The Difficult Transition from Limited to Open Access Society: the Illustrative Case of Tunisia

Abstract: Tunisia is the country where the “Arabic Spring” started and likely remains the only one in which some of the expectations it created are still alive. However, Tunisia continues to face major difficulties in its effort to access to a more open society. This paper takes this country as illustrative of the obstacles to transition from a limited access society to an open access one (North et al., 2009). We identify two series of factors that contribute to explain these difficulties. One prominent obstacle is rooted in the rules and devices embedded in the institutions that shaped limited access and that persist long after formal changes, creating formidable barriers to entry. These rules defined what we identify as ‘meso-institutions’: custom rules, procedures to do business, regulation of the media, all deeply embedded in and implemented through specific devices created under the limited access regime. The second obstacle comes from the clannish structure that developed under the authoritarian regime that shaped limited access, creating a rent-seeking system that continues long after the fall of this regime. We argue that the combination of these two factors, the ‘meso-institutions’ built under the limited access regime and the clannish structure that developed under this umbrella, explains the challenge that transition faces in Tunisia. Our analysis is based on in depth interviews (on average between 2 and 3 hours) with 35 economic leaders from different sectors and different regions of Tunisia and on data collected from The World Bank, the International Organization of Labor and the Tunisian Institut National de la Statistique.