Using a large, original database of 385 politically connected firms under the Mubarak regime in Egypt, we document for the first time the negative impact of cronyism on economic growth. In the early 2000s, a policy shift in Egypt led to the expansion of crony activities into new, previously...

This study examines the nexus between foreign trade and economic growth in Nigeria using quarterly time-series data for 1981Q1 through 2010Q4. In order to fully account for feedbacks, a vector autoregressive model is utilized. The results show that there is a stable, long- run relationship...

This study investigates the effect of exchange rate movements on real output growth in Nigeria. Based on quarterly series for the period 1986 to 2010, the paper examines the possible direct and indirect relationship between exchange rates and GDP growth. The relationship is derived in two ways...

Even though it is well documented that privatization leads to an improvement in the performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) following divestiture, it is argued that the existing literature suffers from a misspecification measure because it does not consider the performance of control firms...

During the last few years and because of the low oil prices in particular, the increasing awareness of the unsustainability of subsidized systems led several MENA countries to take steps to lower subsidies, which have been part of the social contract for decades, especially as far as the energy...

The study has surveyed the post-Arab Spring youth employment policies that have been adopted in Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, and Tunisia. In addition, the study examines whether and how the economic policies implemented in these countries led to high levels of youth unemployment prior to the Arab...