ERF Journal

MEDJ – ERF Middle East Development Journal: June 2025

No.

Vol. 17, No. 1

Publisher

ERF and Taylor and Francis

Date

June, 2025

Abstract

Exports to jobs: Morocco’s trade patterns and local labor market outcomes Jaime Alfonso Roche Rodriguez, Gladys Lopez-Acevedo, Raymond Robertson & Daniela Ruiz Zárate

Morocco’s trade liberalization policies coincided with macroeconomic growth over the past two decades. The relationship between trade liberalization and individual-level labor market outcomes, however, are not well understood. By combining three complementary approaches... Pages: 1-34

The climate factor in Iranian migration patterns Mehdi Shiva & Hassan Molana

In this study, we conduct an empirical analysis of the link between inter-province migration and local climate conditions in Iran, utilising national census data from 1996 to 2011. We focus on two primary climatic indicators... Pages: 35-57

Out of pocket costs and financial hardships among breast cancer patients in Egypt: a pilot study Mennatollah Nagy Sharkawy, Hanan S. Zaky, Mahmoud Selim & Loay Kassem

Breast cancer shows high global prevalence with high mortality rates and hence high financial burden specifically in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). This pilot study took place in Egypt to quantify the out-of-pocket expenses and analyze the financial burden faced... Pages: 58-72

The gendered impact of migrants’ remittances on Morocco’s labour market: empirical evidence using propensity score matching Oussama Zennati

This article examines the impact of migrants’ remittances on the heterogeneity of Morocco's labour market, with a particular focus on their effect on gender inequalities. It seeks to highlight how remittances influence disparities between men and women... Pages: 73-101

Urban poverty in Saudi Arabia Miriam Al Lily & Hermann Waibel

This paper presents findings from one of the first independent socioeconomic household surveys conducted to study urban poverty among Saudi nationals. This survey was administered to 496 Saudi households in Dammam in 2019. The results highlight that education... Pages: 102-128

An economic analysis of the impact of labor productivity on the dynamics of total wages in Iraq for the period 1994–2021 Rafid F. Mohammed

The study employed the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) methodology to analyze the relationship between labor productivity and wages in Iraq from 1994 to 2021. The findings revealed a statistically weak relationship between productivity and wages, indicating that... Pages: 129-137

Macroeconomic shocks and stock market efficiency: a panel VAR study of Islamic and conventional stocks in Iran Taghi Ebrahimi Salari, Hadi Esmaeilpour Moghadam, Sepehr Maghsoudi, Sajjad Namvar & Amir Reza Sabri

This study investigates the differential responses of Islamic and conventional stocks to macroeconomic shocks in Iran, focusing on the impact of trade-related shocks – specifically, changes in exports and imports – on stock market efficiency. We analyze a comprehensive dataset spanning... Pages: 138-157

Loans versus bonds: do GCC firms benefit from going public? Nawaf Almaskati

We compare the yields on similar USD-denominated bonds and loans issued or obtained by firms in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries using manual matching and propensity scores matching procedures. We find that the average bond yield is lower than the average loan yield, with the difference... Pages: 158-168

Review Article The digital double bind by Mohamed Zayani and Joe F. Khalil, New York, Oxford University Press, 2024, 320 pp., $27.95 (paperback), ISBN: 9780197508633 Rodrigo Fuentes

Pages: 169-172

MEDJ – ERF Middle East Development Journal: June 2025

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