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Out of the Middle Income Trap
Out of the Middle Income Trap
Out of the Middle Income Trap: Combatting Educated Outmigration and Increasing Female Labour Force Participation
Project Brief
Evidence on the drivers and opportunity cost of educated outmigration, low female labour force participation and weak private sector growth, and how it influences the policy discourse at the government and multilateral levels.
Overview
This project will (i) identify the drivers behind weak private sector investment and growth; educated out-migration and poor female labour force participation (ii) develop a quantitative evidence base on the economic opportunity cost of these phenomena and (iii) develop concrete policy recommendations and action plans for overcoming these challenges. The research will focus on Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates; countries selected because of the high potential for impact and replication. The methodology will include an analysis of government and IFI data sets; multi-country intention surveys targeting university students, educated migrants, female workforce participants and private sector entrepreneurs; and veri cation interviews with survey targets, policy-makers and business coalitions.
Activities
• Desk review of government and IFI data sets; surveying and key informant interviews
• Data collection in Jordan, Lebanon, UAE and Kuwait
• Analysis and recommendations
• Dissemination and advocacy