Economy
Police Legitimacy and Homicide: A Macro-Comparative Analysis
“This study tests the claim that police legitimacy affects the prevalence of homicide. Using a cross-national time-series dataset of 100 countries, I conduct a statistical analysis of the association between the extent to which the public perceives the police as legitimate and the homicide rate. The analysis suggests that police legitimacy has a substantial, negative association with homicide rates, consistent…
Review: Le dinar algérien, passé et présent: aspects de la politique monétaire et financière de l’Algérie
“Bader Eddine Nouioua, who served as governor of the Central Bank of Algeria from 1985 to 1989, has written a primer to explain Algerian money and banking to the public. And there is much to explain, as banking and finance are often blamed as key impediments to Algerian development. The banking system was singled out for early reform in 1986,…
Saudi Arabia plans for its economic future: Vision 2030, the National Transformation Plan and Saudi fiscal reform
“In response to a rapid decline in world oil prices, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman introduced a new economic blueprint called Saudi Vision 2030 and the accompanying National Transformation Plan that would enable the Kingdom to diversify its heavily oil-dependent revenue base, reduce its growing budget deficits, balance its budgets, and promote long-term economic growth. This article analyses…
Arab spring protests and women’s labor market outcomes: Evidence from the Egyptian revolution
“We analyze the effects of the 2011 Egyptian protests on the relative labor market conditions of women using panel data from the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey (ELMPS). Using unique information from the Statistical Database of the Egyptian Revolution, we geocode each “martyr”, i.e. demonstrators who died during the protests, based on the location of the political incident. We construct…
The Tunisian Revolution as a Catalyst to the Arab Spring: A Case Study of Revolution in North Africa and the Middle East
“This thesis research project is an attempt to understand the nature, sources, dynamics, and contradictions of the Tunisian Revolution of 2010-11. Contained within the thesis are seven chapters, each outlining political, economic, cultural, and social phenomena that precipitated the Revolution, as well as the dynamics following the Revolution. Chapter 1 provides a discussion of various competing theoretical perspectives on social…
Syrian Refugees in Jordan and Lebanon: Under the Shadow of Palestinian Refugees
“I examine whether a special geographical location (environments around Palestinian refugee camps) is associated with policy gaps in Jordan and Lebanon by analyzing the perceptions of Syrians and host societies. Using the Arab Barometer 2016 data, I find that environments around the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon have become places where government policies cannot reach, leading to geographical discrepancies in…
The Inconvenient Facts Hindering a New Approach to Refugee Assistance Program — the Labor Potential of Syrian Refugees in Jordan
“Due to the ongoing conflict, most Syrian refugees have fled to countries that neighbor Syria and the governments of these developing countries are now the principal entities for implementing Syrian refugee policies. These policies accommodate refugees in camps or provide refugees with residency in urban areas, but impose severe restrictions on their employment. Betts and Collier, professors at the University…
The Arab Spring Five Years Later Volume One : Toward Greater Inclusiveness
“Since the series of uprisings of the Arab Spring began, the debate in Arab countries has focused almost exclusively on politics and questions of national identity. However, it is economic issues that are driving the agenda, and real economic grievances must be addressed in order for the many transitions to succeed. Hafez Ghanem gives a thorough assessment of the Arab…
Increasing Entrepreneurial Impact in the MENA Region
“This chapter treats countries of Middle East and of North Africa (MENA) as two similar but culturally distinct sub-regions of MENA. Using data collected by academics and international organisations (e.g. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, OECD, UNDP), Qatar, U.A.E., Jordan in the Middle East, and Morocco in North Africa, emerge as the countries most likely to have the potential to develop a…
INSTABILITY IN THE SOUTH
“The Arab uprisings of 2011 (and their national aftermaths) have led to a collapse of the regional order, thus transforming the Southern Mediterranean shores into a basin of persistent instability. The continuing volatility and conflicts in NATO’s southern neighbourhood directly affect the security of the Alliance. Threats emanating from terrorist groups and the migration crisis are largely due to economic,…
Multiple fragmentations de la Méditerranée : quelles perspectives pour la sécurité régionale? (French)
“Double fragmentation on the southern and northern scale: what consequences? The Mediterranean is a space of ideological tensions, economic disparities and security tensions. Security is a strong common priority for the peoples and governments of the region. How can it become a common constructive project for the future?”
Outsourcing Welfare. how the Money Immigrants Send Home Contributes to Stability in Developing Countries
“In order to meet the International Monetary Fund’s debt-reduction guidelines, many developing country governments have had to retrenth their social welfare systems. This text is about how remittances – the hundreds of billions of dollars international migrants send to family members in their home countries each year – are helping to fill this welfare gap and prevent civil unrest in…
Envy and the Islamic revival: Experimental evidence from Tunisia
“I design and conduct a survey with an embedded lab-in-the-field experiment to test whether envy triggers popular support for the Islamic revival using a nationally representative sample of 600 Tunisians. Individuals exposed to high inequality may feel envious if they perceive that the success of others is granted rather than earned. Thus, envious individuals may be motivated to engage in…