The Middle East: Decline and Resurgence in West Asia

Abstract

This chapter documents the long-term trend of economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa region between 1870 and 2010, and analyses both the proximate sources (labour, physical capital, and technology) and underlying sources (geography and institutions) of economic growth. The chapter puts together novel empirical facts at the country level on the long-term trends of key variables in economic development, including GDP per capita, democracy, population, fertility, mortality, migration, labour force participation, human capital, physical capital, and technology. Geography, in particular the abundance of natural resources, shaped the path of economic development in the region through the emergence and persistence of undemocratic political institutions and coercive labour institutions. This is the case for the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Libya, Algeria, Iran, and Iraq. By contrast, countries that are less rich in natural resources witnessed more diverse political development paths, although their upheavals mostly resulted in (presidential) dictatorships.

Keywords

Reference

Mohamed Saleh, “The Middle East: Decline and Resurgence in West Asia”, in The Cambridge Economic History of the Modern World: Volume II: 1870-2010, Stephen Broadberry, and Kyoji Fukao (eds.), Cambridge University Press, 2021.