The effect of Arab Spring on MENA countries’ ESG performance

MENA countries = Middle East North African countries

ESG performance = Environmental Social Governance performance

1) Take 2011 as the date for the Arab Spring

2) Collect datasets from the WB, 2000 to 2020, countries from MENA region
You can use the package “wbstats” and the function “wb” in order to retrieve the dataset.
Concerning the period, the best period is from 2000 to 2020 is the best one; however, if you
struggle to recover the dataset on the 2000-2020 period, then construct dataset with only four
years: t1, 2011, t2, t3; where t1 £ 2009, 2015 ³ t2 ³ 2013, t3 Î {2018, 2019, 2020}

3) Create your own ESG index over the period

4) Visualize (on a map) countries’ ESG performance in 2008, in 2015 and in 2020 (or in t1, t2
and t3)
5) Using at least two econometric models, analyze the effect of Arab Spring on countries’ ESG
performance; feel free to add some control variables (for instance GDP per capita,…)

What to do:
a) Constitute your group
b) Send me the composition of your group on March 7 : m arc-arthur.diaye@univ-paris1.fr
c) Final product: R script + PDF Report + a Presentation
d) The defense will take place around March 24

References:
[1] Country environmental, social and governance performance and sovereign bond spread: an
empirical analysis of OECD economies, 2019, Journal of Banking and Finance, 98, p.156-169 (with
Gunther CAPELLE-BLANCARD, Patricia CRIFO, Rim OUEGHLISSI, Bert SCHOLTENS)
[2] Improving the estimates of fiscal space, Sorbonne Center for Economics, January 2023 (with
Adham JABER)

Legend:
• MENA countries = Middle East North African countries
• ESG performance = Environmental Social Governance performance