Economic growth, social, and welfare development during COVID-19 pandemic: do country-specific characters matter in the MENA region?

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has generated major shocks that have crippled the economic development of many countries and regions. The COVID-19 pandemic has hampered not only economic development but also global countries from achieving their sustainable development goals through various channels. Given their first experience, many countries have no guidelines for measuring the true impact of the pandemic on their economic and social development, either at the global, regional, or country level. Amid the current slow research development in this area, this study investigates the medium- and long-run impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the United Nation’s achievement of sustainable development goals. The sample in the study comprises the Middle East and North African countries, including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The social development goals are approximated by economic growth and human development index, which play as the dependent variables representing two models, respectively. From another aspect, independent variables are derived from three primary sectors: government, households, and healthcare providers. In estimating the model, the study implements the panel regression estimation method using multiple variance estimators. The study findings will help policymakers formulate deliberate policy plans to stabilize economic and social fluctuations in the region and to improve the performance of basic macroeconomic parameters.