Arab Spring Development Initiative (ASDI)

Since political upheaval rocked the Arab World in the context of the Arab Spring, several countries have been facing daunting challenges. These include a difficult democratization process, deteriorating social and economic conditions and, in many cases, limited knowledge about the best policy options to meet rising aspirations for greater and shared prosperity. These challenges have been compounded by various factors including the lack of research on topical issues and the scarcity of micro data. To help overcome these challenges, ERF launched the “Arab Spring Development Initiative” (ASDI), a three-year research program supported by the World Bank and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development.

ASDI focuses on three main areas of activity namely: (i) open access data, (ii) knowledge creation, and (iii) policy dialogues.

Open Access Data: This new platform follows in the footsteps of the successful World Bank initiative on making data available to researchers and policymakers alike. ERF will capitalize on its knowledge of the region to focus on the Arab countries, where micro data is generally neither available nor accessible. This is a huge undertaking that responds directly to the Arab Spring demand for more transparency and accountability.

Knowledge Creation: Emphasis in this area will be on four themes that are of critical importance to the region at this juncture in its development. These are: The Economics and Politics of Arab Awakening Inequality, Employment, and Natural Resources and Economic Diversification.

Policy Dialogues: Under this activity, a variety of platforms for policy discussions will be created, covering varying topics and stakeholders as well as tools and formats to maximize impact.  In particular, ERF seeks to broaden its channels of communication and expand the use of social media tools, which have proven instrumental in the buildup to the Arab Spring and during the transitions. A set of activities will be initiated such as: national dialogues, development debates and policy briefs, with the aim of informing the policy debate on issues of regional interest.

The Impact of Fiscal Policy on Inequality and Poverty in the Arab Countries, Iran and Turkey

The main objective of this study to analyze the impact of taxation and public spending (funded with local... Read More

June 15,2015

How did Trade Policy Affect Inequality in the MENA Region?

This project analyzes the impact of trade liberalization on household income, employment and consumption in MENA countries focusing... Read More

June 15,2015

The Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers on Labor Supply: Evidence From Iran’s Energy Subsidy Reform Program

This project studies the impact of an extensive unconditional cash transfer program in Iran on incentives to work.... Read More

June 15,2015

The Distributional Effects of Trade Policy in Tunisia

The main aim of this project is to estimate the distributional effects of trade policy at the micro... Read More

June 15,2015

Sovereign wealth funds: stabilization, investment strategies and lessons for oil-rich Arab economies

In view of their dependence on the intrinsically temporary and highly volatile hydrocarbon sector of the economy, many... Read More

June 15,2015

Implications of the “Fracking Revolution”

The oil price which has hovered around US$ 110 over the past four years, has now slid to... Read More

June 15,2015

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Fiscal Institutions and Macroeconomic Management in Resource-Rich Arab Economies

This project seeks to examine the role that budget institutions and the rules and procedures that govern them... Read More

June 15,2014

Undervaluation and firm-level exports diversification in Arab countries

The first objective of this research is to explore the economic impact of three reform scenarios and the... Read More

June 15,2014

Demographic Change, Fiscal Policy and Pension Systems in MENA Countries

This project examines the links between demographic change and fiscal policy regarding social security and education. Pension systems... Read More

June 15,2014

Contribution Density Determinants and Labor Market Effects of Pension Reform in Tunisia

The first objective of this research is to explore the economic impact of three reform scenarios and the... Read More

June 15,2014

The Impact of Pension and Social Assistance on Poverty and Inequality: Evidence from Egypt

This study takes advantage of available panel data from Egypt Labor Market Panel Surveys for 1998, 2006 and... Read More

June 15,2014

Assessing the Effect of Subsidizing Private Pension Participation on Aggregate Savings and Other Macroeconomic Outcomes: Theory and Evidence from Turkey

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of social security reform in Turkey, which provides... Read More

June 15,2014

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