From Privilege to Competition : Unlocking Private-Led Growth in the Middle East and North Africa

The report starts with an introductory chapter that sets the stage for the issues and provides a short historical background on the development of the private sector in Middle East and North Africa (MENA), drawing on anecdotes and stories heard from many entrepreneurs and public officials consulted throughout the region during the preparation of this report. The core of the analysis is then presented in three parts. Part one assesses the performance of private sector development in the region from a macroeconomic and microeconomic standpoint (chapter two). It then presents the framework that is used to explain the identified performance gap (chapter three) and uses this framework in (chapter four) to claim that the lack of private sector dynamism in MENA is not necessarily due to insufficient reforms, but rather to the discretionary way in which rules and policies are implemented, and the lack of credibility of governments to really level the playing field when applying their policies and reforms. Part two then illustrates how this issue of poor implementation of the policies translates in three key policy areas in the business environment of the region: access to finance (chapter five), access to land (chapter six), and the conduct of industrial policies (chapter seven). The aim is to show how the role of the state and its institutions, when diverted from their regulatory and administrative missions by special interests and when subject to discretionary influence, can distort policies that may otherwise be well designed and well intended. Part three analyzes the political economy of reforms in MENA (chapter eight) and uses this analysis to offer a set of strategic recommendations and concrete policy actions that take into account the region's diversity and political economy (chapter nine).

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	World Bank
Format:	Publication biblioteca
Language:	en_US
Published:	Washington, DC 2009
Subjects:	Competition, access to information, action plans, Availability of Credit, Bailouts, balance-of-payments crises, Bank Credit, Banking Sector, Banking Systems, barriers to competition, barriers to entry, beneficiaries, beneficiary, budget constraints, Business Associations, business entry, Business Environment, business information, business leaders, Business Manager, business managers, business regulations, Businesses, capital requirements, CD, central bank, checks, checks and balances, client countries, Collateral, Communications Development, competitiveness, conflicts of interest, conflicts of interests, Copyright, Copyright Clearance, Copyright Clearance Center, corporate governance, Corporation, country to country, CPI, Credibility, Credit Constraints, Credit Information, Credit Market, Credit Markets, Credit Rationing, Creditors, customs, data analysis, data availability, data coverage, decision making, decision-making institutions, Demand for Credit, democracies, developing country, Development Bank, e-government, E-mail, economic activities, economic activity, Economic Cooperation, economic crisis, Economic development, economic growth, economic integration, economic policies, employment creation, enterprise sector, Enterprise Surveys, entry barriers, entry requirements, exchange rate, exchange rate regimes, Export Growth, Export Markets, exporters, Finance Corporation, Financial Crisis, financial management, financial sector, Financial Statements, foreign competition, Foreign Direct Investment, Foreign investment, Foreign Ownership, Foreign Ownership of Banks, GDP, general public, global economic prospects, global economy, good governance, government policies, Government Subsidies, gross domestic product, growth rates, Growth Strategies, growth strategy, holding, human capital, id, identification number, incumbent, industrial development, information flows, innovation, innovations, inspection, Inspections, institution, International Bank, International comparisons, International Finance, international standard, Investment Bank, Investment Climate, investment decisions, Investment Rates, investors confidence, job creation, labor force, labor markets, Labor Productivity, lack of credibility, lan, level playing field, liberalization, licenses, local investors, local markets, macroeconomic management, macroeconomic policies, macroeconomic stability, Manufacturing, material, Medium Enterprise, menu, microenterprises, minimum capital requirements, Monetary Fund, multinational corporations, New Products, Nonperforming Loans, NPL, Oil, oil boom, oil prices, One-Stop Shop, one-stop shops, ownership structure, photo, policy decisions, policy makers, Political Economy, portfolios, private entities, Private Investment, private investors, private markets, private sector, private sector development, Private Sector Growth, private sector participation, privatization, privatizations, procurement, property rights, public administration, public administrations, public bank, public banks, public expenditures, public governance, public investment, public policies, Public Sector, public spending, quality of service, quality standards, queries, real estate, regulators, regulatory agencies, Regulatory Barriers, regulatory capacity, regulatory environment, regulatory frameworks, regulatory oversight, repo, Republic, Resource allocation, results, Return, returns, search, separation of powers, sla, small businesses, social development, social protection, state capture, state enterprises, State Intervention, state policies, Supervision, targets, Tax, tax exemptions, tax obligations, tax reform, telecommunications, Telephone, Trade policy, transition countries, Transparency, unemployment, uses, volatility, Wan, World Development Indicators, World Trade,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13524
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