Breaking the Barriers to Higher Economic Growth: Better Governance and Deeper Reforms in the Middle East and North Africa / Edition 1

by Mustapha Kamel Nabli

Overview

The world's attention to the countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has often been dominated by headline issues: conflict, sanctions, political turmoil, and rising oil prices. Little of this international attention has considered the broad range of development challenges facing this diverse group of countries. 'Breaking the Barriers' reflects the collected thinking of the World Bank's Office of the Chief Economist for the MENA Region on the long-term development challenges facing the region and the reform priorities and strategies for effectively meeting these challenges. It is a comprehensive reform agenda to 'break the barriers' to higher economic growth, to ensure sufficient jobs can be created for the region's rapidly growing labor force. At its core, it requires the region's public sector-dominated economies to move to private sector-driven economies, from closed economies to more open economies, and from oil-dominated and volatile economies to more stable and diversified economies. This book examines some of these reforms and the complex issues surrounding their successful implementation. In order for the countries of the MENA region to successfully implement the reforms needed for higher growth and job creation, they will also need to address the fundamental weaknesses in governance throughout the region.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780821374153
Publisher:	World Bank Publications
Publication date:	02/29/2008
Pages:	476
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 1.40(d)

Table of Contents

Preface     vii
Acknowledgments     xi
Growth, Reform, and Governance     1
Long-Term Economic Development Challenges and Prospects for the Arab Countries   Mustapha K. Nabli     3
Reform Complementarities and Economic Growth in the Middle East and North Africa   Mustapha Kamel Nabli   Marie-Ange Veganzones-Varoudakis     29
After Argentina: Was MENA Right to Be Cautious?   Mustapha K. Nabli     77
Restarting Arab Economic Reform   Mustapha K. Nabli     89
Democracy for Better Governance and Higher Economic Growth in the MENA Region?   Mustapha K. Nabli   Carlos Silva-Jauregui     103
The Political Economy of Industrial Policy in the Middle East and North Africa   Mustapha K. Nabli   Jennifer Keller   Claudia Nassif   Carlos Silva-Jauregui     135
Labor Markets And Human Capital     167
The Macroeconomics of Labor Market Outcomes in MENA   Jennifer Keller   Mustapha K. Nabli     169
Challenges and Opportunities for the 21st Century   Mustapha Nabli     203
Labor Market Reforms, Growth, and Unemployment in Labor-Exporting Countries in the Middle East and North Africa   Pierre-Richard Agenor   Mustapha K. Nabli   Tarik Yousef   Henning Tarp Jensen     211
Economic Reforms and People Mobility for a More Effective EU-MED Partnership   Ishac Diwan   Mustapha Nabli   Adama Coulibaly   Sara Johansson de Silva     267
Trade, Competitiveness, and Investment     297
Cruise Control, Shock Absorbers, and Traffic Lights   Mustapha K. Nabli     299
Trade, Foreign Direct Investment, and Development in the Middle East and North Africa   Farrukh Iqbal   Mustapha Kamel Nabli     305
Making Trade Work for Jobs   Dipak Dasgupta   Mustapha Kamel Nabli   Christopher Pissarides   Aristomene Varoudakis     329
Exchange Rate Management within the Middle East and North Africa Region   Mustapha Nabli   Jennifer Keller   Marie-Ange Veganzones     355
How Does Exchange Rate Policy Affect Manufactured Exports in MENA Countries?   Mustapha Kamel Nabli   Marie-Ange Veganzones-Varoudakis     381
Public Infrastructure and Private Investment in the Middle East and North Africa   Pierre-Richard Agenor   Mustapha K. Nabli   Tarik M. Yousef     399
Governance, Institutions, and Private Investment   Ahmet Faruk Aysan   Mustapha Kamel Nabli   Marie-Ange Veganzones-Varoudakis     423
Index     465