Engine of Growth?: The Caribbean Private Sector Needs More Than an Oil Change
The performance of the private sector is crucial for a country's economic growth. Thus, this report revisits the theme of low Caribbean growth, viewed through a macroeconomic lens in the previous "Sclerosis" report, but focuses on a microeconomic perspective: Why is the business sector not functioning well as the engine of that growth? We argue that fine-tuning that engine, as it were, will take more than an oil change. The central hypothesis is that the Caribbean private sector is falling behind because its policy environment hinders rather than promotes dynamic, innovative, and export-oriented businesses. Structural policies that target overall improvements in the environment in which firms operate may have greater returns than just firm- or sector-level interventions in improving the performance of the private sector, and hence overall economic growth. This is counterintuitive for many Caribbean policymakers and commentators who often focus on the needs of existing large firms (foreign or domestically owned) and discuss which sector or industry should be promoted next given the stagnation of the existing sectors.
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Bibliographic Details
| Main Author: |
Inter-American Development Bank |
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| Other Authors: |
Inder J. Ruprah |
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| Format: | Monographs
biblioteca
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| Language: | English |
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| Published: |
Inter-American Development Bank
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| Subjects: | Productivity Growth,
Business Development,
Innovation Policy,
Gender Issue,
Tourism,
Access to Finance,
Research and Development,
Exporting Firm,
Tax Rate,
Macroeconomy,
Tax Administration,
Foreign Direct Investment,
Private Investment,
Firm Performance,
D01 - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles,
E24 - Employment • Unemployment • Wages • Intergenerational Income Distribution • Aggregate Human Capital • Aggregate Labor Productivity,
F10 - Trade: General,
F43 - Economic Growth of Open Economies G2 - Financial Institutions and Services H4 - Publicly Provided Goods,
I25 - Education and Economic Development J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor J6 - Mobility Unemployment Vacancies and Immigrant Workers,
O34 - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital,
private investment;firm performance;tourism;business development, |
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0012652
https://publications.iadb.org/en/engine-growth-caribbean-private-sector-needs-more-oil-change
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