MEDJ – ERF Middle East Development Journal: December 2021

• Growth in Syria: losses from the war and potential recovery in the aftermath

Sharmila Devadas, Ibrahim Elbadawi & Norman V. Loayza

This paper addresses three questions: (1) what would have been the growth and income trajectory of Syria in the absence of war; (2) given the war, what explains the reduction in economic growth; and (3) what potential growth scenarios for Syria there could be in the aftermath of war... Pages: 215-244

• On the nexus between economic growth and bank-based financial development: evidence from Morocco

Ahmed Kchikeche & Ouafaà Khallouk

In this paper, we investigate the causal link between bank-based financial development and economic growth in Morocco between 2003 and 2018 using a vector autoregression framework. We test for causality between economic... Pages: 245-264

• An inquiry into the regional unemployment disparities in Tunisia: a spatial Durbin model

Khaled Jeguirim

This study uses a spatial Durbin model in identifying possible causes of the overdispersion into regional unemployment in Tunisia. Data properties were identified using exploratory spatial data analysis which indicates significant... Pages: 265-291

• New measure of catastrophic health expenditures with application on rural Egypt

Suzan Abdel-Rahman & Mohamed R. Abonazel

Reducing Out-of-pocket (OOP) health payments is an essential element to protect households from financial risks and eradicate extreme poverty. This paper aimed to provide a new approach for measuring catastrophic health expenditure (CHE)... Pages: 292-317

• Unemployment hysteresis in Middle East and North Africa countries: panel SUR-based unit root test with a Fourier function

Oladapo Gbenga Awolaja, OlaOluwa Simon Yaya, Ahamuefula Ephraim Ogbonna, Solomon Onuche Joseph & Xuan Vinh Vo

Unemployment hysteresis of Middle East and North African (MENA) countries is investigated under a battery of unit root testing frameworks in the extant literature, including a recently proposed Panel SUR Dickey-Fuller-like unit root test...  Pages: 318-334

• Labor demand shocks, unemployment, and suicide: evidence from provinces across Iran

Hamid Noghanibehambari, Nahid Tavassoli & Farzaneh Noghani

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between the unemployment rate and suicide rate using data from all provinces of Iran and over the years 2009–2015. We exploit the variations in national industry-specific labor demand...  Pages: 335-346

• A decomposition analysis of total factor productivity growth in MENA countries: stochastic frontier analysis approach

Mushtaq Ahmad Malik & Tariq Masood

The present study aims to examine the output and total factor productivity (TFP) growth by estimating a stochastic frontier production function for a panel of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, and to decompose TFP growth...  Pages: 347-366