Unlocking the employment potential in the Middle East and North Africa : toward a new social contract.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-251) and index.

Overview : creating 100 million jobs for a fast-growing work force -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Evolution of state-labor relations in the Middle East and North Africa -- 3. Demography, labor growth, and employment outcomes -- 4. Structure of employment and earnings in the 1990s -- 5. Labor market reforms : opportunities and constraints -- 6. Foundations of future growth and job creation -- 7. Toward a new social Contract.

"Unlocking the Employment Potential in the Middle East and North Africa provides a comprehensive account of recent employment outcomes and outlines the policy reforms required to improve the performance of the region's labor markets. But the book goes beyond a technical discussion of labor market outcomes and investigates the broader political-economic aspects of state-society relations. It integrates questions about how to build vibrant labor markets and restore the region's growth performance into a framework that also addresses issues of population dynamics, socioeconomic trends, employment regulations, the quality of institutions opportunities in the world economy, and the impact of a redistributive social contract on prospects for reform. Therefore, the book is invaluable for policymakers, academics, and activists in the MENA region, as well as for international observers and the donor community."--BOOK JACKET.