At one point in U.S. history the food and drug association wanted to regulate cigarettes, but it was neither a food nor or a drug! In this instance, an absurd solution was found – using its jurisdiction over medical devices the association declared that cigarettes were a medical device for dispensing a dose of nicotine. This was the anecdote used by Lant Pritchett (Harvard University) to outline the asymmetry between policy mapping and formulation, and policy outcomes during the 2nd Plenary of the ERF Annual Conference (more).

“Do Institutional Constraints on Policymakers work?” was the title of plenary session 2. Given the nature of the political regimes in the Arab region and the recent political uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, it is essential to understand institutional reforms and their potential impact on policy (more).

L’une des sessions parallèles, tenues au cours de la 17ème conférence annuelle, fut consacrée au sujet des Economies Institutionnelles “L’Economie Politique et le Développement Humain”. Hind Hourmat Allah et Brahim El Morchid ont présenté un papier sur « L’économie politique des ressources halieutiques dans le monde arabe : La leçon marocaine(more).

Mahmoud Sami Nabi from the Polytechnic School of Tunis participated in the ERF 17th Annual Conference, where he presented a paper on the resilience of Islamic banks to the financial crisis. According to the findings of his research, before the financial crisis, IBs were more profitable than CBs. Then, in 2007-2008, only the large IBs remained more profitable than the large CBs (more).