1 THE USER COST OF CAPITAL AD BEHAVIOR OF INDUSTRIAL INVESTMENT IN MOROCCO: MEASUREMENT ISSUES AND ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS(*)

Efforts deployed by Morocco to boost industrial investment have resulted in mitigated outcomes. In this sense, one can describe the situation as a “structural crisis of industrial investment”. Therefore, deeper analysis of investment reaction to incentive measures is needed. “Industrial investment makes countries richer”. This idea is commonly accepted among economists who argue that speed of development closely depends on industrial investment level as well as on its structure, orientation and efficiency. Under these conditions, one can understand the willingness of Moroccan decision-makers to create conditions for an environment that is favorable to boost industrial investment. Since the independence of Morocco in 1956, decision-makers deployed efforts to stimulate industrial investment. Undertaken policies concern tax, financial and infrastructural measures. Nevertheless, such efforts resulted in mitigated outcomes, and the situation may now be described as a “structural crisis of industrial investment”. Official statistics show that industrial investment has experienced slower increases and investment performance is still below what has been expected. Therefore, deepe