2019 “Inequality Trends around the Mediterranean” Conference
Overview
The rising trends of inequality are hitting developed and developing countries in different ways. The Mediterranean area constitutes notably an interesting case, because European countries overlooking the Northern side experienced a pronounced increase in inequality in the last decades, while MENA countries showing on the Southern side faced diverging trends in inequality, often associated with political instability. A call was launched early 2019 to exploit the richness of harmonized data offered by LIS and the Economic Research Forum (ERF), the two institutions have joined forces to offer access to the largest database available on harmonized income and expenditure/consumption data, to enable researchers to easily conduct socio-economic analysis of various dimensions of inequality using all datasets available from both of the institutions. 10 papers were accepted under this call. This conference is intended to provide a platform for discussing the findings of these 10 research papers, and bring insights from different stakeholders including researchers, policymakers and media.
Conference Objectives
The primary objective of the conference is to provide a platform for the discussion of research findings among a well-informed diversified audience, including international experts, regional academics and policymakers and the media.
Conference Organization
The conference took place in Cairo on the 5th of December 2019 at the ERF Premises and hosted participants from the MENA region, Europe, and different parts of the world, with the presence of Francisco Ferreira (World Bank) as the Keynote Speaker.
Conference Agenda
The Conference Final Agenda is available here.
Video Presentations
Session 1: Opening Session
Keynote Speaker:
Francisco Ferreira; Is Inequality Really Increasing Everywhere?
Lead Commentator:
Khalid Abu-Ismail; UN- ESCWA
Session 2: Inequality, Labor & Migration
Moderator: Paul Makdissi; University of Ottawa
Panelists:
Carsten Schröder, Matteo Targa, and Patrick Burauel; Job Polarization and Inequality in a Worldwide Perspective
Session 3: Income Inequality
Moderator: Daniele Checchi; LIS Cross National Data Center in Luxembourg
Panelists:
Ioannis Bournakis, Antonio Savoia, and Francesco Savoia; Income Inequality Convergence Across Egyptian Regions
Session 4: Inequality, Poverty & Education
Moderator: Hala Hattab; British University in Egypt
Panelists:
Fateh Belaid; Fuel Poverty Exposure and Drivers: A comparison of Vulnerability Landscape Between Egypt and Jordan
Open Discussion
Session 5: Income Distribution & Real Exchange Rate
Moderator: Ahmed Ghoneim; Cairo University
Panelists:
Francesco Figari and Luca Gandullia; The Effects of Taxes and Benefits on Income Distribution in the European Union and in the MENA Countries
Special Session: ERF-ESCWA Report on “Rethinking Inequality in Arab States”
Moderator: Sherine Ghoneim; Economic Research Forum
Panelists:
Paul Makdissi; University of Ottawa
Lead Commentators:
Francisco Ferreira; the World Bank
Daniele Checchi; LIS Cross National Data Center in Luxembourg
Conference papers will be available as part of the LIS Working Papers Series.