Publications

Do female entrepreneurs in MENA countries face obstacles to funding their businesses, either through self-selection or discrimination? A literature review reveals controversial evidence thereof but, to date, no paper has tackled this funding issue for female entrepreneurs in MENA countries from a dynamic perspective. Three pooled samples, from the 2013 and 2019 World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES), and a cohort over 2013-2020, include three North African countries (Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia) and three Middle East countries (Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine); they document the financial behaviour of both owners and managers, according to gender. Probit regressions address loan demand (including Heckman probit) and loan supply, with respect to self-selection versus discrimination. In 2013, there is neither self-selection nor discrimination for female entrepreneurs, whereas female entrepreneurs are prone to self-selection in 2019, compared to their male counterparts. Self-selection behaviour from the demand side does not result from discrimination on the supply side. Sampling biases in the WBES, together with the characteristics of female clients of microfinance institutions, suggest that micro-entrepreneurs would have experienced self-selection and, possibly discrimination, regarding credit.

The social and solidarity economy, through cooperative structures, has been promoted for its potential to reduce poverty, enhance economic inclusion and provide alternative solutions to labour market issues in developing countries. Nevertheless, very few empirical evaluations of their impact exist. We build an original qualitative and quantitative survey on the population of cooperatives in different sectors in Morocco and estimate the determining factors of their turnover growth, accounting for sample selection bias, as well as their survival rate. Findings point to the existence of three levels of determinants affecting (i) internal factors, (ii) management (president) and (iii) external factors (legal and market environment). We underline the sector’s fragility, the possibility of the existence of negative signaling, the heterogeneity between actors and outcomes and the weak role played by women in leadership positions.

The COVID-19 outbreak hit an unprepared world in February 2020. The pandemic shined a spotlight on the deficiencies of healthcare systems. In response, governments initiated a variety of containment measures, thereby affecting the lives and livelihoods of millions of citizens.

The objectives of this study are to analyse the evolution of the pandemic during 2021 and the adopted policy measures, investigate the resilience of the healthcare sectors in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, and Tunisia (referred to as the target countries) and the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, and investigate the socioeconomic consequences of this shock.

This study was authored by EMEA President Prof. Rym Ayadi and EMEA researchers Dr. Yeganeh Forouheshfar and Sara Ronco and it was published by the Regional Program Political Dialogue South Mediterranean of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS PolDiMed).  The study was conducted by KAS PolDiMed in collaboration with the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA).

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