Economy

This blog was originally published in the book Urban Sustainable Development: Governance, Finance, and Politics, a collaborative effort by the Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI) and the Rio de Janeiro City Hall. The Policy Center for the New South has contributed as a Knowledge Partner to this work.   I belong to a city that has been evolving positively for 20 years. Rabat has one of the world’s highest rates of green space per square meter per capita. This focus ...

This paper was originally published on springer.com Wage subsidy policies’ impact on access to the first job is crucial for workers; however, their influence on job quality holds greater significance for society as a whole. This paper evaluates the impact of the “IDMAJ” wage subsidy program on job quality, extending beyond the traditional focus solely on job placement. Utilizing the complete database from the IDMAJ program survey conducted by the Ministry of Employment, this study ...

At the COP29 climate summit that began on November 11, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan, one of the main focuses is Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Article 6, introduced at COP21 in 2015 and shaped through years of negotiation, enables countries to meet climate targets collaboratively, either through carbon markets or non-market strategies. This section of the Paris Agreement has the potential to unlock significant climate finance, cut the cost of reducing emissions, and foster cooperati ...

This paper was originally published on thebrenthurstfoundation.org   Situated at the northwest borders of the continent, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, Morocco has established itself as a stable and dynamic economy and a gateway to Africa. A part of the Maghreb and Arab world, the country has for many decades embraced a policy of economic and financial openness, aiming to integrate its economy into global markets. According to the United Nations Conference o ...

This study quantifies the contributions of Brazil’s blue economy and explores the economic interdependence between coastal and hinterland regions through interregional linkages. Employing a multi-level approach, we analyze municipality and state-level data on oceanrelated activities. Using an interstate input-output model, we estimate the value chains of the blue economy, offering a deeper understanding of its systemic impacts. This study addresses gaps in national, regional, and lo ...

Using panel data from a large group of developing economies and a Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator, we examine the effects of trade and other factors on female labor-force participation and wage employment. We focus particularly on comparing the effects of trade openness in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The empirical results indicate that trade openness affects female labor-force p ...

Ding, dang, dong… Vous avez certainement entendu sonner le carillon. C’est la rentrée. Ou les rentrées. Elles s’étalent sur quasiment deux mois tant la reprise est plurielle et concerne des acteurs ou des agents multiples. La rentrée des élèves, tout d’abord. À la mi-septembre déjà, ils ont enlevé le sable de leurs chaussettes, rangé leurs nouvelles fournitures scolaires. Mais pas seulement, celle des parents aussi : septembre est le mois de toutes les dépenses :  les frais scolaire ...

This paper was originally published on cambridge.org   This paper explores the (de-)routinisation of employment structure in developing countries, through the case of Morocco. We investigate employment (de-)routinisation from an often-overlooked perspective, aiming to elucidate the interplay between the dynamics of occupational employment composition by the level of routine tasks intensity and two structural aspects: premature deindustrialisation and the prevalence of informal lab ...

The digital revolution is bringing about a dramatic shift in power, from labor to capital. We assess what the impact of this transformation might be on land as a factor of production. The digital revolution is not happening in a historical vacuum. It unfolds within a framework of confrontation or collusion between market forces and government forces. Depending on the market power that companies can exercise, the digital transition will have different impacts on income distributions ...

Depuis que l’économie a été reconnue par les Nobel, en 1969, c’est à elle que revient de clore la semaine des cérémonies consacrées à la remise des prix. C’est ainsi que le 14 octobre 2024 trois hommes ont été nominés par l’Académie suédoise : un économiste turco-américain, Daron Acemoglu (MIT), un économiste britannique Simon Johnson (MIT) et un économiste américain James A.Robinson de l’Université de Chicago. Trois lauréats qui travaillent dans des universités américaines reconnue ...

The road to decarbonizing the planet runs through the energy transition, which includes the shift from fossil-fueled cars to renewable energy vehicles. This automotive transition is unfolding as a true revolution in the industry. The evolution toward electric and hybrid vehicles has come in tandem with the ascent of Chinese producers. In the current context of geopolitical and technological rivalries, the automotive transition has been marked by an intense trade war, with implicati ...

Ce rapport explore en profondeur le rôle stratégique de la formation professionnelle au Maroc dans le contexte de l’éducation nationale et du développement socio-économique. Il examine les missions et les objectifs du département de la Formation professionnelle (DFP), en mettant l’accent sur l’alignement des compétences individuelles avec les besoins dynamiques du marché du travail. À travers une analyse détaillée, le rapport décrit l’organisation du système de formatio ...

In an era marked by shifting global dynamics, Africa and the Middle East are experiencing a profound transition from traditional geopolitics to a more nuanced geoeconomic framework. This evolution reflects the growing recognition that economic interests, rather than mere political allegiances, are driving international relations in these regions. The rise of emerging powers, particularly China and other Asian nations, has challenged the long-standing dominance of Western economies, ...

La nouvelle était largement attendue : mercredi 18 septembre 2024, et pour la première fois depuis 2020, la Réserve fédérale américaine (Fed) a diminué ses taux directeurs, les portant ainsi à 4,75 % et 5 %, soit une baisse significative de 50 points de base. En repli quasi-constant depuis juin 2022 où elle avait atteint une valeur record de 9,2 % en base annuelle, l’inflation américaine est désormais sous contrôle, tandis que les récentes statistiques du marché de l’emploi du pays ...

This paper examines the implications of the U.S.-China trade war for developing countries, particularly in light of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The study traces the origins and escalation of the trade conflict, analyzing its multiple impacts on global trade patterns and economic growth. While some developing countries have benefited from trade diversion and supply-chain shifts, others, especially resource-exporting nations and the least-developed countries, have faced signi ...

This Paper was originally published on emerald.com   Purpose Young graduates in Morocco are encountering an increasingly challenging labor market environment. Confronted with intense competition, job insecurity, and unclear career trajectories, many find themselves in low-skilled positions despite possessing relevant qualifications. This issue is particularly pronounced among vocational training graduates, who experience professional downgrading at a rate three times higher (33.6 ...

This paper was originally published on t20brasil.org   The developing world is once again facing unsustainable sovereign debt levels that threaten to erase several years of progress on development agendas. The COVID-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war, and high interest rates are the latest in a series of events that have contributed to the recent build-up of debt and raised the cost of debt financing for developing countries. The G20’s Common Framework (CF) for debt treatments is a w ...

This paper was originally published on t20brasil.org   In a global context marked by unprecedented economic and environmental challenges, Africa stands at a crossroads. The rapid rise in public debt, coupled with the climate emergency, imposes a dual constraint on the continent's countries, severely limiting their ability to pursue sustainable development and mitigate the effects of climate change. This critical situation calls for innovative and effective solutions capable of tra ...

  This paper was originally published on t20brasil.org The resurgence of Neo protectionism as a reality is creating a pressing need to establish New Industrial Policies (NIPs) capable of striking a balance between Global Value Chains (GVC) managers' quest for efficiency and policy makers' need for more increasing resilience or national security in a turmoiled geopolitical landscape. Furthermore, although NIPs might pursue legitimate non-economic objectives, they are often captured ...

This Paper was originally published on emerald.com   Purpose This paper examines the dynamics of structural transformation in Morocco since 1970 by analyzing input-output tables expressed in terms of employment and output levels across 24 sectors. Design/methodology/approach This study employs a twofold methodological approach. Firstly, it examines the evolution of sectoral employment shares over time using World Bank data. Secondly, it utilizes Input-Output analysis to examine ...

يُقدر التأثير الإجمالي للزلزال على النمو بحوالي 0.24-% من الناتج المحلي الإجمالي في عام 2023. بسبب التركيز المكاني للزلزال، شهد إقليم الحوز جهة مراكش خسائر في الناتج المحلي الإجمالي الإقليمي بنسبة 10.2-% و1.3-% على التوالي. سيكون لبرنامج الاعمار الذي تبلغ قيمته 120 مليار درهم مغربي تأثيرات إيجابية على النمو الاقتصادي الوطني من عام 2023 إلى 2028، لكن حجمها يبقى رهينا بشكل كبير بالقرار المتعلق بحزمة التمويل، سواء كان من خلال أموال جديدة (دين) أو إعادة تخصيص الاستثمارات من المناطق غي ...

In November, U.S. voters will decide who will take control of the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, and their political parties differ significantly on key economic policy proposals that will heavily impact the economy of the country and, therefore, the world. Here, we examine examples in the fields of trade, tax, energy, and immigration. On trade, although the Democrat administration of President Joe Biden has not been a bastio ...

Closer to a ‘Third World War’ When in the last week of July, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Trump at his estate in Florida, the Republican candidate insisted to his visitor, who is attempting to eliminate all hopes of an independent Palestinian states through violence and destruction: “You are close to a third world war now, more than at any time since the Second World War. You’ve never been so close, because we have incompetent people running our country” (The ...

Most of the Population Does Not Benefit Until mid-2021, cruise ships moved with all their glitz and glamour into Venice’s Guidecca Canal, overshadowing the historic buildings, the foundations of which were destabilized with every wave, and threatening fisher boats and cappuccino lovers sitting beside the canal. Thousands of cruise passengers spilled onto the cobblestone roads, enjoying Gondola rides, glimpsing the Bridge of Sighs, exploring the fish markets near the Rialto bridge a ...

China’s economy grew by 4.7% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024, after 5.3% in the first quarter of the year (Figure 1). As in 2023, the official target has been set at 5% for 2024 (Figure 2). Naturally, great attention has been paid to the decisions of the Third Plenum of the 20th Communist Party of China Party Congress on July 15-18, a four-day meeting in which the country’s leadership sets out the direction of economic policy. The last such event was held in 2018. Do ...

This paper was originally published in Project Syndicate   Fourteen high-income countries have shown how immigration can help offset declining fertility rates and maintain population levels. But with anti-immigrant sentiment on the rise, politicians in these countries face a difficult choice: welcoming foreigners or facing the economic challenges brought about by an aging population. WASHINGTON, DC – Populations around the world are aging, as mortality and fertility rates fall. Wh ...

Avec un chiffre d’Affaires en hausse de 50 % par rapport à 2022, l’industrie pharmaceutique au Maroc a connu une année record en 2023. Cette étude est consacrée à l’une des trois composantes de ce secteur :la composante industrielle. Elle regroupe 50 Établissements pharmaceutiques industriels (EPI). (Source : la Direction des médicaments et de la pharmacie (DMP). L’analyse de chacun de ces EPI met en évidence un écosystème, amorcé dès 1933 avec la création de Pharma-Coo ...

Plusieurs raisons expliquent la création d’Établissements et d’entreprises publics (EEP). Aux facteurs économiques, industriels et de service public s’ajoutent des considérations idéologiques, politiques, et historiques. Quels peuvent être aujourd’hui le rôle et la place des EEP au Maroc, dans un système politique qui affirme tendre au pluralisme, dans un cadre économique marqué par le libre-échangisme fondé sur la propriété privée ? Après une période coloniale où ...

The report will soon be available for purchase.   The 2024 Annual Report on the African Economy is dedicated to monetary and financial issues on the Continent. There are three reasons for this choice. African economies are exposed to macro-financial instabilities partly generated by global monetary and financial turbulence. The Continent’s currencies and financial systems are engaged in very different dynamics, where routine methods and daring, if not risky, practices coexist. ...

This article aims at studying the changes in fertility rates in Morocco over time using available data from censuses and surveys conducted by High Commission for Planning (HCP), Ministry of Health, and National Observatory for Human Development (ONDH). Since 2010, fertility has shown a kind of stagnation or even a slight increase. This trend is more pronounced in urban areas, where the fertility rate for urban women was 1.8 children per woman in 2010, rose to 2.2 children per woman ...

The earth’s average surface temperature in May 2024 was higher than any other May on record, marking the twelfth consecutive such record-breaking month. According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, May’s temperature was 1.52 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, while temperatures over the past twelve months have averaged 1.63°C above (Figure 1). Global sea surface temperatures have also set records over the past fourteen months.   Consider the e ...

Ce document explore les dynamiques de l'intermédiation sur le marché du travail marocain, en mettant en lumière les frictions, l'efficience et la distance transactionnelle. L'intermédiation, essentielle pour réduire les obstacles et améliorer l'efficacité du marché, est analysée à travers plusieurs perspectives théoriques et pratiques, y compris la courbe de Beveridge et les modèles d'appariement. Le document détaille le rôle des services publics de l'emploi, notamment ...

This paper was originally published in nature.com   Deforestation in the Brazilian Legal Amazon remains a challenge due to its detrimental effects on ecosystems and the associated increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Such deforestation can be driven by foreign demand in terms of international exports, as well as domestic demand. However, most efforts to quantify the associations between consumer markets and deforestation mainly consider international exports rather than domestic ...

- The earthquake’s overall impact on growth is estimated to be around -0.24% of GDP in 2023. - Due to the spatial concentration of the earthquake, Al-Haouz province and the Marrakesh region experienced Gross Regional Product (GRP) losses of -10.2% and -1.3%, respectively. - The 120 billion Moroccan dirhams (MAD) recovery program will have only mild positive impacts on overall macroeconomic growth from 2023 to 2028 but will significantly benefit the High Atlas region due to the rea ...

Le marché du travail marocain, marqué par un dynamisme démographique et économique, est confronté à des défis majeurs : un chômage persistant, une inadéquation entre les compétences et les besoins du marché, et une faible participation des jeunes et des femmes. Pour y répondre, l'État a mis en place des Politiques Actives du Marché du Travail (PAMT) à travers l'ANAPEC (Agence Nationale pour la Promotion de l'Emploi et des Compétences). Ce document analyse l'efficacité des programme ...

The Global South features prominently in the context of geopolitical rivalry and efforts by developing countries to change the current international economic and financial architecture. While there are questions about whether some countries—such as China or Russia—should be considered parts of the Global South (GS), it is obvious that Africa is at the center of the group. Different aspects of Africa—its potential, its reality, and its efforts to realize its potential—embody the chal ...

La généralisation de la protection sociale est une réforme sociétale très louable et constitue un pilier fondamental de l'État social au Maroc, ainsi qu'un levier essentiel pour améliorer le fonctionnement de l'État providence. Une des grandes forces de cette initiative réside dans la prise de conscience collective et l'engagement ferme des autorités publiques que nous observons aujourd'hui, en vue d'étendre la protection sociale à tous les citoyens pour promouvoir une i ...

Carbon trading have long been touted as a silver bullet to channelise climate finance to African countries lacking the capital to support climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. The erstwhile ‘Kyoto Protocol’ and its successor ‘The Paris Agreement’, though much more comprehensive and wider in scope, both recognize the importance of carbon trading (a form of carbon pricing) in combatting climate change, and in the Paris Agreement the same is enshrined under Article 6 and its sub-c ...

President Biden's announcement of new tariffs on China, though not economically significant on its own, symbolizes the deepening decoupling of the U.S. and Chinese economies. These tariffs, supported by both major political parties, represent the latest step in a broader strategy that favors policy interventions over traditional free-market principles and aims to protect domestic workers, maintain technological leadership, and prioritize economic security. This policy brief discusse ...

Africa has a wealth of natural resources, including minerals, agriculture, and energy commodities, which provides an opportunity for the financialization of these commodities on the continent, a concept that has gained global attention and sparked debate on the potential benefits and drawbacks. Although the financialization of commodities has been studied in various contexts, including in African countries, challenges such as liquidity constraints and market readiness have emerged a ...

This Paper was originally published on sciencedirect.com The gender gap in education has been a significant concern for Moroccan policymakers and researchers, but the quantitative measurement of this gap has often been overlooked. This study specifically examines the gender gap in academic achievement in reading and mathematics at both the national and residential levels. The objective is to identify the factors that influence gender performance differences and their magnitude. To ...

Carbon pricing mechanisms are central to mitigating climate change. These mechanisms work by internalizing the costs associated with greenhouse gas emissions, thus encouraging emissions reductions and promoting technological progress in favor of sustainable alternatives. However, the implementation of carbon pricing mechanisms faces numerous complexities and challenges, especially in developing countries, given the potentially regressive impact of carbon pricing on low-income groups ...

In today’s world, African governments face the challenge of not only providing basic services for their populations but also improving the quality of those services. However, resource constraints often make it difficult to provide high-quality services, creating a delicate balance between population growth, fiscal limitations and the pursuit of quality. This mission requires careful consideration and innovative solutions, especially in countries like Senegal. The Dilemma of Unmet S ...

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Africa presents promising prospects and substantial challenges. While some countries on the continent stand out for their commitment and progress in preparing for AI adoption, others face significant obstacles such as structural inequalities and digital divides. This disparity highlights the need for an inclusive and holistic approach to ensure that all African countries can benefit from AI while closing the gap with other regions o ...

L'intégration de l'Intelligence Artificielle (IA) en Afrique laisse entrevoir des perspectives prometteuses et pose des défis substantiels. Si certains pays du continent se distinguent par leur engagement et leurs avancées dans la préparation à l'adoption de l'IA, d'autres font face à des obstacles majeurs, tels que les inégalités structurelles et les fractures numériques. Cette disparité souligne la nécessité d'une approche inclusive et holistique pour garantir que tous ...

En 2023, et selon le think tank américain « Atlantic Council », 114 pays ont engagé une réflexion sur La Monnaie numérique de banque centrale (MNBC). Cette réflexion concerne la MNBC de gros, visant à repenser l’interbancarité et la MNBC de détail, celle que la Chine développe avec un succès certain depuis 2014 avec son e yuan, réservé aujourd’hui au seul marché intérieur chinois, en attendant mieux. L’objet de ce Policy Brief est, tout d’abord, de rappeler que les MNB ...

As the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) enters its fifth year, the rules of origin for trade in goods are still being finalised, but the institutional architecture is nearly complete with increased capacity, technical committees and new supporting instruments. Despite this progress in AfCFTA ‘policy supply’, meaningful trade under the AfCFTA is still to begin. For this to happen, there must be ‘policy demand’ from the private sector to use the agreement’s range of protoc ...

L'idée d'un effritement de la classe moyenne marocaine est répandue, suggérant un glissement vers une classe aisée toujours plus riche et des classes plus pauvres ce qui sous-entend une augmentation de la polarisation dans la société. Cependant, aucune étude basée sur des données n'a été menée pour confirmer cette perception. Notre étude comble ce vide en analysant l'évolution de la classe moyenne entre 2012 et 2019. En utilisant la définition opérationnelle de Abdelkhalek (2014) de ...

The issue of environmental degradation represents a significant global challenge. It manifests in various forms, including physical alterations such as air pollution, ozone depletion, climate change, marine pollution and biodiversity loss. These changes are proven to be linked to human activities, such as energy production and consumption, tourism and agriculture. Additionally, factors like population growth and health and safety concerns contribute to environmental decline. Is Gro ...

This article was originally published on tandfonline.com   This article explores the intricate relationship between economic growth and unemployment across multiple African countries, with a focus on estimating the Okun’s coefficient. Data from the International Labour Office (ILO) and the World Bank’s databases for 39 African nations were utilised. Two distinct methodological approaches, first differences and the Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filter, were employed to assess result robust ...

This paper aims to quantify the economic loss from the earthquake that hit Morocco on September 8, 2023, and to evaluate the impact of the five-year reconstruction plan, that will account for roughly 8.5% of GDP. Given the geographically concentrated location of the earthquake, which hit some provinces in the central part of Morocco, the methodology used relies on an inter- province inter-industry Input-Output (IIO) table for Morocco. Assuming that the resources to be spent on infra ...

L’Agence française de développement (AFD) et le Policy Center for the New South (PCNS) ont réuni le  17 avril dans les locaux du PCNS, au campus de l’Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique (UM6P) de Rabat, les acteurs du partenariat public-privé dans le secteur de la formation professionnelle. Cet évènement a permis de mettre en lumière le modèle marocain de partenariat public-privé en la matière, notamment les Instituts de formation à gestion déléguée (IGD). Cet évènement s’est ten ...

The Policy Center for the New South and the Atlantic Council Africa Center have jointly released a report on “The Reform of the Global Financial Architecture: Toward a System that Delivers for the South,” by Otaviano Canuto, Hafez Ghanem, Youssef El Jai, and Stéphane Le Bouder. This report issues specific and urgent calls for reform, including more representative global governance, increasing the World Bank’s operational and financial capacity, prioritizing programs that would inte ...