Poor Places, Thriving People: How the Middle East & North Africa Can Rise Above Spatial Disparities Book

Preface xvii

Acknowledgments xix

Abbreviations xxi

1 Overview 1

The Political Demand: Spatial Equity with Productivity 1

Spatial Disparities in Living Standards: Uncovering the Truth 3

Policy Package 1 Level the Playing Field and the Opportunity for Human Development in Poor Places 11

Policy Package 2 Connect Poor Places to the Poles of Development 23

Policy Package 3 Underpin Private Sector Interest in Nonleading Areas 26

Proximity for All: Public Institutions for Spatial Policies 29

Endnote 32

References 32

2 The Political Demand: Spatial Equity without Compromising Productivity 35

MENA's Spatial Disparities in Living Standards: Six Facts 36

Politics Makes Geography Important 38

MENA Needs Economic Agglomeration 39

Spatial Disparities Create Political Stresses 44

Women and Men Experience Spatial Inequalities Differently 46

Spatial Equity with Spatial Efficiency 48

Matching Policy Packages to Lagging Areas: A Three-Way Framework 49

Endnotes 58

References 59

3 Diagnose to Prescribe: Uncovering the Truth about Spatial Disparities 63

What Kind of Spatial Inequality Does the Country Have? 64

Is the Lagging Area a Fringe, Belt, or Pocket? 112

Endnotes 124

References 124

4 Policy Package 1. Level the Playing Field and the Opportunity for Human Development in Lagging Areas 131

Apply in All Circumstances: The Only Package for "Fringe" Areas 131

How Governance Affects Urbanization-Some Numbers and an Explanation 133

How Differences in the Subnational Investment Climate Can Handicap Lagging Areas 141

How to Manage the Spatial Dimension of Public Expenditure 146

How to Correct Spatial Disparities in Public Education Systems 152

Reducing Gender Disparities in Education in Lagging Areas 163

Health: Correcting Spatial Disparities in Access to Care 169

The Better Social Safety Nets Are Targeted, the Better Spatial Disparities Are Mitigated 176

Smoothing the Path for City Growth 189

Endnotes 203

References 205

5 Policy Package 2. Connecting Poor Places to the Poles of Development 213

The Power of Spillovers 213

Road Transport: An Extensive Long-Distance Network but an Underdeveloped Short-Distance Connectivity 217

Regional Trade Facilitation Matters Crucially for Lagging Areas 228

Priorities for Improving Spillover Connectivity 230

Electronic Proximity: New Tool for the Integration of Lagging Areas 232

Endnotes 241

References 241

6 Policy Package 3. Underpin Private Sector Interest in Nonleading Areas 247

Difficulty and Expense of Using Public Money to Lure Development to Lagging Areas 250

MENAs Focus on Using Public Resources to Override Economies of Agglomeration 251

Financial Incentives to Steer the Spatial Pattern of Development Have Not Been Successful 254

New Paradigm of Regional Economic Development Policy 258

Realizing Agricultural Potential through Clusters 262

Conclusion 268

Endnotes 269

References 269

7 Proximity for All: Public Institutions for Spatial Policies 275

Spatial Disparities: A Big Task for the State 275

How States Organize and Mobilize to Address the Spatial Dimension of Policy 278

Conclusion: Keeping Spatial Development Simple 290

Endnotes 293

References 293

Appendix: MENA Region 297

Index 341

List of Boxes

Box 1.1 Convergence Trends for the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tunisia, and the Arab Republic of Egypt 9

Box 2.1 Ibn Khaldun and the Political Economy of Spatial Disparities 45