics, Catholic University of the Sacred)
    Abstract: We investigate how the import of automation impacts upgrading within firm production networks. We use comprehensive data on product mix, foreign trade, balance sheets, employment, and firm-to-firm transactions for Turkish manufacturing firms from 2009 to 2020. By employing Propensity Score Matching (PSM) alongside event study analyses and an instrumental variable (IV) approach, our research provides robust evidence that firms importing automation enhance the quality and lower quality-adjusted prices of their products. Importantly, the benefits of automation extend downstream throughout the supply chain to firms sourcing inputs from suppliers that have adopted automation. No significant effects propagate, instead, to upstream firms supplying automation adopters.
    Keywords: buyer-supplier links, product upgrading, manufacturing, Turkiye
    JEL: O14 F61 F63
    Date: 2025–03
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpaper:495
  17. By: Sedki Zaiane (National Research University Higher School of Economics)
    Abstract: This study investigates the impact of women on boards on bank risk-taking in the MENA context and whether a critical mass of women on boards affects bank risk. The influence of woman directors on bank risk is studied using a sample of 126 commercial banks for the period 2007–2020. A dynamic panel threshold method is adopted in order to investigate the critical mass of woman on boards and it is impact on risk. The findings suggest a nonlinear association between women on boards and bank risk-taking confirming the critical mass hypotheses. The results show that the percentage of women on the board matter in shaping risk decisions. More precisely, we find that there is a negative and significant impact only when the proportion of women exceeds a certain threshold. A set of robustness checks confirms our findings. The findings highlight the importance of achieving a critical mass of women on boards to influence corporate governance and risk management. Therefore, policies should aim to surpass the empirically determined threshold to achieve a meaningful reduction in risk-taking. While most studies on this topic either assume a specific critical percentage or treat the relationship as linear, this research uses a threshold regression model to empirically determine the threshold that goes beyond simply assuming a critical percentage.
    Keywords: Women on Boards, Bank Risk-Taking, Critical Mass, Panel Threshold Regression, MENA region
    JEL: Z
    Date: 2025
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:98/fe/2025
  18. By: World Bank
    Keywords: Private Sector Development-Business Environment Finance and Financial Sector Development-Access to Finance Conflict and Development-Conflict and Fragile States
    Date: 2024–03
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:41273
  19. By: World Bank
    Keywords: Conflict and Development-Conflict and Fragile States Poverty Reduction-Achieving Shared Growth Health, Nutrition and Population-Health Economics & Finance Water Supply and Sanitation-Water Supply and Sanitation Finance Energy-Electric Power
    Date: 2024–02
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:41038
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