Assessing the financial sustainability of parametric pension system reforms: The case of Morocco

In 2015, the government adopted a parametric reform intended to deal with the critical financial situation of the CMR civilian pension regime. In this paper, we examine the robustness of this parametric reform by using the Cohort-Component population projection model to the fund’s population during the period 2014-2064. First, we divide the population of the baseline year into cohorts classified by age and sex and then we project the year-on-year demographic transition of each cohort. Second, we lead a projection of the financial situation related to the 2015 parametric reform. Moreover, we project the status quo situation and an alternative scenario where we propose to increase solely the retirement age, and then compare the results with those of the 2015 parametric reform. Our results show that, for the three scenarios, a parametric reform will have a limited effect on the financial situation, in both the long and the short-terms. Under a status quo situation, the reserves are expected to run out in 2023, while under the current parametric reform and our proposed reform, they are expected to expire in 2033. Furthermore, our alternative scenario seems to have some more advantages so that it doesn’t reduce the rights of beneficiaries

Assessing the financial sustainability of parametric pension system reforms: The case of Morocco

In 2015, the government adopted a parametric reform intended to deal with the critical financial situation of the CMR civilian pension regime. In this paper, we examine the robustness of this parametric reform by using the Cohort-Component population projection model to the fund’s population during the period 2014-2064. First, we divide the population of the baseline year into cohorts classified by age and sex and then we project the year-on-year demographic transition of each cohort. Second, we lead a projection of the financial situation related to the 2015 parametric reform. Moreover, we project the status quo situation and an alternative scenario where we propose to increase solely the retirement age, and then compare the results with those of the 2015 parametric reform. Our results show that, for the three scenarios, a parametric reform will have a limited effect on the financial situation, in both the long and the short-terms. Under a status quo situation, the reserves are expected to run out in 2023, while under the current parametric reform and our proposed reform, they are expected to expire in 2033. Furthermore, our alternative scenario seems to have some more advantages so that it doesn’t reduce the rights of beneficiaries

From traditional to modern water management systems; reflection on the evolution of a ‘water ethic’ in semi-arid Morocco

The chapter focuses on water because of the crucial importance of that resource in a semiarid country and because the ways in which it has been managed throughout centuries illustrate the changes in socio-political structures in the society. The focus on water in a semi arid country is symbolic of how precious natural resources are in the development of economies and societies. Morocco provides a fascinating terrain to explore ingenuous traditional water management structures and processes both in urban and in rural environments

Exchange Rate Undervaluation to Foster Manufactured Exports: A Deliberate Strategy?

Recent literature suggests that a proactive strategy consisting of deliberate real exchange rate depreciation can promote exports diversification and growth. This paper is built on these recent developments and investigates whether four developing countries have adopted such a strategy. Data from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia are used to construct and compare the macroeconomic Real Effective exchange rate (REER), similar exchange rates at the sector level (SREER) and the macroeconomic Equilibrium Real Effective exchange rate (EREER). It shows that there are instances where the objective of diversifying exports through depreciation of exchange rate comes at the expense of further misalignment (REER departs from the EREER) and, then, monetary authorities are doomed to choose. The results show that Morocco and Tunisia are choosing the proactive exchange rate strategy while Egypt and Jordan are not. This fits with the observation that the former are doing much better than the latter in terms of exports diversification.Exchange rate, Misalignment, Undervaluation, Exports diversification

Exchange Rate Undervaluation to Foster Manufactured Exports: A Deliberate Strategy?

Recent literature suggests that a proactive strategy consisting of deliberate real exchange rate depreciation can promote exports diversification and growth. This paper is built on these recent developments and investigates whether four developing countries have adopted such a strategy. Data from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia are used to construct and compare the macroeconomic Real Effective exchange rate (REER), similar exchange rates at the sector level (SREER) and the macroeconomic Equilibrium Real Effective exchange rate (EREER). It shows that there are instances where the objective of diversifying exports through depreciation of exchange rate comes at the expense of further misalignment (REER departs from the EREER) and, then, monetary authorities are doomed to choose. The results show that Morocco and Tunisia are choosing the proactive exchange rate strategy while Egypt and Jordan are not. This fits with the observation that the former are doing much better than the latter in terms of exports diversification.Exchange rate;Misalignment;Undervaluation;Exports diversification

Marginal Cost Versus Average Cost Pricing with Climatic Shocks in Senegal: A Dynamic Computable General Equilibrium Model Applied to Water

The model simulates on a 20-year horizon, a first phase of increase in the water resource availability taking into account the supply policies by the Senegalese government and a second phase with hydrologic deficits due to demand evolution (demographic growth). The results show that marginal cost water pricing (with a subsidy ensuring the survival of the water production sector) makes it possible in the long term to absorb the shock of the resource shortage, GDP, investment and welfare increase. Unemployment drops and the sectors of rain rice, market gardening and drinking water distribution grow. In contrast, the current policy of average cost pricing of water leads the long-term economy in a recession with an agricultural production decrease, a strong degradation of welfare and a rise of unemployment. This result questions the basic tariff (average cost) on which block water pricing is based in Senegal.Computable General Equilibrium Model, Dynamic, Imperfect Competition, Water, Pricing, Sub Saharan Africa

Binding Ideologies: An Investigation of Language Attitudes and Ideologies in the Moroccan Publishing and Book Sector

The interaction between author and reader is not as simple nor as direct as may at times be assumed. There are “gatekeepers” and middle men who mediate the transmission of ideas from writer to reader; these institutions and their ideologies determine the final product that will (or will not) be presented to readers. In Morocco, this author-reader interaction is further complicated by the language ideologies which pervade the realm of Moroccan literature. As Moroccan publishers and booksellers are the “gatekeepers” who arguably engage the most in language politics, this study examines their role in facilitating or inhibiting the Moroccan author-reader interaction. Also explored is how Moroccan authors’ language(s) of writing impact their experiences in the publishing industry. This research thus constitutes an exploratory study aimed at mapping the dynamics of language ideologies in Morocco’s publishing and book industry

The Foreign Policy of Islamist Political Parties

Asks how representatives of Political Islam are conducting themselves in the field of international politics Includes a Preface by Olivier Roy The first up-to-date, detailed analysis of how Islamist forces in the Middle East try to redefine the relationships of power within the international system post-2010 Looks at how Islamist ideology has evolved in the face of reality (e.g. opening up to democratic principles or co-operating with non-Muslim states) Analyses the ways in which political Islam’s actors put their ideology into practice with regard to foreign policy and IR Does political Islam have a specific vision of global politics? How has the foreign policy of Islamist forces developed in order to impose their ideas onto the diplomatic agenda of other countries? How do these actors perceive the world, international affairs, and the way Islamic countries should engage with the international system? Eager to break with the dominant grammar of international relations, and instead to fuse Muslim states in a unique religious and political entity, Muslim actors have had to face up to the realities that they had promised to transform. Drawing on a series of case studies, this collective work sheds light on six national trajectories of Islamism: in Morocco (the Party of Justice and Development), Tunisia (Ennhada), Egypt (the Muslim Brotherhood), Palestine (Hamas), Lebanon (Hizbullah) and Turkey (AKP). It looks at what has been produced by the representatives of political Islam in each case, and the way these representatives have put their words and their ideological aspirations into action within their foreign policies

The Euro-Mediterranean free trade area : an evaluation on the eve of the (missed) deadline

The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP), nowadays known as ‘the Union for the Mediterranean’, celebrates this year its fifteenth anniversary. The main goal of the EMP is creation of a Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area (EMTA) until 2010. However, this objective will not be met. This article provides an overview of the initiatives taken until now, and compares the objectives set in 1995 with the eventual achievements. Finding that there is a considerable delay in the progress regarding the EMFTA, this article analyses the underlying reasons for this delay. It focuses on the problems at the European side, difficulties in the relations between the European Union (EU) and the Mediterranean Non-Community Countries (MNCs), and the political and economic problems hindering the stimulation of intraregional trade between MNCs. In addition, also the role of other international actors like the United States, the Gulf Cooperation Council, China and Russia is highlighted. This article concludes that the EU’s nature as an internally conflicted and compartmentalized trade persona has hindered the EU of providing substantial incentives for MNCs. Due to this lack of incentives, the EU fails to convince some of its most important trading partners of the benefits of the EMFTA. Moreover, intraregional trade among MNCs remains a problem, leading to the conclusion that the relationship between the EU and the Mediterranean still can be best caracterized as a ‘hub-and-spoke’ relation instead of an inter-regional partnership. In addition, the intiatives of other international actors in the region interferes with the EU’s efforts to create a free trade area with the Mediterranean. This articles ends by offering suggestions to overcome the identified obstacles for the completion of a full EMFTA and to establish an inter-regional partnership

Does anyone here speak tashelhait? Perspectives on environment, identity and social change in south Morocco

Morocco’s inclusion in Middle Eastern Studies obscures from view a diverse culture that includes large Black Moroccan communities who reside primarily in Morocco’s desert provinces. “Blackness” and all of its corresponding complexity is not generally associated with the countries and cultures of North Africa in either academic or popular discourse. Black Moroccan communities challenge us to expand our understanding of the Middle East and Africa by forcing us to include Black identities that do not explicitly align themselves with the space of the African continent. How do we define Blackness and Africaness when it is outside of its traditional juxtaposition with Whiteness, Europe and the West? In this thesis I interrogate the social categories of Black Moroccans and the complexities of race and racism that are hidden when Morocco is simply defined as Arab. Through analysing the oasis community of Akka I explore the complex variables involved in identity formation including Morocco\u27s colonial legacy, globalization and environmental change in order to illustrate the shortcomings of the discursive practices we use to explain the world