Synopses & Reviews
The economies of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are in dire need of substantial institutional reform to improve their growth performance so as to create enough jobs for millions of entrants into their respective job markets, and to fight poverty and income inequality. This is necessary not only to reduce the risk of social unrest and domestic/regional conflicts, but also to assure stability of energy supply to the rest of the world and to hamper the violence originating from the region. So, the region's convergence to global standards of governance quality is desirable for increased prosperity and stability both in the region and outside. This volume contributes to the recently burgeoning political economy literature on institutions by putting together well-written chapters that empirically study the relationship between economic performance and institutional characteristics in MENA economies to point out some of the areas where institutional reform is particularly needed and possible tools to use for such reform. Perhaps one common lesson that can be derived from all chapters in the volume is that the both the region itself and the global economy will benefit from a MENA region that is better integrated to the rest.
Synopsis
This book investigates the performance of the economies of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), focusing in particular on the role of corruption and the underlying institutional structure in determining economic growth and the prospects for development.
Serdar Seyan explores the relationship between institutional factors and growth and development, comparing the experiences of the MENA countries with the rest of the world. He then analyzes, on the basis of detailed empirical data, the impact of these forces in the MENA countries, considering important factors such as democratic accountability, judicial system efficiency, military involvement in politics and corruption. The volume considers their implications for important areas of economic performance including fiscal and monetary structures, private investment, foreign direct investment and trade; arguing that the low levels of private and foreign direct investment can, to a significant extent, be attributed to the character of institutional governance structures in the region. It demonstrates how the maintenance of relatively high levels of trade barriers has been fuelled by corruption and considers the prospects and viable pathways for institutional reform.