Economic Transformation of Jamaica


Book Description

This book is a compilation of important contributions from noted scholars, articles derived from JAMPROs Jamaica Investment Forum 2015 written by members of the UWI Mona, WJC faculty as well as significant presentations from the policy makers who form the government of Jamaica. Importantly, this work focuses on examining the centrality of policies coupled with innovation in the transformation of Jamaica as the place to live, raise families and do business as espoused by the Vision 2030 national development plan. This joint work highlights the fundamental role that JAMPRO as the key agency for promoting Foreign Direct Investment in Jamaica plays in the thrust for economic growth and development. Importantly, we highlight some key contributors to the progress we have made in Jamaica through cases of home-grown multinationals such as the Grace Kennedy and Company Limited, LASCO, Kingston Wharves Limited, Sandals (ATL Group), while further noting areas that, with continued thrust and the right policies can fast-track our transformation. The key areas identified are Logistics, Agriculture, ICT/BPO (outsourcing) and Manufacturing. This book provides a valuable contribution to the literature on economic transformation, examining the history, current and new paradigms for the future in order to fast-track the economic transformation of Jamaica.




Industrial Policy and Economic Transformation in Africa


Book Description

The revival of economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is all the more welcome for having followed one of the worst economic disasters—a quarter century of economic malaise for most of the region—since the industrial revolution. Six of the world's fastest-growing economies in the first decade of this century were African. Yet only in Ethiopia and Rwanda was growth not based on resources and the rising price of oil. Deindustrialization has yet to be reversed, and progress toward creating a modern economy remains limited. This book explores the vital role that active government policies can play in transforming African economies. Such policies pertain not just to industry. They traverse all economic sectors, including finance, information technology, and agriculture. These packages of learning, industrial, and technology (LIT) policies aim to bring vigorous and lasting growth to the region. This collection features case studies of LIT policies in action in many parts of the world, examining their risks and rewards and what they mean for Sub-Saharan Africa.




Democratic Socialism in Jamaica


Book Description

The work includes a detailed historical account of the Manley years, focusing on shifting relations between contending social forces and on the interaction between economics and politics. Originally published in 1986. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.




Jamaica's Export Economy


Book Description




The Confounding Island


Book Description

The preeminent sociologist and National Book Award–winning author of Freedom in the Making of Western Culture grapples with the paradox of his homeland: its remarkable achievements amid continuing struggles since independence. There are few places more puzzling than Jamaica. Jamaicans claim their home has more churches per square mile than any other country, yet it is one of the most murderous nations in the world. Its reggae superstars and celebrity sprinters outshine musicians and athletes in countries hundreds of times its size. Jamaica’s economy is anemic and too many of its people impoverished, yet they are, according to international surveys, some of the happiest on earth. In The Confounding Island, Orlando Patterson returns to the place of his birth to reckon with its history and culture. Patterson investigates the failures of Jamaica’s postcolonial democracy, exploring why the country has been unable to achieve broad economic growth and why its free elections and stable government have been unable to address violence and poverty. He takes us inside the island’s passion for cricket and the unparalleled international success of its local musical traditions. He offers a fresh answer to a question that has bedeviled sports fans: Why are Jamaican runners so fast? Jamaica’s successes and struggles expose something fundamental about the world we live in. If we look closely at the Jamaican example, we see the central dilemmas of globalization, economic development, poverty reduction, and postcolonial politics thrown into stark relief.




Taming the Big Green Elephant


Book Description

In this open access publication it is shown, that sustainable low carbon development is a transformative process that constitutes the shifting from the initially chosen or taken pathway to another pathway as goals have been re-visited and revised to enable the system to adapt to changes. However, shifting entails transition costs that are accrued through the effects of lock-ins that have framed decisions and collective actions. The uncertainty about these costs can be overwhelming or even disruptive. This book aims to provide a comprehensive and integrated analytical framework that promotes the understanding of transformation towards sustainability. The analysis of this book is built upon negotiative perspectives to help define, design, and facilitate collective actions in order to execute the principles of sustainability. Dr Dr Ariel Macaspac Hernandez is currently a researcher at the German Development Institute belonging to the research cluster knowledge cooperation and environmental governance. He was/is also a lecturer on negotiations, conflict and resource management, sustainability politics, environmental governance, climate change policies, development aid and sustainable energy systems in various universities in Germany, Philippines, Jamaica, Estonia, Spain and Mexico.




How Trade Liberalization Affects a Sugar Dependent Community in Jamaica


Book Description

Located within the plantation economy model of the “New World Group” of The University of the West Indies, this book explores how the changes in the European Union’s sugar regime impacted a sugar-dependent community in Jamaica. It details how the end of centuries of preferential treatment of Jamaican sugar in the British/European market in 2005 worsened the social and environmental realities of the Monymusk community in Clarendon, Jamaica, which depended on the sugar industry. In describing the response of the Jamaican Government to the changes in the EU Sugar Regime, and the subsequent roll-out of an EU funded adaptation strategy, the author provides some unique perspectives on this process, drawing on his experience as a senior civil servant involved in the process. The book also highlights the continued social and environmental impact on the area since 2015 . The book concludes with a discussion on the empirical findings and how those findings contribute to the debates on the dependency perpetuated by the Plantation Economy Model of development and the failure of neo-liberal influenced government policies, as well as the lack of imagination of post-independent governments to break this dependency and deliver on the promise of independence.







Poverty and Life Expectancy


Book Description

A multidisciplinary study that reconstructs Jamaica's rise from low to high life expectancy and explains how that was achieved. Jamaica is one of the small number of countries that has attained a life expectancy nearly matching that in richer countries, despite having a much lower level of per capita income.