Front Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- About the Authors and Contributors -- Abbreviations -- Overview -- Introduction -- Notes -- 1 Too Little Too Late: Private Sector Growth and Labor Demand -- Economic Growth Has Been Moderate and Job Growth Weak -- Drivers of Job Growth: Young Firms and Productive Firms Create More Jobs -- MENA Needs a Larger Pool of Young Firms and Productive Firms -- Notes -- References -- 2 Distorted Dynamics: The Impact of Policies on Firm Dynamics and Job Growth -- Attracting FDI in Services Sparked Job Growth in Domestic Firms in Jordan -- Business Regulations Limit Employment Growth among Young Firms in Morocco -- Energy Subsidies in the Arab Republic of Egypt Discourage Growth in Labor-Intensive Industries -- Discriminatory Policy Implementation Deters a Level Playing Field in MENA -- Notes -- References -- 3 Avoiding the Pitfalls of Industrial Policy: Program Design in MENA and East Asia -- Industrial Policy in MENA Has Had Limited Success and Many Instances of Policy Capture -- What Did Successful Countries Do? The Case of the Republic of Korea -- Lessons from East Asia Are More Difficult to Implement than Is Commonly Understood -- Notes -- References -- 4 Privileges Instead of Jobs: Political Connections and Private Sector Growth in MENA -- Privileges to Politically Connected Firms Undermine Competition and Job Creation: Evidence from the Arab Republic of Egypt and Tunisia -- Available Qualitative Evidence Points to Similar Mechanisms of Policy Privileges in Other MENA Countries -- What Explains the Different Outcomes in MENA and East Asia? -- Notes -- References -- Implications for Policy -- Appendix A Economic Growth and Structural Transformation -- Appendix B Firm Censuses and Surveys: Countries, Time, and Sector Coverage.

Appendix C Share of Employment in Large Firms among State-Owned Enterprises and Foreign Firms -- Appendix D Employment Growth over Firms' Life Cycles: Manufacturing Sector -- Appendix E FDI Inflow and Employment in Jordan: Regression Analysis -- Appendix F Quality of Business Environment and Jobs in Morocco: Data, Methods, and Main Findings -- Appendix G Political Connections and Private Sector Growth in the Arab Republic of Egypt -- Boxes -- Figures -- Map -- Tables -- Back Cover.

The report Jobs or Privileges: Unleashing the Employment Potential of the Middle East and North Africa shows that policies that lower competition and create an uneven playing field are common and constrain private sector job creation. These policies take different forms across countries and sectors but share several common features: They limit free entry in the domestic market, exclude certain firms from government programs, increase regulatory burden and uncertainty on the majority of firms, insulate certain firms and sectors from foreign competition, and create incentives that discourage domestic firms from competing in international markets. Jobs or Privileges demonstrates that these policies are often captured by a few privileged firms with deep political connections and persist despite their cost to society. As such, MENA countries face a critical choice as they strive to generate greater private sector growth and more jobs: promote competition, provide equal opportunities for all entrepreneurs, and dismantle the current system of privileges for connected firms or risk perpetuating the current equilibrium of low job creation. However, the millions of workers, consumers, and the majority of entrepreneurs who bear the brunt of that cost are often unaware of the adverse effects of such policies on the jobs and economic opportunities to which they aspire. This lack of information and awareness limits the scope for the internal debate and policy dialogue necessary for reform.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2018. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.