Dr. Ali Fakih

Professor, and Chair of the Department of Economics

afakih@lau.edu.lb
Ext. 1509
AKSOB 1519
LAU Beirut

View CV

Bio

Ali Fakih is a Professor, and the Chair of the Department of Economics at the Lebanese American University. He is also a Fellow at the Economic Research Forum (ERF), IZA Institute of Labor Economics, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research and Analysis of Organizations (CIRANO), and Global Labor Organization (GLO). He received his PhD in Economics in 2011 from HEC Montréal, the business school affiliated with l’Université de Montréal. His research interests include Labor Economics, Development Economics, Econometrics, Finance-Growth Nexus, Political Transformations, MENA Economies. His articles have appeared in international journals such as Journal of Econometrics, Review of Political Economy, Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Defence and Peace Economics, Tourism Economics, Journal of Agricultural Economics, International Journal of Manpower, Journal of Industrial Relations, Social Indicators Research, and International Migration, Social Science Quarterly among others.

Teaching Interests

• Microeconomics 
• Managerial Economics
• Introductory Econometrics
• Microeconometrics
• Macroeconometrics
• Labor Economics
• Research Methods in Business

Research Interests

• Labor Economics
• Development Economics
• Applied Econometrics
• Applied Microeconomics
• MENA economies

Selected Publications

•  Governance quality and the labor market in the MENA region post-Arab Spring (with Jana El Chaar, Jad El Arissy, Sara Kassab), International Journal of Social Economics, Volume 52, issue 3, 2025, pp. 422-439.
• Does Twitter Economic Uncertainty Matter for Wheat Prices? (with Zein Alamah and Walid El Gammal), Economics Letters, Volume 234, 2024, pp. 1-6.
• The Gender Gap in Political Participation: Evidence from the MENA Region (with Yara Sleiman). Review of Political Economy, Volume 36, Issue 1, 2024, pp. 154-177.
• Employability of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon: The Role of Legal Residency (with Zeina Lizzaik and Sara Kassab), Defence and Peace Economics, Volume 35, Issue 8, 2024, pp. 1028-1045.
• Determinants of Happiness Among Arab Youth: Evidence From a Youth Survey (with Anas Diab), SAGE Open, Volume 24, Issue 1, 2024, pp. 1-13.
• Youth Voting Behavior and Institutional Change in the Post-Arab Spring Era (with Nagham Sayour and Mohammad Hammoud), Economic and Political Studies, Volume 12, issue 3, 2024, pp. 318-344.
• Is the Price of Ether Driven by Demand or Pure Speculation?, forthcoming, 2024, Computational Economics.
• A Cross-Country COVID-19 Mortality Rate: How Do Institutions Make A Change? (with Chor Foon TANG and Salah Abosedra), forthcoming, 2024, Journal of Health Management.
• Perception of Parents about Children Mental Health during COVID-19: Evidence from Canada (with Issam Abdo Ahmad and Mohammad Hammoud), Social Science and Medicine, Volume 337, 2023, pp.1-11.
• Economic Volatility and Financial Deepening in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Panel cointegration with cross-sectional heterogeneity and endogenous structural breaks (with Vinay Kumar Singh, Salah Abosedra, Sajal Ghosh and Kakali Kanjilal), Empirical Economics, Volume 65, issue 5, 2023, pp 2013-2038.
• How did COVID-19 lockdowns affect firms and workers? Evidence from Jordan and Morocco (with Rihab Baltaji and Nagham Sayour), Development Policy Review, volume 41, issue 6, 2023, pp. 1- 23.
• Adapting to the new normal: The impact of remote work on firm performance in Jordan and Morocco (with Pierre Boutros and Mariam Tarraf), Regional Science Policy and Practice, volume 15, issue 8, 2023, pp. 1722-1740.
• Financial Development and Business Cycle Volatility Nexus in the UAE: Evidence from Non-Linear Regime- Shift andAsymmetric Tests (with Salah Abosedra, Sajal Ghosh, and Kakali Kanjilal), International Journal of Finance and Economics, volume 28, issue 3, 2023, pp. 2729- 2741.
• The Disability Employment Paradox in Developing Countries: Recent Evidence from Lebanon (with Pierre Boutros), Development Studies Research, volume 10, issue 1, 2023, 1-16.
• The Willingness to Emigrate in Six MENA Countries: The Role of Post-Revolutionary Stress (with Malak Elbaba), International Migration, volume 61, issue 4, 2023, pp. 201-220.
• COVID-19 and Consumer Behavior: Assessing Food Stockpiling Behaviors in the US Market (with Wafaa El- Baba), Agribusiness: An International Journal, volume 39, issue 2, 2023, pp. 515-534.
• Skill Mismatch, Nepotism, Job Satisfaction and Young Females in the MENA Region (with Mahmoud Arayssi and Nathir Haimoun), Econometrics, volume 11, issue 2, 2023, pp. 1-20.
• Government Intervention and Business Response as Determinants of Business Continuity amid COVID-19: The Case of Jordanand Morocco (with Anthony Fakhoury), International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies, volume 17, issue 2, 2023, pp. 196-219.
• The Role of International Research Collaboration and Faculty Related Factors in Publication Citations: Evidence from Lebanon(Zein Alamah and Ibrahim AlSoussy), Economies, volume 11, issue 3, 2023, pp. 1-24.
• Social Identity, Confidence in Institutions, and Youth: Evidence from the Arab Spring (with Racha Khayat), Social Science Quarterly, volume 103, issue 5, 2022, pp. 997-1018.
• What Drives Demand for Private Tutoring in the MENA Region? Evidence from a Youth Survey (with Anastasia Sleiman and Nathir Haimoun), African Development Review, volume 34, issue 2, 2022, pp. 268-279.
• A stochastic dominance test under survey nonresponse with an application to comparing trust levels in Lebanese public institutions (with Paul Makdissi, Walid Marrouch, Rami Tabri, and Myra Yazbek), Journal of Econometrics, volume 228, issue 1, 2022, pp. 205-227.
• Does the Legal Form Matter for Firm Performance in the MENA Region? (with Issam Abdo Ahmad), Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, volume 93, issue 2, 2022, pp. 342-358.
• The Fatality Rate of COVID -19: How Does Education, Health Infrastructure and Institutional Quality Make A Change? (with Chor Foon TANG and Salah Abosedra), Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, volume 16, issue 2, 2022, pp.166-182.
• Does the Number of Publications Matter for Academic Promotion in Higher Education? Evidence from Lebanon (with Pierre Boutros, Zeina Lizzaik, Sara Kassab), Social Sciences, volume 11, issue 10, 2022, pp. 1-23.
• Drivers of Research Outcomes in Developing Countries: The Case of Lebanon (with Pierre Boutros), Economies, volume 10, issue 3, 2022, pp. 1-21.
• Dynamics and asymmetries between consumer sentiment and consumption in pre- and during-COVID-19 time: Evidence from the US (with Salah Abosedra and Nikiforos T. Laopodis), Journal of Economic Asymmetries, volume 24, 2021, pp. 1-11.
• Who Prays during the Crises? Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic (With Nagham Sayour), Empirical Economics Letters, volume 20, issue 8, 2021, pp. 1384-1388.
• Did the Arab Spring Lead to Economic, Institutional, and Socio-Political Changes? An Empirical Analysis through thePerceptions of Egyptian Youth (with Pascal Ghazalian), International Journal of Social Economics, volume 48, issue 1, 2021, pp. 1658-1676.
• Determinants of the Arab Spring Protests in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya: What have we learned? (Zahraa Barakat), Social Sciences, volume 10, issue 8, 2021, pp. 1-15.
• Who Cares about Environmental Quality? Evidence Amongst Youth in the MENA Region (with Ghassan Dibeh, Walid Marrouch and Ghida Matar), Social Indicators Research, volume 157, 2021, pp. 603-629.
• The Effects of Power Outages on the Performance of Manufacturing Firms in the MENA Region (with Pascal Ghazalian and Nancy Ghazzawi), Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, volume 16, issue 3, 2020, pp. 1-28.
• Youth Unemployment, Gender and Institutions during Transition: Evidence from the Arab Spring (with Nathir Haimoun and Mohamad Kassem), Social Indicators Research, volume 150, 2020, pp. 311-336.
• Tourism-Growth Nexus under Duress: Lebanon during the Syrian Crisis (with Ghassan Dibeh and Walid Marrouch), Tourism Economics, volume 26, issue 3, 2020, pp. 353-370. (LEAD ARTICLE).
• Did the Arab Spring reduce MENA countries’ growth? (with Mahmoud Arayssi and Nathir Haimoun), Applied Economics Letters, volume 26, issue 19, 2019, pp. 1579-1585.
• Employment and skill mismatch among youth in Lebanon (with Ghassan Dibeh and Walid Marrouch), International Journal of Manpower, volume 40, issue 8, 2019, pp. 1438-1457.
• Labor Market and Institutional Drivers of Youth Irregular Migration in the Middle East and North Africa Region (with GhassanDibeh and Walid Marrouch), Journal of Industrial Relations, volume 61, issue 2, 2019, pp. 225- 251.
• Guns and Butter? Military Expenditure and Health Spending on the Eve of the Arab Spring (with Adam Coutts, Adel Daoud, Walid Marrouch and Bernhard Reinsberg), Defence and Peace Economics, volume 30, issue 2, 2019, pp. 227-237.
• Environmental Kuznets Curve, a Mirage? A Non-parametric Analysis from MENA countries (with Walid Marrouch), International Advances in Economic Research, volume 25, issue 1, 2019, pp. 113-119.
• Government and   Financial   Institutional   Determinants of   Development in    MENA    Countries   (with Mahmoud Arayssi and Mohamad Kassem), Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, volume 55, issue 11, 2019, pp. 2473-2496.
• Decision to Emigrate Amongst the Youth in Lebanon (with Ghassan Dibeh and Walid Marrouch), International Migration, volume 56, issue 1, 2018, pp. 5-22. (LEAD ARTICLE).
• What Determines Vacation Leave? The Role of Gender, Bulletin of Economic Research, volume 70, issue 1, 2018, pp. 1-19. (LEAD ARTICLE).
• The Finance-Growth Nexus, Again: New Evidence from Kenya (with Mahmoud Arayssi), Economic Issues, volume 22, issue 2, 2017, pp. 33-59.
• Finance-Growth Nexus in a Changing Political Region: How Important was the Arab Spring? (with Mahmoud Arayssi), Economic Analysis and Policy, volume 55, 2017, pp. 106-123.
• R&D and Innovation in Food Processing Firms in Transition Countries (with Pascal Ghazalian), Journal of Agricultural Economics, volume 68, issue 2, 2017, pp. 427-450.
• Assessing the Role of Financial Deepening and Remittances in Growth: The Experience of Lebanon (with Salaheddin Abosedra), Global Economy Journal, volume 17, issue 1, 2017, pp. 1-17.
• Decomposing the Gender Wage Differentials Using Quantile Regression: Evidence from Lebanese Banking Sector (withAbdallah Dah), International Advances in Economic Research, volume 22, issue 2, 2016, pp. 171- 185.
• The Impact of Syrian Refugees on the Labor Market in Neighboring Countries: Empirical Evidence from Jordan (with May Ibrahim), Defence and Peace Economics, volume 27, issue 1, 2016, pp. 64-86.
• What Factors Influence Firm Perceptions of Labour Market Constraints to Growth in the MENA Region? (with Pascal Ghazalian), International Journal of Manpower, volume 36, issue 8, 2015, pp. 1181-1206.
• The Electricity Consumption, Employment, and Growth Nexus: Evidence from Lebanon (with Walid Marrouch), OPEC Energy Review, volume 39, issue 3, 2015, pp. 298-321.
• Institutions and Development in MENA Region: Evidence from the Manufacturing Sector (with Mahmoud Arayssi), International Journal of Social Economics, volume 42, issue 8, 2015, pp. 717-732.
• Female Employment in MENA’s Manufacturing Sector: The Implications of Firm-related and National Factors (with Pascal Ghazalian), Economic Change and Restructuring, volume 48, issue 1, 2015, pp. 37-69.
• Vacation Leave, Work Hours and Wages: New Evidence from Linked Employer-Employee Data, LABOUR: Review of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations, volume 28, issue 4, 2014, pp. 376-398.
• Which Firms Export? An Empirical Analysis for the Manufacturing Sector in the MENA Region (with Pascal Ghazalian), Journal of Economic Studies, volume 41, issue 5, 2014, pp. 672-695.
• The Relationships between Economic Growth, Financial Deepening, and Information and Communication Technology: Empirical Evidence from Lebanon (with Salaheddin Abosedra), Journal of Economic Research, volume 19, issue 1, 2014, pp.1-17.
• Who Hires Foreign Domestic Workers? Evidence from Lebanon (with Walid Marrouch), Journal of Developing Areas, volume 48, issue 3, 2014, pp. 339-352.

Policy Reports, Briefs, and Blogs

• “Employment Profile and Challenges of the Private Sector in Iraq” (with Salim Araji), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA), 2019.
• “Economy of Jordan” (with Nathir Haimoun), The Middle East and North Africa (Routledge), 2019.
• “The Poor and Marginalized in Lebanon: Labor Market Challenges and Policy Implications”, (with Ghassan Dibeh and Walid Marrouch), SAHWA Policy Paper No. 1, Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB), 2016.
• “The Economic Impacts of Syrian Refugees: Challenges and Opportunities in Host Countries”, (with Walid Marrouch), Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 2015.
• “Why does Institutional Development Matter for MENA’s Manufacturing Sector?”, (with Mahmoud Arayssi), Policy Paper, Menapolis project, 2015.
• “Energy Poverty”, Arab Development Portal, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 2015.
• “Energy Subsidies”, Arab Development Portal, UNDP, 2015.
• “Alternatives to the Kafala (sponsorship) System for Women Migrant Domestic Workers in Lebanon”, (with Walid Marrouch), commissioned by the PROWD project at the International Labour Organization Regional Office for the Arab States, 2014.
• “Vacation Leave, Work Hours and Wages: New Evidence from Linked Employer-Employee Data”, CIRANONote No.1, 2014.
• “Who Hires Foreign Domestic Workers? Evidence from Lebanon”, (with Walid Marrouch), NEP-ARA Blog, 2014.