A recent joint study of Tunisian firm dynamics by the INS and the World Bank underscores the need for urgent policy reforms to catalyze job creation and firm growth.. Making unprecedented use of the Tunisian Business Register, a high-quality database containing information on all non-agricultural private sector enterprises in Tunisia, this study examined firm performance in terms of job creation and productivity. It highlights that the Tunisian private sector suffers from ‘structural stagnation’, which reflects low competitiveness and productivity, with limited growth opportunities. This lack of opportunity is manifested not only in disappointing jobs creation, but also in their quality; production is concentrated in relatively unproductive small-scale activities.
