Entrepreneurship in the MENA Region: The Uncharted Territory

Description

The Middle East and North African (MENA) region faces significant challenges related to high unemployment rates. A research team, led by Moustafa Haj Youssef at Liverpool John Moores University, is embarking on a comprehensive survey project to create a unique dataset focused on labor market trends and business ownership in the MENA region. The study will encompass six countries: Egypt, Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates. The dataset will include a wealth of information on various socio-economic and demographic attributes of individuals, such as age, education, income, marital status, labor market outcomes, household characteristics, and parental background. Additionally, the survey will delve into respondents' work experiences, offering insights not readily available in other MENA region datasets. A section of the survey will also explore respondents' personality traits and their sense of agency in their lives, contributing valuable data that is scarce not only in the MENA region but in many other regions as well. This project aims to categorise workers into different groups, including self-employed and paid workers. Researchers plan to analyse the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of each group while considering the influence of cultural, social, religious, and institutional factors unique to the countries under study. The project will also distinguish between "sustained self-employed" and "dabblers self-employed," a differentiation not previously explored in the MENA region. Furthermore, the research team intends to estimate the returns to education for various worker groups and capture the diversity of responses to the COVID-19 pandemic among these groups. Lot 1: Project Objectives: • Examine Self-Employment: Investigate self-employment in the MENA region, focusing on characteristics and the existence of distinct groups (sustainers vs. dabblers), and compare them with paid workers. • Understand Motives for Self-Employment: Explore the motivations behind entering self-employment, with a reference to locus of control and personality traits and contrast them within different self-employed groups and employed workers. • Estimate Returns to Education: Calculate the returns to education for various self-employed groups. • Assess COVID-19 Impact: Understand how different worker groups were affected by the COVID-19 crisis. • Create a Comprehensive Database: Develop a comprehensive database for future research in the MENA region. Therefore, we are seeking a market research company to conduct fieldwork and collect data through computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI). The selected company should handle tasks such as outsourcing respondents, administering the questionnaire (which involves 30 to 35-minute interviews), and managing the data collection process. Regular communication with the principal investigator (PI) is essential, and all work should be subject to the PI's monitoring and approval. The sample should comprise at least 1,000 respondents per country, with some countries requiring 2,000 to 3,000 respondents based on budget considerations. In total, the study aims to gather data from a minimum of 8,000 respondents across all participating countries. Responsibilities of the Market Research Company: • Provide daily progress reports during the data collection process. • Implement thorough editing of all interviews received. • Monitor correlations between specific questions to ensure data coherence. • Conduct call-backs to rectify missing or erroneous answers that do not align with the questionnaire's flow or previous responses. • Make informed decisions to replace illogical answers by dropping them from the sample. • Supervise the on-site team and offer continuous training. • Intervene if there is evidence of data collection from specific respondents (e.g., the same industry). • Ensure diversity among respondents. • Arrange for professional translation services as needed for the questionnaire. • Handle data processing and tabulation. • Script data as required. • Continuously monitor data quality and perform robustness checks. • Maintain regular communication with the PI. This comprehensive research endeavour seeks to provide valuable insights into labor market dynamics in the MENA region and generate a dataset that can support future research efforts. Additional information: This is a market research exercise, not a call for competition Please register on In-tend, and communicate with the Buyer via In-tend, please do not make direct contact via email or telephone