Segmented market economies in the Arab world

The Political Economy of Insider-Outsider Divisions

Bibliographic Data

ID4237598
AuthorsSteffen Hertog (0000-0002-6758-9564, London School of Economics and Political Science, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume20
Issue3
Pages1211-1247
Publication date2022-09-29
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocio-Economic Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1475-1461 • E-ISSN: 1475-147X
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/ser/mwaa016
OpenAlexW3010336238
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited53

This article argues that the low dynamism of low- to mid-income Arab economies is explained with a set of interconnected factors that constitute a particular variety of capitalism which we call 'segmented market economy'. These include an over-committed and interventionist state; deep insider-outsider divides in private sectors and labor markets that result from and reinforce lopsided state intervention; and an equilibrium of low skills and low productivity that results from and reinforces insider-outsider divides. These mutually reinforcing features undermine encompassing cooperation between state, business and labor. While some of these features are generic to developing countries, others are regionally specific, including the relative importance and historical ambition of the state in the economy and, closely related, the relative size and rigidity of the insider coalitions created through government intervention. Insiders and outsiders exist everywhere, but the divisions are particularly stark, immovable and consequential in the Arab world

Capitalism · Dominance (genetics) · Dynamism · Economics · Economy · Insider · Market economy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · State (computer science) · Economic Theory and Policy · Law · Political Economy and Marxism · Taxation and Compliance Studies

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access