Overcoming Productivity Challenges in Small Countries: Lessons from Jamaica

Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgement
Contents
About the Authors
Acronyms
List of Figures
List of Tables
1 COVID-19 and Efficiency in a New Global Economy
1.1 Why Is Productivity Growth Important?
1.2 COVID-19 and the Jamaican Economy
1.3 Infusion of Innovation and Technology in Production Processes and Linkages
References
2 Total Factor Productivity and Labour Productivity Drivers in Jamaica
2.1 Background
2.2 Literature
2.3 Productivity Drivers in the Jamaican Economy
2.3.1 Inflation
2.3.2 Government Size
2.3.3 Share of Value Added in Agriculture
2.3.4 Human Capital
2.3.5 Corruption Control
2.3.6 Government Effectiveness
2.3.7 Capital Stock
2.3.8 Credit to the Private Sector
2.3.9 Trade Openness
2.3.10 FDI
2.4 Data and Methodology
2.4.1 Fully modified OLS
2.5 Results and Analysis
2.5.1 Unit Root Test and Cointegration Test
2.5.1.1 Total Factor Productivity
2.5.1.2 Labour Productivity
2.6 Conclusion and Recommendations
References
3 Productivity and Labour Usage in the Goods Producing Sector in Jamaica
3.1 The Optimal Level of Employment by Industry
3.2 Agriculture in Jamaica
3.2.1 The Optimal Level of Employment in the Agricultural Sector
3.2.2 Productivity Challenges in Agriculture
3.2.3 Overcoming Challenges to Agricultural Industry
3.2.3.1 Agricultural Policy
3.3 Agriculture’s Correlation with Other Industries in Jamaica
3.4 The Future of Manufacturing on the Island
3.4.1 The Optimal Level of Employment in the Manufacturing Sector
3.5 Mining and Quarrying
3.5.1 The Optimal Level of Employment in the Mining and Quarrying Sector
3.6 Construction to Industrialize
3.6.1 The Optimal Level of Employment in the Construction Sector
References
4 Productivity and Labour Usuage in the Service Providing Sector in Jamaica
4.1 Hotel and Restaurant Industry: What Is the Future of Tourism?
4.1.1 The Optimal Level of Employment in the Hotel and Restaurants Sector
4.2 Transforming Wholesale and Retail Trade with Innovate Entrepreneurship
4.2.1 The Optimal Level of Employment in the Wholesale and Retail Trade Industry
4.2.2 Improving Wholesale and Retail Trade in Jamaica
4.3 Electricity Gas and Water Supply
4.3.1 Optimal Level of Employment in the Electricity, Gas and Water Supply Industry
4.4 Financial Services and Insurance Sector
4.4.1 The Optimal Level of Employment in the Finance and Insurance Sector
4.5 Transport, Storage and Communication a Push Towards ICT
4.5.1 The Optimal Level of Employment in the Transport and Communication Sector
4.5.2 Transport (Futuristic Rail Way Service to Deliver Goods)
4.6 Real Estate and Other Business Services
4.6.1 The Optimal Level of Employment in the Real Estate Sector
4.7 Producers of Government Services
4.7.1 The Optimal Level of Employment in the Producer of Government Services
4.8 Discussion
4.9 Concluding Remarks
References
5 Human Capital, Productivity and Compensation in Jamaica
5.1 Human Capital in Jamaica
5.1.1 Years of Schooling, Training and Education
5.1.2 The Impact of COVID-19 on Human Capital Development
5.2 Compensation, Real Wage and Productivity
5.2.1 Minimum Wage
5.2.2 Real Wage and Productivity
5.2.3 Assessing the Relationship Between Compensation and Productivity in Jamaica
5.2.3.1 Background
5.2.3.2 Data and Methodology
5.2.3.3 Results and Discussion
5.2.3.4 Post Diagnostic Tests
5.2.3.5 Conclusion and Recommendation
References
6 Migration and Human Capital Flight
6.1 Migration Patterns from Latin America and the Caribbean
6.2 Migration Survey
6.2.1 Methodology and Data
6.2.2 Results
6.2.3 The Pull Factors
6.2.4 The Push Factors
6.3 Human Capital Flight
Appendix
References
7 Remittances
7.1 Remittance Benefits and Overview of Small Countries
7.2 Remittance Inflows by Region
7.2.1 South Asia
7.2.2 Sub-Saharan Africa
7.2.3 Latin America and the Caribbean
7.2.3.1 Caribbean Countries
7.2.4 Other Regions
7.3 Remittance Flows to Jamaica
7.4 The Remittance and Productivity Dilemma
7.4.1 Global Financial Crisis and COVID-19 Impact on Remittances to Jamaica
7.5 The Long-Run Relationship Between GDP Growth and Remittances
7.5.1 Data and Methodology
7.5.1.1 Data
7.5.2 Methodology
7.5.2.1 Model Specification
7.5.2.2 Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag Model
7.5.2.3 Diagnostic Tests
7.5.3 ARDL Bounds Testing Approach and Analysis
7.5.3.1 Stationarity Tests
7.5.3.2 Optimal Lag Selection
7.5.3.3 Bounds Testing for Long-Run Relationship
7.5.3.4 Diagnostic Tests for ARDL Model
7.5.4 Stability and Normality Distribution Tests
7.6 Conclusion
References
8 Corruption and the Informal Economy in Jamaica
8.1 Corruption in Jamaica and the Caribbean
8.2 The Causes of Corruption in Jamaica
8.2.1 Corruption and Competition
8.3 Corruption Greasing the Wheels
8.4 The Consequences of Corruption
8.5 Jamaica’s Inaction
8.6 The Informal Economy in Jamaica
8.7 Discussion and Recommendations
References
9 A Growth Comparison of Mauritius and Jamaica
9.1 Introduction
9.1.1 Why Do Economies Need to Grow?
9.1.2 Why Mauritius and Jamaica
9.2 Cross Country Contextual Analysis
9.2.1 Institutions and Corruption
9.2.2 What Did Mauritius Do Differently?
9.2.3 Jamaica’s Inaction
9.2.4 Post-Independence Nation Building Strategy
9.2.5 Institutions and Trade Policy—Heterodox Opening
9.2.6 Export Processing Zones
9.2.7 Culture and Ethnicity
9.3 Conclusion and Policy Prescriptions
References
10 Forging a Way Forward
10.1 Specialisation to Achieve Efficiency
10.2 Greater Support Needed for the National Productivity Organisation
10.3 Mandatory Second Language
10.4 Increase Economic Complexity
10.5 How to Escape the Productivity Trap?
Index