The Macroeconomics of Labor Market Outcomes in MENA over the 1990s: How Growth Has Failed To Keep Pace with a Burgeoning Labor Market

Abstract:
Providing good employment opportunities is perhaps the greatest challenge facing the MENA region. Unemployment rates in the region are among the highest in the world and the magnitude of the problem is overwhelming. This paper analyzes the major developments in the MENA region during the 1990s and examines the reasons growth has failed and investment has not materialized despite initiating programs of macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform throughout the region. The paper also provides policy recommendations for stimulating job-creating growth.