Republic of Tunisia - Development Policy Review

Republic of Tunisia - Development Policy Review
Author: Weltbank
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2013
Genre:
ISBN:

Given a steady pace of structural reforms, and sound macroeconomic management, Tunisia experienced a fast, and sustained growth. However, while forward-looking policies helped preserve external and internal balances, challenges remain in the context of a volatile external environment. High and pro-poor growth, contributed to a sharp reduction in poverty in the second half of the 1990s, yet, despite strong growth, unemployment remains high, at around 15 percent, partly reflecting demographic pressures, and partly the decrease in the employment intensity of growth. Moreover, weaknesses in economic governance, in particular regarding the predictability, and transparency of the regulatory framework, and market contestability, may be an important constraint to private investment. Tunisia faces a turning point where, unless coordinated efforts to improve the quality of economic governance, and stimulate private investment are placed at the core of the reform agenda, the deeper engagement with the world, may not fulfill its development promise. Policies will be needed to make Tunisia's deeper trade integration work for growth, and jobs: Strengthening the investment climate, by improving economic governance; Improving the functioning of the labor market; Strengthening the soundness of the banking system and fostering the development of securities markets; Securing a robust medium-term fiscal framework; Enhancing the efficiency of education policies; Strengthening the effectiveness and sustainability of social sector policies; Lowering transactions costs for business entry, operation, and exit; Enhancing transparency and predictability of the regulatory framework; Enhancing market contestability, by reducing barriers to entry in key infrastructure services - and by strengthening competition policy - furthering Tunisia's international trade integration. The Tunisian banking sector has better room for dynamic growth, thanks to a gradually reduced government ownership, in spite of high non performing loans. Education is one of the principal pillars of Tunisia's strategy for development, as it aims to build the human capital necessary to compete in the global knowledge-based economy.

Tunisia - Development Policy Review

Tunisia - Development Policy Review
Author: Weltbank
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2012
Genre:
ISBN:

Tunisia must move from a low value-added and low cost economy to a higher value-added, knowledge intensive economy in order to significantly reduce unemployment, its overriding challenge. This Development Policy Review (DPR) provides a discussion of the key issues and challenges that are involved in achieving this goal. Towards this end, it discusses trade integration, innovation policies and enabling environment reforms (macro stability, economic regulation and governance, financial sector and labor market reforms and capital account opening) that could facilitate the structural transformation of the economy. The DPR is organized as follows: chapter one reviews growth and employment outcomes and challenges; chapter two discusses the rationale for increasing the pace of structural transformation of the economy in order to boost growth and reduce unemployment; chapter three examines the strengths and weaknesses of Tunisia's innovation system and strategies and proposes reform options in light of the international experience; chapter four discusses key aspects of Tunisia's global integration that could further contribute to innovation and productivity growth; chapters five discusses the key improvement in the enabling environment needed to support innovation and productivity growth (economic regulation, education sector reforms, financial sector reforms and labor market); finally, chapter six discusses structural transformation issues in natural resource-intensive sectors and examine the specific sectoral reforms needed to address the trade-offs between several objectives, including growth and natural resources preservation.

Making the Tunisian Resurgence

Making the Tunisian Resurgence
Author: Mahmoud Sami Nabi
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2019-01-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9811337713

This book investigates the socioeconomic factors that triggered Tunisia’s "revolution for dignity” and the current issues and challenges facing its economy while suggesting mechanisms and instruments for their resolution. The author begins by analyzing the roots of the revolution and the post-revolution situation from a political sociology perspective and then diagnoses the Tunisian economy before and after the revolution and identifies the multidimensional binding constraints preventing it from escaping the middle-income trap. The book then explores the pillars of an inclusive development strategy that Tunisia should pursue. The emphasis is made on building inclusive institutions, developing a new social contract and reinventing the country's leadership. Beyond the institutional dimension, the author suggests innovative financial channels, discusses the strategy of a successful integration of the Tunisian economy in the global economy as well as the pillars of its transformation into a knowledge-based economy.

Tunisia's Global Integration

Tunisia's Global Integration
Author:
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2009
Genre: Development potential
ISBN: 0821377116

Tunisia's past integration policies have significantly increased FDI flows in the manufacturing sector, triggering a rise of textiles and clothing and mechanical and electrical components exports through participation to EU production networks and increasing productivity, growth, and job creation. In spite of these results, important challenges remain. FDI increases are not accompanied by a rapid increase in domestic investment. The business climate of the domestic market-oriented sector can be further improved. Trade integration largely has bypassed non-tourism service sectors and the structural transformation of the service sector is slow. This study: (i) examines the key integration challenges that the country's manufacturing sector is facing; (ii) examine the key remaining reforms needed to further enhance the competitive position of the country; and (iii) identifies the specific policy reforms needed to realize the largely untapped potential in services. The report reviews the entry, business, and trade restrictions in Tunisia's backbone service sectors (telecommunication, banking, air transport, accounting, auditing, and legal services) using a well-focused regulatory questionnaire. The restrictiveness indices derived from the regulatory diagnostic analysis allow us to assess Tunisia's relative performance. Some key regulatory reform options are proposed and their impact estimated. The study examines the prospect for further increasing exports and off shoring of a large number of services for which Tunisia has demonstrated a real export capacity

The Long Shadow of Informality

The Long Shadow of Informality
Author: Franziska Ohnsorge
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 397
Release: 2022-02-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464817545

A large percentage of workers and firms operate in the informal economy, outside the line of sight of governments in emerging market and developing economies. This may hold back the recovery in these economies from the deep recessions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic--unless governments adopt a broad set of policies to address the challenges of widespread informality. This study is the first comprehensive analysis of the extent of informality and its implications for a durable economic recovery and for long-term development. It finds that pervasive informality is associated with significantly weaker economic outcomes--including lower government resources to combat recessions, lower per capita incomes, greater poverty, less financial development, and weaker investment and productivity.

The Tunisian Labor Market in an Era of Transition

The Tunisian Labor Market in an Era of Transition
Author: Ragui Assaad
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 343
Release: 2018-11-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0192559915

The Tunisian Labor Market in an Era of Transition is a comprehensive examination of the central labor market issues facing this key Arab country. It includes contributions on the size, structure, and evolution of the labor force, the characteristics of labor demand, employment policies and regulations, and unemployment. Further chapters explore the wage formation process, gender differences in the labor market, the returns to education, child labor and schooling, and the trends and patterns of international migration from Tunisia. The Tunisian Labor Market in an Era of Transition is an essential reference on how youth employment, gender disparities, and informality contributed to political and social unrest in North African societies, and on the effect of migration flows from North Africa to Europe.

Impact Evaluation in Practice, Second Edition

Impact Evaluation in Practice, Second Edition
Author: Paul J. Gertler
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 444
Release: 2016-09-12
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464807809

The second edition of the Impact Evaluation in Practice handbook is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to impact evaluation for policy makers and development practitioners. First published in 2011, it has been used widely across the development and academic communities. The book incorporates real-world examples to present practical guidelines for designing and implementing impact evaluations. Readers will gain an understanding of impact evaluations and the best ways to use them to design evidence-based policies and programs. The updated version covers the newest techniques for evaluating programs and includes state-of-the-art implementation advice, as well as an expanded set of examples and case studies that draw on recent development challenges. It also includes new material on research ethics and partnerships to conduct impact evaluation. The handbook is divided into four sections: Part One discusses what to evaluate and why; Part Two presents the main impact evaluation methods; Part Three addresses how to manage impact evaluations; Part Four reviews impact evaluation sampling and data collection. Case studies illustrate different applications of impact evaluations. The book links to complementary instructional material available online, including an applied case as well as questions and answers. The updated second edition will be a valuable resource for the international development community, universities, and policy makers looking to build better evidence around what works in development.

Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook

Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook
Author: World Bank
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 792
Release: 2008-10-07
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0821375881

The 'Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook' provides an up-to-date understanding of gender issues and a rich compilation of compelling evidence of good practices and lessons learned to guide practitioners in integrating gender dimensions into agricultural projects and programs. It is serves as a tool for: guidance; showcasing key principles in integrating gender into projects; stimulating the imagination of practitioners to apply lessons learned, experiences, and innovations to the design of future support and investment in the agriculture sector. The Sourcebook draws on a wide range of experience from World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and other donor agencies, governments, institutions, and groups active in agricultural development. The Sourcebook looks at: access to and control of assets; access to markets, information and organization; and capacity to manage risk and vulnerability through a gender lens. There are 16 modules covering themes of cross-cutting importance for agriculture with strong gender dimensions (Policy, Public Administration and Governance; Agricultural Innovation and Education; Food Security; Markets; Rural Finance; Rural Infrastructure; Water; Land; Labor; Natural Resource Management; and Disaster and Post-Conflict Management) and specific subsectors in agriculture (Crops, Livestock, Forestry, and Fisheries). A separate module on Monitoring and Evaluation is included, responding to the need to track implementation and development impact. Each module contains three different sub-units: (1) A Module Overview gives a broad introduction to the topic and provides a summary of major development issues in the sector and rationale of looking at gender dimension; (2) Thematic Notes provide a brief and technically sound guide in gender integration in selected themes with lessons learned, guidelines, checklists, organizing principles, key questions, and key performance indicators; and (3) Innovative Activity Profiles describe the design and innovative features of recent and exciting projects and activities that have been implemented or are ongoing.