As the people of the Kurdistan Region prepare to head to the polls on September 25, 2017, in a historical referendum on Kurdistan's independence, we compare the economies of Iraq with other nations and ask, “What economic structure would a sovereign Kurdistan take?"
Read MoreThis is not a political opinion, but an economic point of view. Some people in the Kurdistan Region oppose the proposed referendum for independence just because it's adopted by a certain party, while others argue that this isn't the right time for a serious step like that as the Region is suffering from severe economic crisis.
Read MoreKaufmann et al (1999) defined "governance as the traditions and institutions that determine how authority is exercised in a country." Based on available literature including thoughts of neo-institutional scholars including, Douglass North and MancurOlsan, a positive relationship between the quality of institutions, governance structures, and economic growth is found.
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Research Fellow
Dr. Ezat Sabir Esmaeel is a Member of Parliament for the Kurdistan Regional Government, where he serves as Head of the Finance Committee and a Member of the Energy Committee. He has also held positions in the Ministry of Defense, as Professor of Economics in Europe and Iraq. His research and analysis on economics, foreign investment, and global competitiveness have been widely published at conferences, newspapers, and journals around the world. He received his B.A. in Economics from Salah Aldeen University, then his M.A. at Sulaimani University, and his PhD in Economics in the Czech Republic.