Research Areas

Research Areas

Dr Yousif Abdelrahim’s research explores informal governance mechanisms, socio-cultural institutional systems, organisational behaviour, and governance dynamics within emerging market economies. His interdisciplinary scholarship integrates perspectives from institutional theory, organisational behaviour, governance studies, cultural systems research, and management scholarship to examine how informal social structures influence organisations, institutions, leadership, innovation, ethics, and sustainable development. His work contributes to contemporary academic discussions surrounding the role of informal institutions in shaping organisational and societal outcomes across diverse cultural and economic environments.

Informal Governance and Wasta Studies

A major focus of Dr Abdelrahim’s scholarship is the development of multidisciplinary frameworks for understanding Wasta as a form of informal governance operating within organisational and institutional systems. His research examines how relational influence, favouritism, social obligations, and informal institutional practices shape:

His recent theoretical work, Wasta as Informal Governance: A Componential and Institutional Theory for Emerging Market Economies, advances a novel framework that conceptualises Wasta as a socio-cultural governance mechanism rather than merely a networking practice or corruption-related phenomenon.

Tribalism, Culture, and Institutional Dynamics

Dr. Abdelrahim’s research also investigates tribalism as a socio-cultural institutional system influencing governance structures, corruption, collective identity, institutional trust, social inequality, and organisational behaviour. His work contributes to expanding interdisciplinary understanding of how tribal and collective social structures shape institutional performance and governance practices across societies & organisations. Several studies focus on the conceptualisation, measurement, and validation of tribalism-related constructs at both societal and individual levels.

Cultural Systems & Organisational Behaviour

Another major area of Dr. Abdelrahim’s research examines the relationship between national culture, organisational systems, innovation, risk-taking, leadership, and institutional performance. His scholarship critically engages with cultural dimensions theory and explores how cultural values influence organisational and governance outcomes across different institutional contexts.

His work bridges:

Governance, Sustainability, and Emerging Markets

Dr. Abdelrahim’s broader research agenda investigates how governance systems, informal institutions, and socio-cultural environments influence sustainable development, ethics, institutional effectiveness, and organisational practices within emerging market economies. His interdisciplinary approach aims to advance both theoretical and practical understanding of governance and institutional development in complex socio-cultural environments.

Scholarly Impact

Dr. Abdelrahim’s publications have received more than 320 scholarly citations and have appeared in internationally indexed journals, conference proceedings, and academic platforms, including Q1-ranked journals. His work has attracted growing international academic attention through theoretical frameworks, empirical studies, and interdisciplinary contributions related to governance and socio-cultural institutional systems.

His research has been indexed in major scholarly databases, including: