This is a cross-post of a piece written by Kaouthar Gazdar (PhD in Economics, University of Sousse) & Hajer Kratou (PhD student in Economics, University of Carthage & University of Auvergne)
Crony capitalism in Egypt
The second session of the ERF workshop on “The political economy of transformation in the ERF region” introduced two important papers by Ishaq Diwan (Harvard Kennedy School) and Ragui Assaad (University of Minnesota, USA).
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Ishac Diwan (Harvard Kennedy School, USA)[/caption]
Entitled “Crony capitalism in Egypt”, Diwan’s study analyzes the nature and extent of Egyptian “crony” capitalism by comparing the corporate performance and the stock market valuation of politically connected and unconnected firms, before and after the 2011 popular uprising that led to the end of President Mubarak 30 years rule.
By looking closely at capitalism in Egypt, the paper is an attempt to understand why Arab capitalism has not been very dynamic; in other words the reasons behind the low performance and innovation of firms.
Making Sense of Arab Labor Markets: The Enduring Legacy of Dualism
The second part of the session was dedicated to Ragui Assaad who presented his paper “Making Sense of Arab Labor Markets: The Enduring Legacy of Dualism”. Assaad investigates the consequences of the nature of the Arab region’s economy on the outcomes of the labor market.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300"]
Ragui Assaad (University of Minnesota, USA)[/caption]
He argues that common characteristics shared by the Arab labor markets; such as oversized public sector, high unemployment for educated youth and weak private sector, as well as the low quality of the education system, can be explained by the deep and persistent dualism that characterizes these markets. Such dualism is the result of the use of labor markets by the Arab regimes as a tool of political appeasement in the context of the “authoritarian bargain” social contract that they have struck with their citizens in the post-independence period.
Read more of this post
Watch our interview with Ishac Diwan
Watch our interview with Ragui Assaad
Ishac Diwan (Harvard Kennedy School, USA)[/caption]
Entitled “Crony capitalism in Egypt”, Diwan’s study analyzes the nature and extent of Egyptian “crony” capitalism by comparing the corporate performance and the stock market valuation of politically connected and unconnected firms, before and after the 2011 popular uprising that led to the end of President Mubarak 30 years rule.
By looking closely at capitalism in Egypt, the paper is an attempt to understand why Arab capitalism has not been very dynamic; in other words the reasons behind the low performance and innovation of firms.
Making Sense of Arab Labor Markets: The Enduring Legacy of Dualism
The second part of the session was dedicated to Ragui Assaad who presented his paper “Making Sense of Arab Labor Markets: The Enduring Legacy of Dualism”. Assaad investigates the consequences of the nature of the Arab region’s economy on the outcomes of the labor market.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300"] Ragui Assaad (University of Minnesota, USA)[/caption]
He argues that common characteristics shared by the Arab labor markets; such as oversized public sector, high unemployment for educated youth and weak private sector, as well as the low quality of the education system, can be explained by the deep and persistent dualism that characterizes these markets. Such dualism is the result of the use of labor markets by the Arab regimes as a tool of political appeasement in the context of the “authoritarian bargain” social contract that they have struck with their citizens in the post-independence period.
Read more of this post
Watch our interview with Ishac Diwan
Watch our interview with Ragui Assaad