World Bank2014-08-142014-08-142014-02https://hdl.handle.net/10986/19323Located in the heart of the North African coastline, adjacent to vital shipping channels connecting Europe and Asia, Tunisia has long been a regional economic influence in the Middle East and North Africa. Although socialist policies dominated the Tunisian economy throughout the latter half of the 20th century, Tunisia has re-focused its economic strategy on key indicators such as foreign investment, domestic job creation, exports and tourism. These have become the backbone of the Tunisian economy and have helped strengthen relationships with primary trading partners in the European Union. Exports such as textiles, computer arts and petrochemicals now account for a significant portion of the Tunisian economy. This liberal economic development strategy created years of stable annual growth and improved living standards well into the 2000s. However, this growth was unequal due to a culture of corruption and cronyism that reached its height during the era of former President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali from 1987 through 2011. Years of progressive economic growth were stymied by rising unemployment and government waste. Discontent for the Ben Ali government boiled over in January 2011 with a revolution to overthrow the president, ruling party and Parliament. In the ensuing months of uncertainty, declines in tourism and investment contributed to an overall economic decline that lasted throughout much of the year. The political climate also remained uncertain as Tunisians worked to form a new coalition government and transition into a democratic system.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO FINANCEACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICESACCESS TO FINANCINGACCESS TO INFORMATIONACCOUNTABILITYACCOUNTINGAGE GROUPAGRICULTUREALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCYANGEL INVESTORSAUDITINGAVERAGE EDUCATION LEVELBANK CREDITBANK EXPOSUREBANK FINANCINGBANKING SECTORBANKING SYSTEMBANKRUPTCYBANKSBASKET OF GOODSBENCHMARKBENCHMARKINGBORROWINGBUSINESS DEVELOPMENTCOLLATERALCOLLATERAL REQUIREMENTSCOLLEGE GRADUATESCOMPETITIVE PRESSURECOMPETITIVE PRESSURESCOMPETITIVENESSCONSUMERSCORRUPTIONCREATIVE DESTRUCTIONCREDIT INFORMATIONCREDIT REGISTRYCREDIT RISKCREDITSDEVELOPMENT POLICYDEVELOPMENT STRATEGYDIVERSIFICATIONDOMESTIC MARKETDRIVERSEARNINGSECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC INTEGRATIONEDUCATION LEVELSEDUCATION SYSTEMEDUCATIONAL LEVELEMERGING MARKETSEMPLOYEEEMPLOYERSENTERPRISE GROWTHENTREPRENEURSENTREPRENEURSHIPENTRY RATEEQUITY INVESTMENTSEXCHANGE RATEEXCHANGE RATESEXCLUSIONEXPENDITUREEXPORT GROWTHEXPORT MARKETEXPORT MARKETSEXPORTSFACTOR MARKETSFINANCIAL CRISISFINANCIAL DISTRESSFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL MANAGEMENTFINANCIAL SECTORFINANCIAL SECTOR ASSESSMENTFINANCIAL SERVICESFINANCIAL SYSTEMFIRM DYNAMICSFIRM DYNAMISMFIRM ENTRYFIRM PERFORMANCEFIRM SIZEFIRM TURNOVERFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTFOREIGN FIRMSFOREIGN INVESTMENTFOREIGN-OWNED FIRMSFREE TRADEGDPGDP PER CAPITAGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTGROSS FIXED CAPITAL FORMATIONGROWTH RATEHIGH UNEMPLOYMENTHIGH WAGESHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN RESOURCESINCOMEINCOME LEVELSINFORMAL SECTORINFORMATION SHARINGINFORMATION SYSTEMINFORMATION TECHNOLOGYINNOVATIONINSURANCEINTERNAL FUNDSINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL FINANCEINTERNATIONAL MARKETSINTERNATIONAL TRADEJOB CREATIONJOB MARKETJOB SEEKERSJOBSJOBS CREATIONKEY CHALLENGELABOR COSTLABOR COSTSLABOR FORCELABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKET INDICATORSLABOR MARKETSLABOR MOBILITYLABOR ORGANIZATIONLABOR PRODUCTIVITYLABOR REGULATIONSLABOR SUPPLYLABOURLABOUR COSTSLAWSLEGAL FRAMEWORKLEGISLATIONLENDERSLIVING STANDARDSLOANLOW EMPLOYMENTLOWERING TRADE BARRIERSMACROECONOMIC MANAGEMENTMACROECONOMIC STABILITYMALE COUNTERPARTSMANUFACTURING INDUSTRYMFIMICROFINANCEMICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONSMIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIESMULTINATIONALNATIONAL UNEMPLOYMENTNATIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATENET JOB CREATIONNEW MARKETSNONPERFORMING LOANSPER CAPITA INCOMEPOLICY ENVIRONMENTPRIVATE FIRMSPRIVATE INVESTMENTPRIVATE PARTNERSHIPSPRIVATE SECTORPRIVATE SECTOR FIRMSPRIVILEGED ACCESSPRODUCT MARKETSPRODUCTION PATTERNSPRODUCTION PROCESSESPRODUCTION WORKERSPRODUCTIVE FIRMSPRODUCTIVE SECTORPRODUCTIVITY DISPERSIONPRODUCTIVITY GAINSPRODUCTIVITY GROWTHPROPERTY RIGHTSPUBLIC CREDITPUBLIC EXPENDITURESPUBLIC POLICYPUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPSREAL ESTATEREGULATORY FRAMEWORKRENTSRISING UNEMPLOYMENTRISK MANAGEMENTSAFETYSAFETY NETSSAVINGSSKILLED WORKERSSOCIAL COHESIONSOCIAL SAFETY NETSSOURCES OF FINANCESTART-UPSTART-UPSSTATE-OWNED ENTERPRISESTRUCTURAL CHANGESUBSIDIARYSUPPLIERSSUPPLY CHAINSTAX ADMINISTRATIONTAX INCENTIVESTAXATIONTELECOMMUNICATIONSTOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITYTRADE POLICYTRAINING CENTERSTRAINING COURSESTRAINING PROGRAMTRAINING PROGRAMSTRANSACTION COSTSTRANSITION ECONOMIESTRANSPORTUNEMPLOYEDUNEMPLOYMENTUNEMPLOYMENT FIGUREUNEMPLOYMENT RATEUNIONUNSKILLED LABORVALUE ADDEDVOCATIONAL TRAININGVULNERABLE GROUPSWAGE DETERMINATIONWAGE STRUCTUREWAGESWATER SUPPLYWORKERWORKERSWORKERS SKILLSWORKING CAPITALWORLD TRADE ORGANIZATIONWTOYOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT10.1596/19323