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AbstractA wealth of evidence has shown the positive effects of better management practices on firms. More recent evidence has highlighted that ownership matters for several developing and advanced economies. However, this relationship has not been studied extensively for economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), a region where the presence of the government in the productive sphere looms large. This study addresses a gap in the literature by exploring how partial government ownership can influence management practices of medium and large formal firms in the MENA. Using two waves of Enterprise Surveys undertaken in 2013 and 2019/2020, the evidence points at a negative relationship between partial government ownership and management practices in the developing MENA region. The findings pass several robustness checks.

AbstractUsing firm‐level survey data for 29,962 manufacturing firms in 141 developing and emerging countries, the impact of exports (as a percentage of sales) on the share of female workers at the firm is estimated. The impact is positive, large, and statistically significant. For the baseline specification, moving from a firm that does not export to one that does all its sales abroad is associated with a 6.6 percentage point increase in the share of female workers. This positive relationship is much stronger when competition in the domestic markets is low, social attitudes and mobility laws are more favorable to women's work outside the home, and the law‐and‐order situation is better. We argue that these heterogeneities serve as important checks against endogeneity concerns. We also provide results using the average share of exports in a country–industry cell as an instrument. The policy implications of our findings are discussed in detail.

Abstract
The benefits of formal training are numerous, and yet in many regions few firms utilize them. In this study, we build on the literature by exploring how two forms of human capital–the quality of management practices and the proportion of university educated employees - influence the adoption of formal training. Using both cross-sectional and panel firm-level data for 29 economies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and 6 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) economies, management practices of the firm are found to be positively correlated with the implementation of formal training in ECA but not in MENA. The proportion of university educated workers is positively correlated with formal training in both ECA and MENA, but the finding is more robust for the latter. The study explores potential explanations why management practices have no influence on formal training in MENA and related policy implications.

Front Cover -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- About the Authors -- Executive Summary -- Abbreviations -- Chapter 1 Introduction: Meeting the Jobs Challenge in the Middle East and North Africa -- Introduction -- Voices of Young Entrepreneurs in the MENA Region -- Country Tables -- Chapter 2 The Lost Promise of More and Better Jobs -- Introduction -- Exclusion and Informality -- The Plight of Female Workers -- Not the Jobs of the Future -- The Impact of COVID-19 -- Notes -- References -- Jordan: An Online Learning Platform to Deliver Accessible, Quality Education -- Chapter 3 What Prevents the Creation of More and Better Jobs in MENA? -- Introduction -- Pathways that Link Market Contestability with Jobs -- The Region's "Sclerotic" Private Sector -- The Plight of Female Entrepreneurs -- Limited Overall Economic Growth -- Notes -- References -- West Bank: A Food Processing Factory That Empowers Women -- Tunisia: A Beverage Manufacturer That Brings Instant Tea and New Flavors to New Markets -- Chapter 4 The Suspects That Limit Market Contestability and Job Creation -- Introduction -- Product Market Regulations and SOEs -- Labor Market Regulations and Related Taxes -- Gendered Laws -- Notes -- References -- Morocco: A Safe Carpool Platform to Share Trip Costs -- Chapter 5 Toward More Contestable Markets -- Introduction -- Leveling the Playing Field in the Product Market -- Reshaping the Relationship between the Government and Workers -- Fostering Women's Inclusion in All Economic Spheres -- Working "at the Margins" to Find Feasible Reform Paths -- Data for Reforms -- Note -- References -- Arab Republic of Egypt: A Platform to Deliver Pharmacy Services -- Lebanon: A Platform with Global Appeal to Help Restaurants Personalize Guests' Dining Experience -- Saudi Arabia: A Platform to Help Women and Other Customers Run Errands.