Virtual research seminar to discuss economic and financial aspects of monarchical rule.

The Kingdom of Morocco ranks 121st in the world on the Human Development Index and unlike oil-rich monarchies in the Gulf does not receive significant commodity rents. Yet the Moroccan King is one of the richest monarch’s in the region, on a par with his Gulf counterparts. My talk aims to map out the business interests of the Moroccan King and how his business strategy has changed following the 2011 uprisings in the region. I will further analyse the ways in which the royal court interacts with the Moroccan private sector and uses economic reforms to generate rents for Morocco’s business elites. This will be contrasted with the way in which Gulf rulers exert patronage vis-à-vis their private sectors.