While oil wealth has enriched some Middle East Arab nations, others that lack oil resources have remained poor and are looking now to their oil-rich neighbors for development assistance. This collection of studies on the economic, social, and political relationships between the haves and the have-nots in the Middle East focuses on Egypt-the largest state in the region-and on its prospects for change based on financial assistance from other Arab countries.The authors have many disagreements about the future of both rich and poor nations in the Middle East and considerable skepticism about the possibility of transforming Egypt, but they do agree that the future must be projected in the framework of a new regional order in which oil wealth, labor migration, and liberalized national economies are fundamental realities.

This book seeks to explain the political and religious factors leading to the economic reversal of fortunes between Europe and the Middle East.

Like the robber barons of the 19th century Gilded Age, a new and proliferating crop of billionaires is driving rapid development and industrialization in poor countries. The accelerated industrial growth spurs economic prosperity for some, but it also widens the gap between the super rich and the rest of the population, especially the very poor. In Rich People Poor Countries, Caroline Freund identifies and analyzes nearly 700 emerging-market billionaires whose net worth adds up to more than $2 trillion. Freund finds that these titans of industry are propelling poor countries out of their small-scale production and agricultural past and into a future of multinational industry and service-based mega firms. And more often than not, the new billionaires are using their newfound acumen to navigate the globalized economy, without necessarily relying on political connections, inheritance, or privileged access to resources. This story of emerging-market billionaires and the global businesses they create dramatically illuminates the process of industrialization in the modern world economy.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is an economically diverse region. Despite undertaking economic reforms in many countries, and having considerable success in avoiding crises and achieving macroeconomic stability, the region’s economic performance in the past 30 years has been below potential. This paper takes stock of the region’s relatively weak performance, explores the reasons for this out come, and proposes an agenda for urgent reforms.

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries price subsidies are common, especially on food and fuels. However, these are neither well targeted nor cost effective as a social protection tool, often benefiting mainly the better off instead of the poor and vulnerable. This paper explores the challenges of replacing generalized price subsidies with more equitable social safety net instruments, including the short-term inflationary effects, and describes the features of successful subsidy reforms.

The Arab world increasingly falls into two divisions, the capital-poor and the capital-rich countries (where capital means, in essence, oil). In the capital-rich countries shortage of labour is the chief constraint on growth. In the capital-poor countries analysis of the labour market is equally central, as shortage of labour compounds the already existing problem of shortage of capital. This book surveys the labour markets of the Arab world state by state, evaluating them by demand and supply analysis, and analysing the different elements in trends of employment. It forecasts the areas of stress in the next decade and suggests ways of minimising them. The book, based on much previously unpublished information and on extensive on-the-spot research in the respective Arab countries, sets out the economic and social conditions which underly the impending crisis of development in the Arab region. First published in 1980.

This revised and updated atlas provides accessible, concisely written entries on the most important current issues in the Middle East, combining original maps with their geopolitical background. Providing a clear context for analysis of key concerns, it includes background topics, the position of the Middle East in the world and profiles of the constituent countries.

Inside Inequality in the Arab Republic of Egypt: Facts and Perceptions Across People, Time, and Space comprises four papers prepared in the framework of the Egypt inequality study financed by the World Bank. The first paper, by Sherine Al-Shawarby, reviews the studies on inequality in Egypt since the 1950s with the double objective of illustrating the importance attributed to inequality through time and of presenting and compare the main published statistics on inequality. The second paper, by Branko Milanovic, turns to the global and spatial dimensions of inequality. The Egyptian society remains deeply divided across space and in terms of welfare, and this study unveils some of the hidden features of this inequality. The third paper, by Paolo Verme, studies facts and perceptions of inequality during the 2000-2009 period, which preceded the Egyptian revolution. The fourth paper, by Sahar El Tawila, May Gadallah, and Enas Ali A.El-Majeed, assesses the state of poverty and inequality among the poorest villages of Egypt. The paper attempts to explain the level of inequality in an effort to disentangle those factors that derive from household abilities from those factors that derive from local opportunities. Inside Inequality in the Arab Republic of Egypt provides some initial elements that could explain the apparent mismatch between inequality measured with household surveys and inequality aversion measured by values surveys. This is a particularly important and timely topic to address in light of the unfolding developments in the Arab region. The book should be of interest to any observer of the political and economic evolution of the Arab region in the past few years and to poverty and inequality specialists interested in a deeper understanding of the distribution of incomes in Egypt and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. World Bank Studies are available individually or on standing order. The World Bank Studies series is also available online through the Open Knowledge Repository (https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/) and the World Bank e-Library (www.worldbank.org/elibrary). Book jacket.

By examining economic development in the Middle East in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, this textbook introduces undergraduate and postgraduate students to the most pressing and topical economic issues in the contemporary Middle East. With comprehensive coverage of the entire region, the author examines the economic prospects for the Gulf and charts the growth of economic power in the region. Organised thematically, a full range of topics are discussed, including: the role of banks and capital markets in the region's development the impact of demographic changes, such as the dramatic decline in birth rates and the implications for future employment the development of economic advances in oil and gas production the effects of the region's economic development on international and inter-regional trade. Through discussing the region's problems of the past as well as the present and future challenges, this book provides students with a compact and manageable review of the state of economic development in the Middle East.

In its analysis of the process of state formation, this essay collection breaks new ground. Scholars from the Arab countries, Europe, and the United States present historical, economic, philosophical, and sociological perspectives on the Arab states today and offer new paradigms for understanding the region. These sixteen essays examine the roots of the contemporary Arab state system, the durability of that system, and the impact of its economic bases on its strengths and weaknesses. The influence of the various social classes and of key social groupings such as the military is also shown, and dispassionate, non-ideological views on the question of Arab integration are presented. This timely collection, interdisciplinary in its approach, brings new and insightful material to the area of Middle Eastern studies. It will be important reading for those seeking an understanding of this rapidly changing area, as well as for students of comparative political systems. In its analysis of the process of state formation, this essay collection breaks new ground. Scholars from the Arab countries, Europe, and the United States present historical, economic, philosophical, and sociological perspectives on the Arab states today and offer new paradigms for understanding the region. These sixteen essays examine the roots of the contemporary Arab state system, the durability of that system, and the impact of its economic bases on its strengths and weaknesses. The influence of the various social classes and of key social groupings such as the military is also shown, and dispassionate, non-ideological views on the question of Arab integration are presented. This timely collection, interdisciplinary in its approach, brings new and insightful material to the area of Middle Eastern studies. It will be important reading for those seeking an understanding of this rapidly changing area, as well as for students of comparative political systems.