Abstract
In 2011, the Arab region has seen an unprecedented popular uprising commonly referred to as the “Arab Spring†. The objective of this paper is to analyze the economic performance and institutional changes that have taken place in Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco following the Arab Spring, and understand the interconnect between the socio-political context on the one side, and economic performance and growth on the other side, in a period marked by severe turbulences, especially in Tunisia and Egypt. The analysis covers the economic, institutional, competitiveness, business environment, infrastructural, and human capital aspects in the three countries. It is based on the author’s own research and knowledge of the region, the recent emerging literature on the topic, newspaper archives, and the publicly available economic and business data and reports provided by international organizations. Our analysis shows that Tunisia, the country that has ignited the Arab Spring, was the one most hit by its aftermath on the economic, social, and institutional levels. We argue that, although pure authoritarian regimes were historically a failure in the region, “Western†democracy has so far shown several limits when applied into the Arab region context as it led to neither socio-political stability nor economic growth.
Highlights
Friday, December 17, 2010, 11:30 am, a 26-year-old Tunisian street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi doused himself with gasoline and set himself alight with a match
Our aim is to understand the impact the Arab Spring had on the three economies, and analyze the interlocking ring between the socio-political context on the one side, and economic performance and growth on the other side, in a period marked by severe turbulences, especially in Tunisia and Egypt
A decade later, Tunisia rankings have all collapsed, the country is still ahead of Morocco and Egypt along all indicators, except the tertiary education enrolment rate and the prominence of research institutions, where Egypt became best in class
Summary
December 17, 2010, 11:30 am (local time), a 26-year-old Tunisian street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi doused himself with gasoline and set himself alight with a match. The popular upheaval moved soon to Egypt, where millions of people went into the street on January 25, in Tahrir square and all over the country, calling for the end of the Mubarak regime that had ruled the country for almost thirty years. Their claims were: “bread”, “freedom”, and “social justice” reflecting the economic and social hardships that Egypt was enduring (Mabon, 2013). We discuss the parallel between the socio-political context and economic performance in section 5, before ending with the main conclusions with regards to the decade-long impact the Arab Spring had on the three economies
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