This paper uses an original database of 469 politically connected firms under the Mubarak regime in Egypt to explore the economic effects of close state-business relations. Previous research has shown that political connections are lucrative. The paper addresses several questions raised by this...

For the millions of citizens in the Arab World who came together in 2010¨C2011 to discover their common yearning for dignity and liberty, the real revolutions only began after the wave of protests. Understanding the Political Economy of the Arab Uprisings reassess the interests, potential and...

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...