The Upside of Digital for the Middle East and North Africa : How Digital Technology Adoption Can Accelerate Growth and Create Jobs

Front Cover -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- About the Authors -- Executive Summary -- Abbreviations -- 1 Introduction -- References -- 2 The Digital Paradox in the Middle East and North Africa and the Upside of Digital Technologies -- Notes -- References -- 3 Framework for Understanding the Upside of the Digital Economy -- References -- 4 How Digital Technologies Help to Overcome Market Frictions -- Overcoming Frictions due to Information Asymmetries on Ride-Hailing Platforms -- Overcoming Transport Frictions: IT Sector and Mobility Barriers in West Bank -- Tourism Demand: Overcoming Frictions Associated with Geography and Language Barriers -- Notes -- References -- 5 The Upside of Digital: Empirical Framework and Results -- Lower-Bound Estimates of the Upside of the Digital Economy -- Gains in GDP per Capita -- Gains in Revenue Productivity and Employment in Manufacturing -- Gains in Tourism and Hospitality Industry Jobs -- Reductions in Unemployment and Increases in Female Labor Force Participation -- Summary of the Upside Impact of Digital Technologies -- Notes -- References -- 6 Three Foundational Pillars of the Digital Economy -- Digital Infrastructure -- Digital Payments -- Regulations for E-commerce -- Notes -- References -- 7 Addressing Challenges and Mitigating Risks -- Liberalization and Competition as Drivers of Mobile Digital Data Technology Adoption -- Competition in the Digital Services Market -- Risk Associated with Digital Social Media -- Data Governance -- Data Privacy in Managing the COVID-19 Pandemic -- Notes -- References -- 8 Summary and Conclusions -- Appendix A: Modeling the Relationship between Digital Payments, Bank Regulation, and Banking System Development -- Appendix B: Benchmark Regressions: Graphs and Statistics -- Appendix C: Description of New Mobile Data Technology Adoption Rankings -- Boxes.