Dr. Mohamed Ismail Sabry (Lecturer, Fresenius University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Fresenius), Germany // Visiting postdoctoral researcher, Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University Rotterdam // Fellow, IFG IV, MECAM) will be speaking on “State-Society Relations and Growth Paths in North Africa.”
Wednesday, 1 June 2022, 14:00-15:30 (Tunis Time) // 15:00-16:30 (CEST)
Dr. Thomas Richter (Institute for Middle East Studies, German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Hamburg) will discuss his paper.
The presentation will be held in English at the MECAM premises, c/o ISEAHT, 27, rue Florian – Borj Zouara (Bab Saadoun), Tunis, as well as Online via zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85071719306?pwd=MjV3R2w3VVFoNjhFMXZGbDA4Z2FaQT09. It will be commented Online.
Abstract
Mohamed Ismail Sabry’s talk will present his research project at MECAM’s IFG IV. This project conducts a comparative analysis of the growth paths that develop from the existing state-society relations in Tunisia and Morocco.
State-society relations are analysed based on state-business-labour relations (SBLR), the power relations between the main actors in the industrial sector of the studied countries: the state, big businesspersons (tycoons), owners and managers of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) (entrepreneurs), and labour. SBLR shape policies, regulations, legislations, and the degree of their enforcement, leading to a unique industrial policy profile for each country. The focus is on competition-related and social protection policies as arenas for potential inter-actors’ conflict. The resulting industrial policy then leads to different growth paths. In the project, the growth paths are considered in terms of a matrix of levels of long-run growth, equality, and environmental sustainability.
Tunisia and Morocco developed different SBLR in the post-colonial period and these relations are still evolving in ways that this project is trying to explore The project adopts a comparative case studies approach, using mainly qualitative data supported by statistical data analysis.
Dr. Mohamed Ismail Sabry (Lecturer, Fresenius University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Fresenius), Germany // Visiting postdoctoral researcher, Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University Rotterdam // Fellow, IFG IV, MECAM)
Mohamed Sabry is a Visiting Postdoctoral Researcher at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University of Rotterdam and a Lecturer at Fresenius and Bremen Universities of Applied Sciences in Germany. He obtained his PhD in Economics from the Philipps University of Marburg in 2013, with his Bachelor and Master degrees from the American University in Cairo (AUC). Dr. Sabry’s academic fields of interests are Institutional Economics, Economic Development, Political Economy, and the MENA region. The focus of his research is state-society relations and state-business relations. Currently, he is a Fellow at IFG IV “Resources and Sustainability” at the Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM) in Tunis.
Dr. Nadia Mansour (Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Economics and Management, University of Sousse // Visiting Scholar, University of Salamanca // Fellow, IFG IV, MECAM) will be speaking on “Les banques vertes en Tunisie: Enjeux et défis [Green Banks in Tunisia: Issues and Challenges].”
Wednesday, 1 June 2022, 16:00-17:30 (Tunis Time) // 17:00-18:30 (CEST)
Prof. Ezzeddine Zouari (Professor of Economics, University of Sousse) will discuss her paper.
The presentation will be held in French at the MECAM premises, c/o ISEAHT, 27, rue Florian – Borj Zouara (Bab Saadoun), Tunis, as well as Online via zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84121938418?pwd=TWo1TDd0bGQyMmdUbnpPUjR3TFI1UT09.
Abstract
In her talk, Nadia will provide an overview of the importance of sustainable finance in the fight against global warming and environmental protection in Tunisia. In this context, several international banks have recently adopted commitments to exclude from their portfolios certain sectors of activity deemed to be polluting, such as the extraction and exploitation of coal, drilling within the Arctic Circle, the exploitation of oil from bituminous sand, etc. Our results have shown that Tunisian banks are trying to get involved in this path. However, these announcements are rather symbolic, without bringing about the profound changes that the financial and economic system needs.
“Tragedy of the horizon” is a concept coined by Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, in 2015. Carney was giving a speech to Lloyd’s of London, and the topic was climate change, an obvious area of interest and a source of future financial risk. For the first time, this address made international financial market participants aware of the challenges of climate risk.
Today, an investor has three reasons to invest responsibly: first, for economic reasons: climate change will have a big effect on the economy; second, for financial reasons: new regulations that will limit gas emissions will have a major impact on asset prices; and finally, for moral reasons: we all have to work for the good of future generations to limit the effects of global warming. Hence the following question: To what extent are environmental risks integrated into banks’ financial decisions?
Dr. Nadia Mansour (Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Economics and Management, University of Sousse // Visiting Scholar, University of Salamanca // Fellow, IFG IV, MECAM)
Nadia Mansour is an assistant at the University of Sousse, Tunisia, and a visiting researcher at the University of Salamanca, Spain. Her research interests focus on finance, banking, macroeconomics, and innovation. Currently, she is a Fellow at IFG IV “Resources and Sustainability” at the Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM) in Tunis.
Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM)
MECAM, founded in 2020, is a platform for regional and international scientific exchange in Tunisia based on the central theme »Imagining Futures – Dealing with Disparity«. The centre is located at the Université de Tunis. Its research work focuses on the effects of multidimensional disparity on models, visions and ideas about future. MECAM’s research agenda focuses on questions of Aesthetics & Cultural Practice, Inequality & Mobility, Memory & Justice, Resources & Sustainability, and Identities & Beliefs.
MECAM is a joint endeavour of a consortium of seven Tunisian and German research institutions: It is coordinated by the Philipps-Universität Marburg and the Université de Tunis and supported by the Universität Leipzig, the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg, the Forum Transregionale Studien in Berlin, the Institut Tunisien des Études Stratégiques (ITES) in Tunis, and the Université de Sfax.
From March to June 2022, IFG IV “Resources and Sustainability” works on the origins and potential effects of a range of economic and social strategies that are currently being explored to create an alternative model of sustainable economic development in North Africa. The Fellows investigate how such strategies might lead to positive socio-economic development and help address environmental challenges.
In the MECAM Spectrum series, the five IFG IV fellows at different stages of their research career and from different social science disciplines present their research at a variety of institutions, in a variety of contexts, and to a variety of audiences while in Tunisia. Well-known colleagues from Tunisian and German institutions will discuss these lectures. All talks will be hybrid. Zoom links will be provided in due time with the announcement of the individual talks on the website (https://mecam.tn/mecam-spectrum/?lang=en),
by E-mail, and via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MECAM-Merian-Centre-for-Advanced-Studies-in-the-Maghreb-103786505473120). Please turn to mecam-office@staff.uni-marburg.de for further information.
