Mona Said

Islamic Alternatives to Purely Capitalist Modes of Finance: A Study of Malaysian Banks from 1999 to 2006

Like Western financial markets, Islamic modes of finance offer services characterized by profit-and-loss sharing while also providing certain debt-based instruments. Unlike traditional capitalist modes of finance, however, Islamic finance places a unique emphasis upon the former, thus prompting many comparisons between the performance of Islamic banks and conventional ones. Given the mixed results of these studies, our paper analyzes eight banks in Malaysia offering both conventional and Islamic banking operations. Our comparison is conducted via discussions of profitability, liquidity, and asset quality. It is illustrated via this micro-level analysis that Islamic modes of finance may generally equal or surpass the quantitative measures of performance describing traditional capitalist finance systems and simultaneously encourage higher levels of social equity and economic stability in the era of financialization. JEL classification: B25, D33, D63, E44, N25

Gender-Based Wage and Occupational Inequality in the New Millenium in Egypt

Abstract This paper adds to the existing literature on the Egyptian labor market by examining the extent to which the treatment of women in the Egyptian private labor market has evolved, and if occupational segregation has affected gender wage gaps in the newly transformed Egyptian economy. The paper tracks the current trend of gender based wage gaps, and evaluates the role of occupational segregation in explaining these gaps in the Egyptian private labor market. Comparing the years 2000 and 2004, and arranging occupations in three broad categories, findings of this study point to a wider occupational segregation and increased crowding of women in few jobs, which are becoming a more serious issue in pay differences than pure pay discrimination for both professional and blue collar women. Pay discrimination for white collar workers is not as severe as in professional and blue collar jobs. Therefore, policies that target inter-occupational components to close the wage gap may have far-reaching effects on professional and blue-collar workers, whereas policies targeting equal pay for equal jobs will have a greater success for white-collar workers.

Taking Technical Education Seriously in Mena: Determinants, Labor Market Implications and Policy Lessons

Our study focuses on the labor market implications of vocational and technical education in the MENA region, analyzing the case of Egypt and Morocco. We try to assess the validity of those vocational systems by looking at the determinants of schooling choice and the effect of segregation between vocational and general education in rate of returns to education, wage differentials and wage inequality. Drawing conclusions from our analysis, we outline the main challenges faced by policy makers, namely the streamlining of inefficient education systems and the redressing of social stratification furthered by schooling choice based on the successful experiences of South-East Asian economies.

Dynamics of Multidimensional Poverty and Trade Liberalization: Evidence from Panel Data for Egypt

This chapter investigates the dynamics of poverty in Egypt using monetary and non-monetary panel data, and the impact of trade liberalization on poor and low waged workers. We find a relatively low level of economic mobility in both income and non-income indicators, with the majority of those who were “poor” in 1998, whether in the monetary or non-monetary dimension, remaining so by 2006. Trade reform in the form of lower tariffs and increased export promotion exerted a small positive influence on the incomes of the poor; however, this came at the expense of greater informalization of workers and higher incidence of low quality jobs. We also find that private sector employment and gender have a much more important role in segregating the labor market.

Trade Reform, Job Quality And Wages Of The Working Poor In Egypt: Evidence From Manufacturing Panel Data

This paper examines the impact of accelerating privatization and trade liberalization initiatives on wage and job quality outcomes of the working poor in the Egyptian manufacturing sector. Determinants of wage and job quality are estimated using panel and quantile regression methods and utilizing newly available labor survey data, merged with trade variables that capture decreased protection and increased competitive pressures over the period 1998-2006. Although the results indicate that trade reform in the form of lower tariffs and increased export promotion exert a small positive influence on the incomes of the poor, this might come at the expense of higher incidence of low quality jobs. Trade-related variables in general exert a minor influence on labor rewards for the poor in comparison to private sector employment and gender, which remain the main segmenting factors in the labor market. These findings underscore the importance of social protection and gender specific safety nets during the process of privatization. As trade liberalization progresses, policies that promote higher labor standard and „decent jobs. need also to be addressed.