Publication

This paper analyzes why almost all Arab countries failed to catch up economically with advanced industrial countries. The author examines the explanatory power of insufficient reform-mindedness, of counterproductive policy recipes of the Washington Consensus, and of barriers to growth related to institutional deficiencies. He finds that institutional development has a significant impact on policy-related variables and the growth performance of developing countries. He states that institutional development in Arab countries is more advanced than in other developing countries but that institutional deficiencies tend to constrain future growth in several Arab countries.