News

By Insan Tunali While the standard definition of unemployment is useful for international comparisons, it may not be adequate for assessing the degree of labour market attachment in many developing countries...more

FELLOWSHIP Middle East Initiative   The Middle East Initiative offers one-year fellowships for research related to Middle Eastern governance and public policy. Priority will be given to applications pursuing one of these four primary areas of focus: (1) democratizing politics;... Read More

By Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel and Raimundo Soto Fiscal pro-cyclicality is a defining trait of many MENA countries and other emerging economies: public spending typically rises in good times and falls in bad times. This column reports research on the effectiveness of fiscal rules... Read More

By Ralph De Haas The microfinance industry continues to grow rapidly in the MENA region. This column reports research from across the world showing that giving people access to microcredit does not lead to significant declines in poverty...more

By Jeffrey Frankel Currency pegs in the Gulf economies have forced monetary policy to be pro-cyclical, exacerbating the effects of swings in the oil market on the business cycle. This column proposes a new exchange rate regime for...more

ERF held a special event with Prof. Martin Ravallion to address Global Poverty and Anti-Poverty Policies followed by discussion moderated by Dr. Ibrahim El Badawi, Economic Research Forum and Dr. Sherine El Shawarbi, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo... Read More

By Mohamed Ali Marouani To tackle the deficits in their pension systems, should governments in Arab countries raise social security contributions, reduce pension levels or increase the statutory retirement age?...more

By Mustafa Babiker The Paris Agreement on climate change has set ambitious targets for reducing the carbon footprints of the signatory countries. This column outlines the commitments and challenges for policy-makers in the Middle East and North Africa...more    

By Sergei Guriev What can reformers in the MENA region learn from the transition experiences of the formerly communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union?...more