Dr Adeel Malik

Globe Fellow in the Economies of Muslim Societies and Associate Professor

Adeel Malik is a development macroeconomist with a strong multi-disciplinary orientation. His research engages with questions of long-run development, political economy and economic history, with a special focus on Muslim societies. His work combines quantitative and qualitative research methods. Apart from engaging with cross-country empirics on development, he is trying to develop a broader research lens on the political economy of the Middle East. His most recent contribution to the field was an article on 'The Economics of the Arab Spring', which received the Best Paper Award. It has now been translated into Arabic and several other languages, and formed the basis for a dedicated story in The Economist magazine. Another emerging area of interest is the interplay between religion, land and politics in Pakistan, which he is exploring as part of an IFPRI-funded project on structural constraints to public goods provision in Punjab.

He also holds the Globe Fellowship in the Economies of Muslim Societies at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, and is a Research Associate of the Centre for the Study of African Economies and the Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource-Rich Economies, both based at the Department of Economics. He co-directs the ERF Project on the Political Economy of Private Sector Dynamism in the Middle East, and serves as an associate editor of the Palgrave Dictionary of Economics (Middle East Economics and Finance).

Before joining ODID, he completed his doctorate in economics at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in 2004. His previous research affiliations include: the Department of Economics, Oxford University (2004-05); Merton College (2002-03 and 2005-06); Center for International Development, Harvard University (2001), and Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre, Islamabad (1997-1999).

His research on the Middle East’s political economy has featured in CNN, Fortune Magazine, The Times London, Financial Times, and Gulf News. He strongly believes in the role of the public intellectual. In that spirit, he has engaged with a wider audience by occasionally contributing op-ed pieces to The New York Times, Project Syndicate, Al-Jazeera, Huffington Post, and Foreign Policy Magazine.

Research
Teaching & Supervision
Publications
News
In the media
The political economy of private sector dynamism in the Middle East
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Structural constraints to public goods provision in Punjab
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Politics of trade protection in North Africa
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Teaching is more than a contractual obligation for Adeel. It is part of his intellectual mission, and a passion that sustains his existence in Oxford.He believes engaging with young scholars is one of the greatest privileges of being associated with Oxford University.      

His teaching portfolio reflects an evolving interest in political economy, and spans three graduate programmes: the MPhil in Development Studies, the MPhil in Modern Middle Eastern Studies, and the MSc in Global Governance and Diplomacy. Some details are included below:

  • Political Economy of the Middle East and North Africa: an option for the MPhil in Development Studies (shared with the MPhil in Modern Middle Eastern Studies)
  • Political Economy of Institutions and Development: an option for the MSc in Global Governance and Diplomacy and the MPhil in Development Studies

Additional teaching duties include selective undergraduate tutorials on Quantitative Economics for St Peter’s College students. He is also supervising graduate dissertations on various aspects of Middle Eastern political economy.

Research Students supervised

Jad Baghdadi
Research Student
Md Abir Hasan
Research Student
Syed Nadeem Hussain
Research Student
Rachel Morrow-Nguyen
Research Student
Fidelia Danielle Renne
Research Student
Adel Hamaizia
Faculty of Oriental Studies
Allison Hartnett
Department of Politics and International Relations

Books and monographs

Malik, Adeel (with Ishac Diwan, Izak Atiyas) (eds) (2019) 'Crony Capitalism in the Middle East: Business and Politics from Liberalization to the Arab Spring', Oxford University Press

Journal articles and special issues

Malik, Adeel (with Vanessa Bouaroudj) (2021) 'The Predicament of Establishing Persistence: Slavery and Human Capital in Africa', Journal of Historical Political Economy 1 (3) 411-46
Malik, Adeel (with Christian Ruckteschler, Ferdinand Eibl) (2021) 'Politics of trade protection in an autocracy: Evidence from an EU tariff liberalization in Morocco', European Journal of Political Economy
Malik, Adeel (with Max Gallien) (2020) 'Border economies of the Middle East: Why do they matter for political economy?', Review of International Political Economy
Malik, Adeel (2017) 'Pirs and Politics in Punjab, 1937-2013', Modern Asian Studies 51 (6) 1818-61
Malik, Adeel (with Christopher Bowdler) (2017) 'Openness and Inflation Volatility: Panel Data Evidence', North American Journal of Economics and Finance 41 57-69
Malik, Adeel (2016) 'Rethinking the Rentier Curse', International Development Policy | Revue Internationale De Politique De Development 7 (1)
Malik, Adeel (2014) 'A Requiem for the Arab Development Model', Journal of International Affairs 68 (1) 93-115
Malik, Adeel (with U Hayat) (2014) 'Islamic Finance: Ethics, Principles and Practice', CFA Research Foundation Reviews 9 (3) 1-120
Malik, Adeel (with Bassem Awadallah) (2013) 'The Economics of the Arab Spring', World Development 45 296–313
Malik, Adeel (with S Bond) (2009) 'Natural Resources, Export Structure and Investment', Oxford Economic Papers 61 (4) 675-702
Malik, Adeel (with J Temple) (2009) 'The Geography of Output Volatility', Journal of Development Economics 90 (2) 163-78

Chapters

Malik, Adeel (2016) 'Beyond the resource curse: Rents and development in the Middle East'. In A Galal, I Diwan (eds) Middle East Economies in Transition , Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Malik, Adeel (2015) 'The Political Economy of Arab Uprisings'. In Steven N Durlauf, Lawrence E Blume (eds) The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics , (Online Edition) Palgrave Macmillan
Malik, Adeel (2011) 'Oil in the Islamic Republic of Iran: Dependence, Distortions and Distribution'. In P Collier, T Venables (eds) Plundered Nations? Successes and Failures in Natural Resource Extraction , Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Malik, Adeel (with F Teal) (2008) 'Towards a Competitive Manufacturing Sector in Nigeria'. In P Collier, C C Soludo, C Pattillo (eds) Economic Policy Options for a Prosperous Nigeria , Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Malik, Adeel (2006) 'Democratic Governance for Human Security'. Human Development in South Asia , Karachi: Oxford University Press
Malik, Adeel (with P Streeten) (2002) 'Asian Drama Revisited'. In K Haq (ed) The South Asian Challenge , Karachi: Oxford University Press

Reports

Malik, Adeel (with N Birdsal, M Vaishnav) (2005) 'Poverty and the Social Sectors: The World Bank in Pakistan', Operations Evaluations Department, The World Bank

Working papers

Malik, Adeel (forthcoming) 'From Resource Curse to Rent Curse: Toward a New Political Economy of the Middle East', African Development Bank Working Papers
Malik, Adeel (2016) 'The Politics of Partial Liberalization: Cronyism and Non-tariff Protection in Mubarak’s Egypt', CSAE Working Paper 27 Centre for the Study of African Economies, Economics Department, University of Oxford
Malik, Adeel (2016) 'The Political Economy of Macroeconomic Policy in Arab Resource-Rich Economies', ERF Working Paper 1034 Economic Research Forum, Cairo
Malik, Adeel (2015) 'Religion, Land and Politics: Shrines and Literacy in Punjab', PSSP Working Paper 30, Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Malik, Adeel (2012) 'Was the Middle East's Economic Descent a Legal or Political Failure: Debating the Islamic Law Matters Thesis', CSAE Working Paper 2012/08 Centre for the Study of African Economies, Economics Department, University of Oxford
Malik, Adeel (with S Bond) (2008) 'Explaining Cross-country Variation in Investment: The Role of Endowments, Institutions and Finance', CSAE Working Paper Centre for the Study of African Economies, Economics Department, University of Oxford
Malik, Adeel (with C Bowdler) (2005) 'Trade Openness and Inflation Volatility', Department of Economics Working Paper, Oxford Oxford: Economics Department

Other publications

Malik, Adeel (2016) 'Diversification of Middle Eastern Economies is More a Political than an Economic Challenge', LCPS Policy Brief Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, Beirut
29 October, 2021
New programme to promote academic links between Oxford and Pakistan
25 April, 2019
New book co-edited by Adeel Malik offers detailed picture of ‘crony capitalism’ in Middle East
15 Sep, 2022
'A Tale of Two Middle Easts'. Adeel Malik writes for Project Syndicate about the impact of rising global commodity prices for Middle Eastern states
28 Jul, 2021
'Crony globalization: How political cronies captured trade liberalization in Morocco'. Adeel Malik writes for the Brookings Institute
21 Apr, 2020
'Shelter from the Middle East’s perfect storm'. Dr Adeel Malik writes for Project Syndicate on the critical necessity of a new cooperative regional order in the Middle East
28 Jan, 2020
'Cronies Everywhere'. Kemal Dervis reviews Adeel Malik's book Crony Capitalism in the Middle East for Project Syndicate
30 Oct, 2018
'How not taxing the rich got Pakistan into another fiscal crisis'. Adeel Malik writes for Al Jazeera
22 Apr, 2018
'If the "Sufi saint" supports a particular electoral candidate he's got thousands of votes in his pocket already'. Adeel Malik interviewed on BBC Radio 4's ‘Sunday’ programme about elections in Pakistan and the role of 'pirs', holy men claiming descent from Sufi saints.
04 Dec, 2017
'Can the broken Saudi economic model be reformed?'. Adeel Malik writes for TRT world
05 Nov, 2015
'The Politics of Economic Diversification in the Middle East'. Adeel Malik writes for Foreign Affairs
21 May, 2015
'Escaping the Middle East’s Violence Trap'. Adeel Malik co-authors article for Project Syndicate
02 Sep, 2014
'Conflict and Development in the Middle East'. Adeel Malik co-authors article for Huffington Post

Pages

Research interests:

New Institutional Economics; political economy of Muslim societies; politics of the private sector in the Middle East.