What is so specific with Middle-East and North-African pattern of growth and structural change? A quantitative comparative analysis

This paper quantitatively compares Middle East and North African (MENA) countries’ growth patterns with those of a sample of middle-income countries. Three complementary sets of growth determinants are tested: accumulation, institutions and structural change. After having estimated the model on a sample of middle income countries, our comparative analysis shows that MENA economies sharply contrast with other middle income emerging economies with respect to two main dimensions: (1) the sectoral structure of production and (2) the institutional environment. The assumption of complementary effect of the accumulation, institutional and structural growth determinants is also tested. We show that the MENA pattern of growth exhibits structural weaknesses, like the combination of a low pace of structural change and high corruption levels, which may have hindered the expansion of highly productive job, and possibly bred massive discontent in the region.