News

By Caroline Krafft and Ragui Assaad Policy discussions about the health of Egypt’s labour market focus almost exclusively on one indicator: the unemployment rate. This column argues that the unemployment rate is a poor indicator...more

By Nelly El Mallakh and Jackline Wahba Far from causing ‘brain drain’ in the developing world, temporary migration can lead to a ‘brain gain’ for the sending countries. This column reports research on Egypt showing that migrants...more

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