Publication: Unlocking the Employment Potential in the Middle East and North Africa : Toward a New Social Contract
Date
2004
ISSN
Published
2004
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
The book focuses on the future
prosperity of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
region, which together with other companion volumes-on trade
and investment, governance, and gender-contributes to
ongoing debates, and dialogues about development in the
region, and the development challenges that would allow it
to unlock its rich potential for prosperity. Through an
introduction to the labor market outcomes in the post-World
War Two period, the book presents a comparative perspective
on the evolution of State vs. labor relations in the region,
defines the social contract within its characteristics, and
the external factors that contribute to it. State
regulations and interventions were extensive, and, it is
stipulated the economic future of the region will largely be
determined by the fate of its labor markets. The book
provides a comprehensive account of recent employment
outcomes, and, outlines the policy reforms required to
improve the performance of the region's labor markets.
But the book goes beyond a technical discussion of labor
market outcomes, and investigates the broader
political-economic aspects of state-society relations. It
integrates questions on how to build vibrant labor markets,
and restore the region's growth performance, into a
framework that also addresses issues of population dynamics,
socioeconomic trends, employment regulations, the quality of
institutions, opportunities in the world economy, and the
impact of a redistributive social contract on prospects of reform.
Citation
“World Bank. 2004. Unlocking the Employment Potential in the Middle East and North Africa : Toward a New Social Contract. MENA Development Report;. © Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/15011 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”