Publication: The Road to Sustained Growth in Jamaica
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2004-04
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2004-04
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Jamaica's economic history is one of paradoxes, and potential - it has an English-speaking, and reasonably well-educated labor force, is close to the world's largest market, the United States, and, has an abundance of natural beauty, which has spurred tourism - and, many of its social, and governance indicators are strong, including near universal school enrollment. Poverty rates are below that of comparable countries. Yet, the Jamaican story is marked by the paradoxes of low growth in GDP and high employment, despite high investment, and important achievements in poverty reduction. This paper attempts to explain these paradoxes, and concludes that one possible explanation is that GDP has been understated. Amid these challenges, this report proposes that a "bandwagon" approach to reforms may be needed to improve prospects for sustained growth, with policy actions on several fronts, including measures to avert crisis, while continuing to strengthen social safety nets, as well as short- and long-term policies, such as reducing the growth of public expenditure, and tackling crime. Given that policy choices are likely to be difficult, it argues that an approach based on social dialogue, and consensus building is essential to create ownership for future reforms among all stakeholders.
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“World Bank. 2004. The Road to Sustained Growth in Jamaica. World Bank Country Study;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15014 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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Publication Jamaica - The Road to Sustained Growth : Country Economic Memorandum(Washington, DC, 2003-12-04)Jamaica's poor growth performance has a number of well-known explanations, but they need to be supplemented for the latter half of the 1990s, by the loss of competitiveness. The negligible (measured) GDP growth in the 1990s is usually attributed to two factors: an adverse external climate and the financial crisis that arose from bank privatization to poorly capitalized investors, and, financial liberalization, unaccompanied by an appropriate regulatory strengthening. 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Chapter III examines the investment climate, broadly understood, which includes governance, access to infrastructure, and financial development. Chapter IV analyzes the importance of innovation and technology adaptation for productivity growth. Chapter V looks at trade openness and the catalytic role that the recently negotiated free trade agreement with the U.S. (CAFTA) could have on the Guatemalan economy.
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