An empirical analysis of the social contract in the Middle East and North Africa region and the role of digitalization in its transformation

Farid Gasmi, Dorgyles Kouakou, Paul Noumba Um and Pedro Rojas Milla
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Farid Gasmi: TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - UT - Université de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement
Dorgyles Kouakou: ENSTA Paris - École Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris
Paul Noumba Um: World Bank - Washington District of Columbia (United States)
Pedro Rojas Milla: TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - UT - Université de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement

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Abstract: This paper presents an empirical analysis of the social contract (SC) in MENA based on a simple model synthesizing three main characteristics of a SC linking governments and citizens: Participation, Protection, and Provision. Using this 3‐P framework, we focus on the role of provision and protection in determining citizen participation, a question that drew much attention following the recent economic and social developments in MENA. We compare our characterization of the SC in MENA and Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) countries and find robust empirical evidence that, in MENA, the benefits provided to citizens through improved delivery of basic services have come at the cost of impaired participation. We also find that digital transformation, a potential channel through which the SC may improve, has an inversely U ‐shaped effect suggesting that institutional changes are called for in MENA countries before their SC is comparable to that of OECD countries.

Keywords: Development; Digital transformation; MENA; Social contract (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-05-07
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Published in Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, 2024, pp.1-51. ⟨10.1111/ecot.12415⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04653019

DOI: 10.1111/ecot.12415

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