Once NEET,always NEET? A synthetic panel approach to analyze the Moroccan labor market

In many regions of the world, the persistent, and growing, proportion of young people who are currently Not in Employment, Education or Training—a group increasingly referred to as NEET—is of global concern. This is no less true of Morocco: about 30% of the Moroccan population between age 15 and 24 are currently NEET. Drawing from various rounds of Moroccan Labor Force Surveys, this paper contributes to understanding the complex dynamics of labor markets in developing countries. First, it identifies the socioeconomic determinants of Morocco's NEETs. Second, employing a synthetic panel (SP) methodology in the context of labor market analysis, the paper describes how the condition of NEETs changes over time. One striking, and worrisome, pattern that emerges from the 2010 SP data is that, even after 8 years, a majority of the NEETs remained outside either the labor market or education, with very little chance of moving out of their situation. Their chronic stagnancy confirms the powerful effect that initial conditions have on determining young people's future outcomes. It also highlights the absence of corrective mechanisms and policy interventions within the Moroccan political economy landscape that could help to change NEETs' outcomes along the line.     

The Eurozone Crisis and Emerging‐Market Expansion: Capital Switching and the Uneven Geographies of Spanish Urbanization

The theory of capitalist urbanization posits that the built form serves as a crucial sink through which overaccumulated capital is ‘switched' from industrial production into long‐term investment in urban infrastructure. Since Harvey's (1978) deployment of the theory, researchers have attempted to empirically substantiate the switching thesis with limited success. Christophers (2011) revisited the debate with new data and methods to support the claim that significant investment had switched into the built environment at the onset of the 2007/08 financial crisis. However, Christophers' study overlooks how crises are also geographically displaced. This article analyses Spanish trade data for the years 1993 to 2013, the years prior and subsequent to the housing‐induced economic crisis (1997 to 2006). Two studies are undertaken. The first replicates Christophers' methodology to assess how and to what extent a sectoral switch into property investment occurred in Spain between 1997 and 2006. The second modifies the methodology to investigate the extent to which overaccumulated capital in Spain has been geographically displaced through investment in the Moroccan building industry since 2006. These approaches situate uneven development (geographical switching) and turnover time (sectoral switching) as the twin dynamics through which capitalist urbanization is spatio‐temporally fixed.     

The politics of HRM: waiting for Godot in the Moroccan civil service

This study illustrates the fundamental importance of a political understanding in order to improve HRM in both public and private organizations. It complements studies that have found a statistical relationship between public staff management and economic growth by presenting a case study of Morocco, using the strategic human resource management (SHRM) model as a framework.

There are several reasons why HRM in the Moroccan civil service has stagnated, notably unfamiliarity with HRM models and the French administrative heritage. But the fundamental reason is Morocco's political system, where real power resides in the Palace, and where political actors are reluctant to take bold initiatives. Thus a focus on the management level is currently misplaced, and fundamental political action harnessing the authority of the Palace without disempowering other political actors is needed.

The study implies that a political analysis is sometimes a prerequisite for improving HRM in both public and private organizations.     

The multilevel analysis of students’ achievement: Evidence from Morocco

This paper, using multi‐level modelling, sought to highlight student‐level and school‐level characteristics that differentiate the academic performance in mathematics from a sample of 6080 Moroccan secondary students who participated in the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) test. The results indicated little evidence to support the Heyneman–Loxley effect, as they showed that individual and family characteristics were the strongest determinants of achievement compared to the schools’ factors. Students scored higher when they were boys, were younger, were more self‐confident, were more ambitious, and felt secure in school. They also scored higher when they came from families with a higher socioeconomic status, particularly when their parents were able to ensure the availability of learning resources, and were of a higher level of education. Finally, schools were matter for their pupil achievement mainly through the location channel, as urban pupils outperformed rural ones. However, the other school characteristics, including those related to teachers, played a negative, or at best neutral, role in pupil outcomes. These findings have important public policy implications. Redesigning education policy towards improving the school's environment and fostering inclusivity would be needed to enhance learning performance of Moroccan students.     

Consumer motives and impact of western media on the Moroccan luxury buyer

Despite rising income inequality, social and political instability, Morocco has witnessed an exponential growth in luxury good consumption. Increased political freedom, multiplication of international trade agreements and a somewhat liberalization the audio-visual sector combined with an ever increasing internet penetration have brought Moroccan ‘citizen under the spotlight of globalization. On the other hand, Morocco has remained deeply attached to it religious and traditional roots, with a vast majority of the population considering themselves devout and practicing Muslim. In Islam the consumption of ostentatious goods is clearly proscribed, yet consumption data clearly describe a different reality. Questionnaires were distributed by a trained pollster to potential luxury good consumers in Morocco. A total of 296 surveys were filled. Findings from this research shows a strong positive link between luxury good purchase intention and consumption of western media channels as well as social media. The research also provides an analysis of the demographics and the social and personal motives of the Moroccan luxury good consumer.     

The business environment and Moroccan firm productivity

The paper focuses on the role of the business environment in understanding differences in the total factor productivity of Moroccan firms. The business environment is captured by measures which include the investment climate in which firms operate, i.e. access to credit, regulatory and institutional environment and infrastructure. The evidence on the relationship between credit and productivity is strongly indicative of credit resources misallocation in Morocco. We also find that, heavier bureaucracy and differences in regulations appear to have a negative effect on firm productivity. This last result is particularly relevant for small firms, and/or those that do not export and/or those with no access to foreign capital.     

Routines and the sustainable lock-out of Moroccan oil refineries

For many years, researchers have tried to shed light into the black box of economic agents to investigate the mechanisms that guide their actions. Evolutionary economists have used the concept of ‘routines’ to explain why some firms are more innovative than others. The case study on French and Moroccan oil refineries presented in this paper suggests that this concept can also be used to explore differences in the way these firms manage health, safety, and environmental (HSE) issues. An improved understanding of firms' HSE behaviour allows policy-makers to design policies that can foster the emergence of strong HSE routines and substantially improve firms' HSE performance. Results show that, in spite of low HSE regulatory pressures in Morocco, Samir oil refineries operating in the Kingdom have developed an HSE management routine. A tabled presentation of the HSE management routine of Samir and of the French group Total allows us to compare the HSE behaviour of these firms, and to suggest how new routines could trigger a lock-out from the low HSE performance of Samir.