Private Sector Job Creation in MENA: Prioritizing the Reform Agenda

By Benedicte Baduel, Carolin Geginat, Gaelle Pierre

September 27, 2019

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Format: Chicago

Benedicte Baduel, Carolin Geginat, and Gaelle Pierre. Private Sector Job Creation in MENA: Prioritizing the Reform Agenda, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2019) accessed December 21, 2024

Disclaimer: IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

This paper examines the extent to which firms in selected MENA countries reported being constrained by the business environment around the time of the Arab Spring and the extent to which these constraints affected their employment performance. The results suggest that small firms in MENA faced more structural constraints than similar firms in other regions. We also find that MENA firms’ weaker job creation can be explained in great part by the macroeconomic environment and structural constraints. Low GDP growth, falling external competitiveness, corruption, lack of access to finance and poor access to electricity are found to explain a significant part of the lack of employment growth in MENA firms compared to their peers.

Subject: Business environment, Commodities, Economic sectors, Electricity, Employment, Job creation, Labor, Labor productivity, Production

Keywords: Arab Countries in Transition, Business environment, Central and Eastern Europe, Credit constraint, Electricity, Employment, Employment creation, Employment growth, Employment performance, Enterprise survey, Firm exit, Firms' characteristic, Firms in Mena, Job creation, Labor productivity, Medium-sized firm, MENA, Micro firm, Private sector, SMEs, World Bank enterprise survey, World Bank enterprises survey, WP

Publication Details

Pages:

37
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2019/206
Stock No:

WPIEA2019206
ISBN:

9781513512228
ISSN:

1018-5941

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