Ragui Assaad

Ragui Assaad

Professor of Planning and Public Affairs, University of Minnesota

Ragui Assaad is professor at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, where he co-chairs the Master of Development Practice program. He has been a Research Fellow of the Economic Research Forum (ERF) since 1994. He is a non-resident Research Fellow of the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn, Germany. Assaad’s current research focuses on labor markets and human development in the Arab World, with a focus on youth and gender issues as they relate to education, transition from school-to-work, labor force participation, employment and unemployment, informality, migration, and family formation.

Areas of Interest:

  • Labor markets in the Arab World
  • Education and human resource development
  • Youth transitions to adulthood
  • Inequality of opportunity

Education:

  • Ph.D., City and Regional Planning, Cornell University, 1991
  • M.Sc., Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, 1981

Experience:

  • Professor of Planning and Public Affairs, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, 2003-present
  • Regional Director for West Asia and North Africa, The Population Council, 2005-2008
  • Associate Professor of Planning and Public Affairs, with tenure, 1997-2003

Latest Publications:

  • Assaad, R. A., Krafft, C., & Yassin, S. 2020. Job creation or labor absorption? An analysis of private sector job growth in Egypt. Middle East Development Journal. DOI: 10.1080/17938120.2020.1753978.
  • Assaad, R. & C. Krafft. 2020. Excluded generation: the growing challenges of labor market insertion for Egyptian youth. Journal of Youth Studies, 1-27. doi: 10.1080/13676261.2020.1714565.
  • Assaad, R., Barsoum, G. 2019. “Public employment in the Middle East and North Africa: Does a changing public sector workforce in the MENA region provide an opportunity for efficient restructuring?” IZA World of Labor 2019: 463. DOI: 10.15185/izawol.463.
  • Assaad, R., R. Hendy and D. Salehi-Isfahani. 2019.  “Inequality of opportunity in educational attainment in the Middle East and North Africa: Evidence from household surveys.” International Journal of Educational Development 66: 24-43.
  • Krafft, C. and R. Assaad (eds.) 2019. The Jordanian Labor Market Between Fragility and Resilience. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Assaad, R. and M. Boughzala (eds.) 2018.  The Tunisian Labor Market in an Era of Transition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Assaad, R. and C. Krafft (eds.) 2015.  The Egyptian Labor Market in an Era of Revolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gender, Work, and Time Use in the Context of a Low-Income Agrarian Economy: The Case of Sudan

Areas of Interest: Labor markets in the Arab World Education and human resource development Youth transitions to adulthood... Read More

January, 2024

Working Papers
Labor Market Dynamics in Sudan through Political Upheaval and Pandemic

Areas of Interest: Labor markets in the Arab World Education and human resource development Youth transitions to adulthood... Read More

November, 2023

Working Papers
Why Is Social Insurance Coverage Declining in Egypt? A Decomposition Analysis

Areas of Interest: Labor markets in the Arab World Education and human resource development Youth transitions to adulthood... Read More

November, 2023

Working Papers
What Is Driving the Decline in Social Insurance Coverage in Egypt? Understanding The Relative Role of Structural Change

Areas of Interest: Labor markets in the Arab World Education and human resource development Youth transitions to adulthood... Read More

November, 2023

Policy Briefs
Introducing the Sudan Labor Market Panel Survey 2022

Areas of Interest: Labor markets in the Arab World Education and human resource development Youth transitions to adulthood... Read More

August, 2023

Working Papers
17
ERF-ILO Programme on Jobs and Growth in North Africa
Jobs and Growth in North Africa

Areas of Interest: Labor markets in the Arab World Education and human resource development Youth transitions to adulthood... Read More

2020-12-15

National Dialogue on the Social Protection System
Reimagining Social Protection in Jordan, Tunisia and Egypt

Areas of Interest: Labor markets in the Arab World Education and human resource development Youth transitions to adulthood... Read More

2020-11-17

Arab Spring Development Initiative (ASDI)
Employment and Unemployment in Tunisia

Areas of Interest: Labor markets in the Arab World Education and human resource development Youth transitions to adulthood... Read More

2015-06-15

Arab Spring Development Initiative (ASDI)
Labor Market Dynamics in MENA

Areas of Interest: Labor markets in the Arab World Education and human resource development Youth transitions to adulthood... Read More

2015-06-15

4
Annual Conferences
ERF 30th Annual Conference: Tragedies of Regional Conflicts and Promises of Peacebuilding

Areas of Interest: Labor markets in the Arab World Education and human resource development Youth transitions to adulthood... Read More

Apr 21, 2024

Webinars
Balancing Act: Jobs and Wages in the Middle East and North Africa When Crises Hit – Seminar on the World Bank’s MENA Economic Update

Areas of Interest: Labor markets in the Arab World Education and human resource development Youth transitions to adulthood... Read More

Nov 29, 2023

Conferences
Reimagining Social Protection in MENA

Areas of Interest: Labor markets in the Arab World Education and human resource development Youth transitions to adulthood... Read More

Nov 19, 2023

Webinars
Sudan Labor Market Panel Survey 2022 (SLMPS 2022) – Dissemination Webinar

Areas of Interest: Labor markets in the Arab World Education and human resource development Youth transitions to adulthood... Read More

Sep 18, 2023

Webinars
Dissemination of the Second Regional Report on Jobs and Growth in North Africa (2018 -21): Developments through the COVID-19 Era

Areas of Interest: Labor markets in the Arab World Education and human resource development Youth transitions to adulthood... Read More

Oct 24, 2022

4
Initiatives & Partnerships

Data Portal

http://www.erfdataportal.com/index.php/catalog

The Forum

ERF Policy Brief