Privilege-Resistant Policies in the Middle East and North Africa: Measurement and Operational Implications

Recent analytical work trying to explain weak job creation and insufficient private sector dynamism in the Middle east and North Africa region point to formal and informal barriers to entry and competition. These barriers privilege a few -often unproductive- incumbents who enjoy a competition-edge due to their connections or ability to influence policy making and implementation. This report proposes to fill this policy and operational gap by answering the following question: What good governance features should be instilled in the design of economic policies and institutions to help shield them from capture, discretion and arbitrary implementation? More specifically, this report aims to move the debate and the rhetoric on privilege, capture and cronyism towards a more tractable and operational framework by: i) focusing on the systematic measurement of the various dimensions of policymaking that could lead to discretionary and unfair behavior; and ii) offering a menu of policy entry-points for policy makers to start addressing these issues and limit opportunities for capture, discretion and arbitrariness. See more