Institutional governance priorities to foster exports in Egypt

Abstract

PurposeThe paper studies types and mechanisms of vertical and horizontal multilevel institutional governance (IG) (multilevel governance [MLG]). The relation with exports is reviewed and quantified to attempt prioritizing institutional reforms fostering merchandise exports in Egypt.Design/methodology/approachThe paper studies data (from 1996 till 2020) to estimate impact of IG on Egyptian merchandise exports using two autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models: to test the World Governance Index (WGI) composite index, followed by its main indicators; and to determine governance priorities in Egypt. “Institutional” approach is adopted to assess mechanisms boosting Egyptian exports. Design comprises three sections – (1) conceptual and literature review, (2) main MLG mechanisms and (3) key findings of empirical results – to find out which institutional reforms enhance exports competitiveness in Egypt.FindingsAmong MLG different levels of governance, the macro level is highly related to boosting exports competitiveness. Institutional differentials between countries and regions affect competitive edge. In Egypt, results show that IG priorities that could foster exports are the rule of law, regulatory quality, government effectiveness and political stability and absence of violence.Practical implicationsBy adopting IG mechanisms, i.e. legislative, organizational and digital; and instruments, e.g. National Single Window, Time Release Standards and others, Egyptian exports could reach new heights.Originality/valueExports competitiveness does not rely solely on monetary and fiscal factors; IG dynamics could be more important in Egypt. ARDL model for Egyptian merchandise exports using WGI 2021 dataset.