Our webinars include both talks from invited speakers and research seminars. Research seminars aim to showcase research – both from early-career and experienced researchers – with a special focus on those from low-income countries to an international audience of scholars and practitioners. You can find the recordings of our past events on our YouTube channel.
The format encourages researchers to connect and keep the conversation going beyond the webinar. A panel of invited members will provide feedback during the presentation and will also follow up with written comments via email.
To receive the MS Teams link to join our webinars, please click the event and follow the registration link.
Research Seminar
29/09/2026 3:00 pm
Speaker:
Mohamed Saleh
Professor of Economic History, London School of Economics
Research Affiliate in Economic History, Centre for Economic Policy Research
“Entry, Exit, and Policy: The Making of Inequality Between Religious Groups in the Middle East”
Keynote description:
Across much of the nineteenth and twentieth-century Middle East, non-Muslim minorities were on average wealthier and better educated than Muslim majorities. This presentation argues that the socioeconomic gaps between religious groups are largely the product of who enters and exits a group over time. Drawing on newly digitized historical microdata, I trace three channels: (1) the selective out-conversion to Islam under identity taxation in 700–1800 CE that first formed small, better-off non-Muslim minorities; (2) the demographic reshaping after 1800 through out-migration, European colonial settlement, and the earlier decline of non-Muslim fertility and mortality; and (3) the post-1800 policies, from precolonial reforms to colonialism to postcolonial state-led development, that reworked the gap. Together they offer a political economy of group inequality that speaks to how identity, policy, and demography shape inequality in developing economies more broadly.
The session will be moderated by Eliane Badaoui.
We ask all those interested in attending the webinar to register in order to receive the MS Teams link.
Mohamed Saleh
Professor of Economic History, London School of Economics
Research Affiliate in Economic History, Centre for Economic Policy Research
“Entry, Exit, and Policy: The Making of Inequality Between Religious Groups in the Middle East”
Keynote description:
Across much of the nineteenth and twentieth-century Middle East, non-Muslim minorities were on average wealthier and better educated than Muslim majorities. This presentation argues that the socioeconomic gaps between religious groups are largely the product of who enters and exits a group over time. Drawing on newly digitized historical microdata, I trace three channels: (1) the selective out-conversion to Islam under identity taxation in 700–1800 CE that first formed small, better-off non-Muslim minorities; (2) the demographic reshaping after 1800 through out-migration, European colonial settlement, and the earlier decline of non-Muslim fertility and mortality; and (3) the post-1800 policies, from precolonial reforms to colonialism to postcolonial state-led development, that reworked the gap. Together they offer a political economy of group inequality that speaks to how identity, policy, and demography shape inequality in developing economies more broadly.
The session will be moderated by Eliane Badaoui.
We ask all those interested in attending the webinar to register in order to receive the MS Teams link.
Format and instructions
We encourage participants to actively contribute to the discussion by sharing feedback with presenters and asking questions.
The seminar is held on MS Teams and lasts 75 minutes
The talk lasts 50 minutes, followed by a 25-minute Q&A session
Comments and questions are welcomed from attendees during the Q&A session
A moderator collects audience questions in the chat. Please stay muted until called by the moderator.
Seminars will be recorded and available on the webpage a few days later.
Please note that you may be recorded if you activate your video or speak during the seminar.
We offer Certificates of Participation for presenters and attendees upon request.