Publication: Public Employment and Governance in Middle East and North Africa
Date
2016-05
ISSN
Published
2016-05
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
Government wage bills have been growing
across the world, but are exceptionally high in the MENA
region relative to countries’ state of development, whether
measured as a share of GDP, or of government revenue and
spending (World Bank, 2004). Across the region government
wage bills threaten fiscal sustainability. There are many
drivers behind the large wage bills, whether of central
government alone or of general government. Government
employment numbers also seem to grow inexorably, in many
areas faster than required to deliver services in line with
population growth. Other factors have been weak staff
control systems, the authorization of new recruitment
outside budget frameworks, and laxly applied staff
performance assessment systems, in addition to absenteeism,
and the difficulty under public service rules of
disciplining and ultimately terminating poorly performing
staff. This paper takes a look at government wage bill
growth, alongside current approaches to recruitment, staff
performance assessments and promotions, with particular
emphasis on Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. These country
examples are complemented by a broader regional analysis to
illustrate overarching trends in public sector
employment.The objective is to identify the various forces
at work, how they interact, and thereby document and
understand better the dynamic of public sector wage bill
expansion in the Middle East as well as potential linkages
to public sector performance. The paper also looks at
reform efforts, extracts lessons and identify potential
reform options to better control wage bill growth and the
unbalancing effects it has had on the efficiency and
effectiveness of government spending generally. Furthermore,
while the paper does not present a comprehensive overview of
the nature of public employment in MENA, it aims to identify
potential areas for further research in this domain.
Citation
“World Bank. 2016. Public Employment and Governance in Middle East and North Africa. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25181 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”