Political stability and economic growth in developing economies: lessons from Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt ten years after the Arab Spring

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 t...

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Main Author: Nizar Becheikh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: UAB Sustainability for Regions 2021-06-01
Series:Insights into Regional Development
Online Access:https://jssidoi.org/ird/article/69
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author Nizar Becheikh
author_facet Nizar Becheikh
author_sort Nizar Becheikh
collection DOAJ
description 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.
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spelling doaj-art-2d1d4dce724048198937d019c19ec9c62025-08-20T03:18:33ZengUAB Sustainability for RegionsInsights into Regional Development2669-01952021-06-013222925110.9770/IRD.2021.3.2(5)Political stability and economic growth in developing economies: lessons from Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt ten years after the Arab SpringNizar Becheikhhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4572-1675In 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.https://jssidoi.org/ird/article/69
spellingShingle Nizar Becheikh
Political stability and economic growth in developing economies: lessons from Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt ten years after the Arab Spring
Insights into Regional Development
title Political stability and economic growth in developing economies: lessons from Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt ten years after the Arab Spring
title_full Political stability and economic growth in developing economies: lessons from Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt ten years after the Arab Spring
title_fullStr Political stability and economic growth in developing economies: lessons from Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt ten years after the Arab Spring
title_full_unstemmed Political stability and economic growth in developing economies: lessons from Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt ten years after the Arab Spring
title_short Political stability and economic growth in developing economies: lessons from Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt ten years after the Arab Spring
title_sort political stability and economic growth in developing economies lessons from morocco tunisia and egypt ten years after the arab spring
url https://jssidoi.org/ird/article/69
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