The political economy of dilatory reform: Egypt in the 1980s

The paper explores the political economy of Egypt's failure to implement policy reforms during the 1980s despite mounting problems of international indebtedness, macroeconomics imbalances, microdistortions, lack of employment creation, and the need for poverty alleviation. After reviewing the s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWorld development Vol. 19; no. 12; pp. 1721 - 1730
Main Author Richards, Alan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, Eng Elsevier Ltd 01.12.1991
Elsevier
Pergamon Press
Pergamon Press Inc
SeriesWorld Development
Subjects
Economics
Egypt
International relations-US
Political Economy
Public policy
Reform
United States > US
Egypt
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Summary:The paper explores the political economy of Egypt's failure to implement policy reforms during the 1980s despite mounting problems of international indebtedness, macroeconomics imbalances, microdistortions, lack of employment creation, and the need for poverty alleviation. After reviewing the size and origins of these problems, the causes of reform failure are analyzed. These causes lie in domestic blockages, particularly the role of interest groups, and especially in “strategic rents”: the Egyptian government's skillful exploitation of its political role in the region to extract unique favors from the United States and, with US influence, from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The paper concludes with an interpretation of the May 1991 agreement with the IMF reached after the Gulf war.
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ISSN:0305-750X
1873-5991
DOI:10.1016/0305-750X(91)90015-A