This report provides a high-level overview of the key findings and insights contained in the report, “Waste Management in the Middle East and North Africa”. The report draws on new data from the 19 MENA countries and 26 cities, and analyzes the performance of, and challenges in, solid waste...

This article investigates the dynamic interrelationships between the shadow economy, inflation, and economic growth in 15 countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region over the period 1991-2017. The study employs a simultaneous equations framework estimated through the Three-Stage...

This study empirically investigates the determinants of financial success for startups engaged in impact versus conventional investment, performing a landscape analysis of the MENA region's financial ecosystem. Using the total equity funding amount (TEFA) as a performance proxy, we analyzed data...

This study examined how ESG has influenced credit growth across MENA countries/regions and investigated the extent to which bank size and Islamic banking influence this relationship. Using panel data from 42 listed banks across 10 MENA countries (367 bank-year observations from 2010-2023), the...

Countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are varied in their political systems and geography—factors that have shaped their economic development and tax policy choices. This diversity means that taxation must be tailored to local factors and constraints. This book surveys...

What are the key determinants of firm growth in developing countries? Using firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys (WBES) spanning 2010-2024, we examine the impact of three distinct categories of factors on firm growth dynamics: (1) firm-level characteristics, (2) contextual...

The worldwide move toward renewable energy indicates a fundamental change that is particularly important in the MENA region, which has abundant renewable resources and has depended on hydrocarbon economies. This study presents an empirical examination of key macroeconomic determinants-inflation,...

Background: This study revisits whether oil revenue windfalls translate into higher socio-economic welfare in oil-exporting economies and explains why oil price booms often fail to generate sustained gains in real GDP per capita. Methods: Using annual data for ten oil-exporting countries over...

This study examines the heterogeneous effects of key macroeconomic determinants on economic growth in selected MENA economies using a pooled quantile regression framework. Unlike conventional mean-based approaches, this method captures variation across different segments of the conditional...

This paper provides a historical perspective on comparatively low levels of trade in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, focusing on studies addressing the impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Our literature review identifies best practices and reviews trade potential...

This study takes a critical look at Franco-German relations in the field of international cooperation along the entire humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) spectrum to better gauge the usefulness of bilateral collaborative action in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Both the corresponding...

This report's focus on fiscal matters complements ongoing work on megatrends involving labor markets, skills, demographics and climate (KP-1) and institutional matters (KP-2). The present KP-3 is not meant to be exhaustive in discussing the full range of financing and spending details in the...

Low investments in human development (HD) are both a cause and a consequence of economic performance and income growth. Thriving populations in knowledge societies are skilled, mobile, healthy, and connected. However, in most countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, human...

This paper explores how the three megatrends will affect the people of MENA and how, through emerging Human Development (HD) policies, the region can shape these trends and harness new opportunities while managing the risks. It first delves into the impacts of aging, climate change, and...

Growing geopolitical risks (GPR) and tensions affecting economic performance can significantly influence sustainable development outcomes. However, previous studies do not address whether GPR hinders sustainable development, assessed through a unique sustainable development metric, the load...

In response to the scarce evidence regarding herd behaviour in emerging and frontier debt markets, this paper investigates the potential mispricing of MENA sovereign risk. We explore whether this mispricing results from international investor herding, where MENA debt assets are collectively...

This paper examines the spillover effects of policy uncertainty in Lebanon on stock market volatility in seven MENA countries using a network connectedness approach. For this purpose, it constructs an economic policy uncertainty index for Lebanon using data extracted from Twitter (now X) for the...

The rapid accumulation of public debt raises global concern over its implications for financial markets. This study examines the effect of domestic public debt on financial development in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, a region marked by sharp heterogeneity in institutions, debt...

This study examines herding behavior in six MENA stock markets, with a focus on the impact of geopolitical risks and downward/upward market conditions during COVID-19/non-COVID-19 periods. Empirical results reveal significant differences among MENA countries regarding herding behavior and the...

To what extent are green and digital skills being demanded in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)? We answer this question using over 276,000 online job postings between January 2022 and March 2023 across six MENA countries. We triangulate these data with selected labor force survey data and...

The Middle East and North Africa region faces severe water scarcity, intensified by climate change and growing demand. This paper explores desalination as a key adaptation strategy, with a focus on emerging issues and opportunities for middle- and low-income countries. It provides guidance to...

This study investigates factors shaping FDI inflows in the MENA region from 1996 to 2021, employing static and dynamic panel data models. A composite institutional quality index, created via Principal Component Analysis, reveals a positive long-term effect on FDI. However, voice and...

This paper examines the long-term impacts of early-life drought exposure on the human capital and socioeconomic outcomes of women born in the Arab Republic of Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco across more than five decades. Using a pooled cross-section of 13 rounds of the Demographic and Health...

This paper examines the impact of negative precipitation shocks (droughts) on labor markets in the Middle East and North Africa region. Using Labor Force Survey data across five countries over approximately 25 years and matched with fifth generation of atmospheric reanalysis produced by the...

Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, including wind and solar power, is a validated approach for mitigating carbon emissions. To maximize renewable energy potential and account for costs and impacts of low carbon energy transitions, research models or modelling tools must...

This policy brief uses data from those efforts to document the role social norms play to support (or hinder) female labor force participation in a sample of MENA countries. Data was collected in Egypt, the Republic of Iraq, Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia between...

This paper examines the impacts of observed versus uncertain (stochastic) institutional quality of corporate debt financing. This paper compares the impacts of two distinct levels of institutional quality in developed and developing economies. World governance indicators (WGIs) are used as...

This study investigates the impact of financial technology (Fintech) on bank stability in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Utilizing panel data from 94 banks in 10 countries over a 13-year period from 2011 to 2023, this research employs panel GMM regression to examine the relationship...

In natural resource-dependent economies, global resource price volatility makes financial systems more vulnerable to economic shocks. The relationship between natural resource rent and bank stability lies in how fluctuations in resource revenues can affect financial institutions' stability. The...

Using panel data spanning 2004-2023 of 21 countries in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, we measure systemic risk and assess its influence on key banking sector performance indicators, including financial stability (proxied by commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults), providing...

This research explores the impact of ownership structure on the financial performance of Leveraged Buyout (LBO) transactions in the MENA region, a key emerging market region. Drawing on agency theory by Jensen & Meckling and the capital structure theory of Modigliani and Miller, the study...

Achieving a more inclusive financial system is crucial to unlocking economic opportunities, reducing inequality, and ensuring that no person will be excluded from access and usage of financial and banking services. Even if financial services are widely available in some areas, others, especially...