Explanation of terms
Inclusive economic institutions are those that allow and encourage participations by the great mass of people in economic activities that make best use of their talents and skills. To be inclusive, there has to be secure private property, an unbiased law system and provision of public services. It has to encourage the entry of new businesses (Acemoglu & Robinson, 2012).
Extractive economic institutions are designed to extract incomes and wealth from one subset of society to benefit a different subset (Acemoglu & Robinson, 2012).
Extractive political institutions concentrate power in the hands of a narrow elite and place few constraints on the exercise of this power. “A major dividing line between extractive political institutions is their degree of political centralization. Those without it will find it difficult to achieve even limited growth.” (Acemoglu & Robinson, 2012)
In contrast, inclusive political institutions are those who are pluralistic, which means power is broadly distributed and subjected to constraints, the political power rests with a broad coalition or a plurality of groups (Acemoglu & Robinson, 2012). Another condition is a sufficiently centralized and powerful state.
In general
Firstly, Morocco is a constitutional monarchy, this means the country is reigned by a king and his power is enshrined in the Constitution. It’s a former protectorate of France and has a liberalistic political influence. Morocco became independent in 1956. (Allaire, Ashta, Attuel-Mendes & Krishnaswamy, 2009)
Commercial banks are stated owned, so does post. NGO’s and Microfinance institutions are associations. There’s no legal path for NGO’s to transform into a NBFI (Non-Bank Financial Institution), which would enable them to attract more funds and grow. Finally, “Morocco is seen to have a well-developed financial system by regional standards.” (Allaire, Ashta, Attuel-Mendes & Krishnaswamy, 2009)
Relevant institutions classified in terms of inclusive and extractive
The national government
Morocco’s government is currently in a transition towards being an inclusive institution. It becomes more inclusive by carrying out free elections. (Ghanem, 2014) Also, there’s a coalition government, headed by the leader of the party that won a plurality in parliament. One of the characteristics of an inclusive political institution is to be pluralistic. In this way the Moroccan government can be called inclusive. “However, the government remains weak, and there continues to be dissatisfaction with the formal political process. Therefore, it is likely that further democratic reforms will be needed in Morocco.” (Ghanem, 2014) Thus, the government does not meet the requirement of inclusive political institutions of the existence of a powerful state and has therefore extractive elements.
According to Dris Ben Ali (n.d.), the associational life in Morocco isn’t much involved in decision making. The elected elite perceives the associations of local development as instruments of political competition. Therefore they try to get involved as leaders of these assocations to reduce these for the sake of their personal political agenda or that of a political party. This indicates a more extractive institution, as political power is not yet broadly spread. The palace of Morocco is a strong and credible institution that can lead the process towards full democracy (Ghanem, 2014), in the absence of a strong Civil Society.
Université Mohammed Premier, Oujda
Although there’s not much information of the structure and board of the university, one could say in general that universities are likely to be inclusive, as they enable people to explore their talents and skills and improve education among the population, which contributes to development. However, the university can be extractive when only a narrow elite is admitted. This seems not to be the case, as the number of enrolled students is 35.217, 12.268 new enrolments and 450 foreign students. (Ump.ma, 2015)
NIMAR (Nederlands Instituut in Marokko)
NIMAR’s dedication is to contribute to knowledge diffusion about Morocco and the region on behalf of government agencies, the business world, NGO’s, journalists and the Dutch cultural diplomacy. (Instituten.leidenuniv.nl, 2015) Therefore NIMAR is inclusive. However it can be a barrier for our project, as license applications can take a lot of time.
TU Delft
In terms of inclusive or extractive, the TU Delft can be seen as an inclusive institution. The university is being controlled by an Executive Board. Also there are several student associations, such as students’ councils and a student political party that enable students to have a voice in the decision making of the university and local politics. Therefore power is broadly spread and the TU Delft can be called inclusive and has a centralized power.
Which reforms are necessary to guarantee the development success of our project?
Further reforms on democracy will be necessary for a successful completion of our project, especially reforms on women’s rights. According to Ghanem (2014) one should focus on building inclusive economic institutions that contribute to growth and equity, but also is important for democracy.
This could be done by enabling workers, smallholder farmers and other small stakeholders to have voice in economic and political debates. Therefore labor unions, farmer organizations, and in our case women’s associations and environmental associations should be strengthened. In general, decision making processes should be more responsive to citizen demands. (Ghanem, 2014)
Sources
Allaire, V., Ashta, Attuel-Mendes, & Krishnaswamy,. (2009). Institutional Analysis to explain the Success of Moroccan Microfinance Institutions. Working Papers CEB. Retrieved from https://ideas.repec.org/p/sol/wpaper/09-057.html
Dris Ben Ali (n.d.) Civil Society and Economic Reform in Morocco. Mohamed V University, Rabat-Iqdal. Retrieved from: http://www.zef.de/fileadmin/webfiles/downloads/projects/politicalreform/Civil_Society_and_Economic_Reform.pdf
Ghanem, H. (2014). Arab Countries in Transition: Support Inclusive Institutions.The Brookings Institution. Retrieved 29 October 2015, from http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2014/05/12-arab-countries-transition-inclusive-institutions-ghanem
Instituten.leidenuniv.nl,. (2015). Over het NIMAR - Over het NIMAR - Instituten. Retrieved 29 October 2015, from http://instituten.leidenuniv.nl/nimar/over-het-nimar/over-het-nimar.html
Ump.ma,. (2015). Université en chiffres | Université Mohammed Premier ::: UMP ::: OUJDA. Retrieved 29 October 2015, from http://www.ump.ma/?page_id=36