Showing papers in "Middle East Development Journal in 2021"
TL;DR: In this article, the optimal size of government as well as its effect on economic growth in selected MENA and developing countries over the period of five years was investigated in order to investigate the optimal government size.
Abstract: The research for this paper was conducted in order to investigate the optimal size of government as well as its effect on economic growth in selected MENA and developing countries over the period f...
11 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored a different dime and found that inequality in these two countries is not unusually high. But they did not explore a different way of measuring inequality in Egypt and Tunisia.
Abstract: Egypt and Tunisia are perceived to have high levels of inequality, yet based on standard measures, inequality in these two countries is not unusually high. In this study we explore a different dime...
8 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of macroeconomic outlook in explaining the returns volatility from 1998 to 2018 in Morocco was investigated and it was shown that the inclusion of low-frequency macroeconomic in low frequency macroeconomic forecasting can explain returns volatility.
Abstract: This paper focuses on the role of the macroeconomic outlook in explaining the returns volatility from 1998 to 2018 in Morocco. Our findings show that the inclusion of low-frequency macroeconomic in...
8 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the effect of oil revenues on the middle-class size and income in Iran and found that oil revenues significantly increased the size of the middle class in Iran.
Abstract: This paper investigates the effect of oil revenues on the middle-class size and income in Iran. Following Kharas (2017. The unprecedented expansion of the global middle class: An update. The Brooki...
7 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the impact of macroeconomic policies on the Iranian economy between 1978-2017 and found that the role of the money supply and government policies on Iranian economy was examined.
Abstract: This paper examines the impact of macroeconomic policies on the Iranian economy. The study covers the time between 1978-2017. The results illustrate the role of the money supply and government spen...
6 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed different trajectories followed by Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries with regard to feminization of the labor force using accounting decomposition analysis.
Abstract: This paper analyzes different trajectories followed by Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries with regard to feminization of the labor force. It uses accounting decomposition analysis for th...
5 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the unemployment hysteresis of the Middle East and North African (MENA) countries under a battery of unit root testing frameworks in the extant literature, including a recently proposed Panel SUR Dickey-Fuller-like unit root test with Fourier and Exponential Smooth Transition Regression (ESTR) nonlinearities.
Abstract: Unemployment hysteresis of the Middle East and North African (MENA) countries is investigated under a battery of unit root testing frameworks in the extant literature, including a recently proposed Panel SUR Dickey-Fuller-like unit root test with Fourier and Exponential
Smooth Transition Regression (ESTR) nonlinearities. The Fourier function allows for smooth nonlinear breaks, while the ESTR nonlinearity allows for instantaneous breaks. The two nonlinearity types make the recent approach quite appealing. It has, however, been scarcely
applied to empirically test unemployment hysteresis hypothesis. Although we find conflicting stances from ADF, FADF and ADF-SB testing frameworks, evidence of unemployment hysteresis effect in Lebanon is consistent across all three tests. The ADF and FADF tests confirm the hysteresis hypothesis in Kuwait and Lebanon, while FADF-SB rejects the unemployment hysteresis hypothesis across all the 19 MENA countries. The results from the
KSS and FKSS unit root testing frameworks consistently affirmed the hysteresis effect in Oman and Turkey, while there are mixed stances for Kuwait and Lebanon. The results from SURADF and SURKSS only support the hysteresis hypothesis in Turkey, while the same is confirmed only for Bahrain under the SURFADF and SURFKSS testing frameworks. Unemployment hysteresis hypothesis is confirmed for 12 (about 63.15% of the total number considered) MENA economies.
4 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the output and total factor productivity (TFP) growth by estimating a stochastic frontier production function for a panel of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, and to decompose TFP growth into technical change, technical efficiency, and scale efficiency.
Abstract: ABSTRACT
The present study aims to examine the output and total factor productivity (TFP) growth by estimating a stochastic frontier production function for a panel of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, and to decompose TFP growth into technical change, technical efficiency, and scale efficiency. The empirical findings reveal that, while factor accumulation is the main driver of output growth in the MENA region, TFP growth is increasingly accounting for a respectable proportion of output growth, with improved technical efficiency playing a crucial role in productivity growth. Specifically, the average annual TFP growth is found to be 0.846%, with positive contributions from technical efficiency and scale efficiency. However, the results show that technical progress has had a negative impact on TFP growth. The positive growth in technical efficiency suggests that the countries are catching up towards the optimal production frontier. At a disaggregated level, oil-rich countries registered negative effects of technical progress, while non-oil countries registered negative effects of scale efficiency. Technical efficiency, however, accounts for the largest positive factor in TFP growth in both oil and non-oil country groups.
4 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined how firms' positions in both global and domestic value chains (GVC and DVC) affect their productivity, and proposed a method to quantify the impact of these positions.
Abstract: In this study, we examine how firms’ positions (supplier, final, or both) in both global and domestic value chains (GVC and DVC) affect their productivity. This is said to be the first attempt in e...
2 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the first attempt to give a thorough analysis of a two-way rela cation was made, where the authors analyzed the impact of political, economic and financial problems on the flow of remittances in Tunisia.
Abstract: Tunisia is currently facing political, economic and financial problems which have an impact on the flow of remittances. This study is the first attempt to give a thorough analysis of a two-way rela...
2 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the relationship between the unemployment rate and suicide rate using data from all provinces of Iran and over the years 2009-2015 and exploited the variations in nation...
Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the relationship between the unemployment rate and suicide rate using data from all provinces of Iran and over the years 2009–2015. We exploit the variations in nation...
TL;DR: The burden of OOP health payment on household living standards in rural Egypt using data from Household Income, Expenditure, and Consumption Survey in 2015 and redefining subsistence spending to comprise the minimum acceptable level of all necessities is estimated.
Abstract: Reducing Out-of-pocket (OOP) health payments is an essential element to protect households from financial risks and eradicate extreme poverty. This paper aimed to provide a new approach for measuri...
TL;DR: In this article, the causal link between bank-based financial development and economic growth in Morocco between 2003 and 2018 using a vector autoregression framework was investigated, and the authors test for causality.
Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the causal link between bank-based financial development and economic growth in Morocco between 2003 and 2018 using a vector autoregression framework. We test for caus...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address three questions: (1) what would have been the growth and income trajectory of Syria in the absence of war; (2) given the war, what explains the reduction in economic growth; an...
Abstract: This paper addresses three questions: (1) what would have been the growth and income trajectory of Syria in the absence of war; (2) given the war, what explains the reduction in economic growth; an...
TL;DR: In this article, the effect of market distortions in the manufacturing sector in Morocco was studied and the extent of resource misallocation associated with these distortions was calculated using micro-data.
Abstract: This paper studies the effect of market distortions in the manufacturing sector in Morocco. Recent microdata are used to calculate the extent of resource misallocation associated to these distortio...