Acknowledgments -- About the Authors and Contributors -- Abbreviations -- Overview -- Introduction -- Notes -- 1. Too Little Too Late: Private Sector Growth and Labor Demand -- Economic Growth Has Been Moderate and Job Growth Weak -- Drivers of Job Growth: Young Firms and Productive Firms Create More Jobs -- MENA Needs a Larger Pool of Young Firms and Productive Firms -- Notes -- References -- 2. Distorted Dynamics: The Impact of Policies on Firm Dynamics and Job Growth -- Attracting FDI in Services Sparked Job Growth in Domestic Firms in Jordan -- Business Regulations Limit Employment Growth among Young Firms in Morocco -- Energy Subsidies in the Arab Republic of Egypt Discourage Growth in Labor-Intensive Industries -- Discriminatory Policy Implementation Deters a Level Playing Field in MENA -- Notes -- References -- 3. Avoiding the Pitfalls of Industrial Policy: Program Design in MENA and East Asia -- Industrial Policy in MENA Has Had Limited Success and Many Instances of Policy Capture -- What Did Successful Countries Do? The Case of the Republic of Korea -- Lessons from East Asia Are More Difficult to Implement than Is Commonly Understood -- Notes -- References -- 4. Privileges Instead of Jobs: Political Connections and Private Sector Growth in MENA -- Privileges to Politically Connected Firms Undermine Competition and Job Creation: Evidence from the Arab Republic of Egypt and Tunisia -- Available Qualitative Evidence Points to Similar Mechanisms of Policy Privileges in Other MENA Countries -- What Explains the Different Outcomes in MENA and East Asia? -- Notes -- References -- Implications for Policy -- Appendix A. Economic Growth and Structural Transformation -- Appendix B. Firm Censuses and Surveys: Countries, Time and Sector Coverage -- Appendix C. Share of Employment in Large Firms among State-Owned Enterprises and Foreign Firms -- Appendix D. Employment Growth over Firms' Life Cycles: Manufacturing Sector -- Appendix E. FDI Inflow and Employment in Jordan: Regression Analysis -- Appendix F. Quality of Business Environment and Jobs in Morocco: Data, Methods, and Main Findings -- Appendix G. Political Connections and Private Sector in the Arab Republic of Egypt.