Conference Paper
Mental Health and Income Inequality in the MENA Region: Understanding the Role of Good Governance and Economic Growth
No.
ERF32AC_124
Publisher
ERF
Date
May, 2026
The study aims to investigate the relationship between income inequality and mental health by understanding the role of economic growth and good governance in the MENA region. The study adopted panel data analysis from 2021 to 2024 in 10 MENA region countries. It tests for the pooled OLS, the fixed effects, and the random effects. The tests proved that the fixed effects model is the most appropriate way to measure this relationship, as the differences between countries are crucial for this relationship. The study results show that income inequality and work productivity are negatively and significantly affecting mental health in the MENA region. Two sub-indicators of WGI; voice and accountability, and controlling corruption, along with economic growth, are positively and significantly affecting mental health. Economic control variables, namely FDI, inflation rate and unemployment rate, are insignificant factors for mental health. Furthermore, HDI is negatively and significantly affecting mental health in the MENA region. Urgent policies are needed to provide care and support for mental health and social systems to preserve human capital in the MENA region.
Authors
Wasseem Rizkallah
Associate Professor of Economics, Thebes Higher Institute...
Authors
Marwa Sweilam
Economics Assistant Professor, Thebes Academy for Computer...