Do Smaller Firms Pay Less in the Caribbean? The Case of Trinidad and Tobago

This article constitutes the first study of the employer size wage effect for a Caribbean country, namely the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Using a rich micro-level data set we estimate the firm size wage premium in an empirical model of wage determination. Despite exploring a variety of theories, samples, estimation techniques and tests, we find that, consistent with the empirical literature, larger firms in Trinidad and Tobago pay higher wages than smaller firms, for equally productive workers.     

Small-Business Participation in the Informal Sector of an Emerging Economy

We investigate the characteristics of the owners of small businesses that participate in the informal sector of an emerging economy and their perception of the risk of detection by tax authorities while doing so. Data are gathered from a survey covering 1027 small businesses in Trinidad and Tobago. Results suggest that small business owners are motivated to participate in the informal sector when they believe that the risk of detection by the tax authorities is low and that government regulations are burdensome, but there is no evidence that the tax rate itself is an issue. Their perception of the risk of detection by the tax authority is determined largely by the time they spend and the income they earn in the formal sector.     

Reframing Development in the Age of Vulnerability: from case studies of the Philippines and Trinidad to new measures of rootedness

This article argues that the contemporary triple crises of finance, food and environment, which have shaken the global economy since 2008, have exposed what should be seen as the Achilles heel of the dominant development theory and practice of the past 30 years: vulnerability. We argue that the crises not only add momentum to the delegitimisation of the old model, but also offer legitimacy for paths that lessen vulnerability and increase what we call ‘rootedness’ (a term we prefer to ‘resilience’ or ‘sustainability’). After offering a brief history of ‘vulnerable’ development and reviewing the literature on vulnerability from the development, economic and environmental fields, we use this vulnerability versus rootedness frame to present analysis from our field work in two ‘vulnerable’ countries: the Philippines and Trinidad and Tobago. Integrating the article's sections, we then propose a new interdisciplinary framework for development that builds on and supplements the human rights, ecological, equity and democracy frames: the notion of ‘rootedness’ at the household, local and country levels.     

Analysis of current events: “towards the rule of law in Kosovo: EULEX should go”

Strong civil society provides individuals with arenas to bring their interests to the attention of policymakers. In so doing, civil society organizations (CSOs) can support state policies, but can also criticize policies. This paper argues that most minority rights advocacy CSOs in the Baltic states have little say in the crafting of policy and are compartmentalized into the existing agendas, with only a few groups able to evaluate policies independently. It concludes that the Baltic civil society is weak because the CSOs working on minority issues ask policymakers either too much, or too little. The findings suggest that policymakers quell criticism of their work from the side of the CSOs by ignoring their activities. Alternatively, by funding the CSO that shores up the state agenda, policymakers delegate their responsibilities to civic actors, keep critical voices from public debates and claim that their policies have the full support of a vibrant civil society. This paper investigates the options available for civil society actors to relate to policymakers in a nationalizing state by drawing on the data collected in 77 semi-structured interviews with the CSOs working with Russian and Polish minorities in the Baltic states between 2006 and 2009.     

The analysis of social interest rate in Trinidad and Tobago

In this article a Social Interest Rate (SIR) is derived for Trinidad and Tobago on the basis of an individualistic, independent and multi‐period consumption utility function. The component parameters of this rate are: a mortality‐based pure time discount rate, the growth rate of per capita real consumption and the elasticity of marginal utility of consumption. The final result is 6.2 per cent which is plausible and thus can be readily used by economic planners in various resource allocation policies in that country.     

Earnings and ethnicity in Trinidad and Tobago

This study employs 1993 Continuous Sample Survey of the Population (CSSP) data for Trinidad and Tobago to investigate the determinants of earnings by ethnicity. The data, organised into three ethnic groupings, reveal lower levels of remuneration in the labour market for Africans and Indians than for individuals of other ethnicities taken as a whole. While the larger portion of the earnings differentials generally appears to be explained by ethnic differences in characteristics valued by the labour market, Africans and Indians would benefit substantially if they were to receive the same rates of remuneration for their educational endowments as workers of other ethnicities in the Trinidad and Tobago labour market. Notwithstanding Indians’ lowest average earnings, Africans appear more likely to be discriminated against.     

AIDS costs in Trinidad and Tobago

This article examines the dramatic emergence of HIV/AIDS as a major public health problem in Trinidad and Tobago. While there were only eight registered cases of AIDS in 1983, by the beginning of 1992 Trinidad and Tobago had arrived at an incidence that put it in the 17th spot in the world, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The disease, which was first evinced among homosexuals, quickly spread to the heterosexual population. The cost of the disease, estimated in a human capital approach, has already made a dent on the GDP. Even the most conservative of projections suggests that the number of cases will rise by a factor of between four and five by the year 2000. Although there is little by way of comparative cost data on other diseases, AIDS/HIV, in all probability, could be very costly to the country. Ralph Henry received his B.A. at the University of the West Indies and his Ph.D. at the University of Alberta. He is currently senior lecturer and head of the Department of Economics at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and specializes in human resource economics. Elizabeth Newton received her Bachelor and Master degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. She is currently a visiting scientist at the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Her main research interests include biostatistics and infectious disease modelling.     

African diasporas,development and the politics of context

This article seeks to add to the debate on the role of diasporas in development outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa by considering why diasporas are not apparently as effective as development agents in an African setting as they have proven thus far in other regions. It argues that changing diasporic engagement and activities on the continent should be examined against the backdrop of the emergence of a ‘liberalisation from below’ which emphasises local ownership of development outcomes, the historical variety of African state forms and the continuities in the exercise of power and the nature of these states. In so doing, it brings into focus the ongoing transformation in state–society relations whereby the dependence—of elites and ordinary citizens alike—on external resources continues to deepen, and the importance of this context in drawing any conclusions about the role of diasporas as agents of transformation.     

The Incidence of Visible Underemployment: Evidence for Trinidad and Tobago

This article presents an empirical analysis of the incidence of visible underemployment in Trinidad and Tobago. Visible underemployment consists of workers who work less than the normal duration of working hours but are willing and available to work more. We find that compared to other groups of the labour force the visibly underemployed tend to be less educated and are more likely to work in the private sector. We also find that their revealed behaviour is consistent with their desire for more hours. Only about 50 per cent of the visibly underemployed are able to find full-time employment within three months and little except firm size helps predict who will.     

Security Sector Reform and State Building

This article argues that there is a close link between security sector reform (ssr) and state building. Focusing on UK approaches to state building and ssr, it argues that these are an extension of liberal models containing a number of assumptions about the nature of states and how they should be constructed and that any analysis of ssr approaches needs to be seen within a broader framework of the international community, which tends to see the replacement of ‘dysfunctional’ societies as desirable both for the people of those states and for the international community. As a result, state building has largely been carried out as a ‘technical-administrative’ exercise focusing on the technicalities of constructing and running organisations rather than on the politics of creating states, leading to a lack of overall political coherence in terms of where ssr is, or should be, going and of what kinds of state are being constructed. Politics is frequently cited by practitioners as representing a set of obstacles to be overcome to achieve ssr rather than a set of assumptions about actually doing it. The effect of development and security policies working closely together in insecure environments is an overarching emphasis on security at the expense of the harder, more long-term process of development.     

Global Capitalism and the Transformation of State Socialism

The article outlines the footprint of international economic interests under state socialism, and considers in more detail the economic integration of the postcommunist countries into the world system in the post-1989 period of the building of capitalism. The focus of the article is on the extent of economic globalization of countries and their economic corporations. It is contended that the globalization of capitalist companies and the direct role of global economic forces had little importance under state socialism. Since 1989, policy in the former state socialist countries has been geared to “joining” the world system, optimistically its core. Important differences have developed between the postsocialist states with respect to economic penetration and exposure to the world market. The outcomes have not fulfilled the expectations of early advocates of transformation and entry to the world economy. Although the new member states of the European Union have entered the world economy as formal members of the “core,” they are not economically equal to the dominant “old” members of the EU. In all the postcommunist countries, there is an absence of large scale global companies, of comparable levels of innovation, research and development. Russia is a resources rich country, a “hybrid” social formation containing elements of state economic control, national capitalism, and global capitalism. I conclude that the semi periphery is not a transient category in the world economy; it has potential for persistence and renewal.     

Migrant employment,recessions, and return migration: Some consequences for migration policy and development

After bringing approximately 13 million foreign migrants into Europe's industrial regions, the governments of many of these countries, among them France, Switzerland, West Germany, and the Netherlands have imposed severe restrictions on further immigration. Along with this move are the attempts by many countries to attract migrants back to their home countries. The recession of 1973 decreased the need for migrant labor and resulted in high levels of unemployment. The hard working migrant of the 1950's and 60's grew to become the politically active striker and social/political/financial burden on the state. Most governments have decided that future economic development will depend on technology, not labor production. The labor market structure of migrant workers helps explain why laid-off migrants do not return to their home countries. Political and economic conditions in the homeland also determine the amount of migrant return. The mere existence of a secondary labor force in an immigration country may make it easier to remain in that country. Incentives and financial inducements are needed to attract migrants home.     

Homegrown Violent Extremism in Trinidad and Tobago: Local Patterns,Global Trends

The article examines the subject of homegrown violent extremism related to militant Islamism in the dual-Island Caribbean state of Trinidad and Tobago (T & T). It employs original research drawn from a series of semi-structured interviews and focus groups conducted between November 2015 and January 2016. Tracing the evolution of endogenous forms of radicalism and extremism the article considers how globalized-exogenous forms of militant Islamism associated with Al Qaeda and its offshoots, such as the so-called Islamic State, have impacted local patterns of violent extremism. The case study draws attention to a state and a region that have received scant attention in terrorism studies. As demonstrated by the article, this oversight is imprudent. There are a number of noteworthy findings from this case study for terrorism studies scholars: the unique historical legacy of radicalism, extremism and insurrection among T & T's Islamists; the country's markedly high levels of extremist travelers on a per capita basis and the high rate of religious converts among those travelers; the inter-linkages between criminality and political violence; and the potential threat posed by Trinidadian and Tobagonian militancy regionally.     

Transnational governance of cybersecurity: policy challenges and global inequalities in cyber capacity building

Abstract

Connectivity infrastructure is constantly expanding, increasing internet access across countries, regions and socio-political contexts. Given the fast-changing geography of the internet, there is a growing demand to strengthen cyber capacity beyond national frameworks, in order to develop a transnationally coherent and coordinated governance approach to cybersecurity. In this context, cyber capacity building initiatives are increasingly central in international debates, with the ambition to support countries in the Global South in fostering their cybersecurity strategy from technical and policy perspectives. This article discusses the key factors explaining states’ efforts to enhance their cyber capacity. Based on a cross-national quantitative research approach, the findings contradict international relations (IR)-derived approaches to cybersecurity, which assume that countries develop their cyber capacity according to external security threats, domestic politics or norms. In line with existing research on the role that science plays in policymaking processes more broadly, our results suggest instead that a country’s science and technical knowledge is the most robust explanation for that state’s cyber capacity level. These findings emphasise the need for policymakers to support countries in the Global South in developing their cyber capacity beyond national security paradigms by strengthening education and technical skills in contexts lacking in this resource.     

Barking up the Wrong Tree? Measuring Gender Gaps in Firm’s Access to Finance

Abstract

The literature on gender-based discrimination in credit markets is recently expanding, but the results are not yet definitive and have not been generally agreed upon. This paper exploits a new dataset on Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, which provides detailed information about female ownership and management in firms for investigating the existence of a gender gap in access to finance. The evidence presented herein suggests that more precise measures of the gender composition of the firm show that women-led businesses are more likely to be financially constrained than other comparable firms.     

Universities and Knowledge-based Development in sub-Saharan Africa: Comparing University–Firm Interaction in Nigeria,Uganda and South Africa

Research on the changing role of universities in firm learning, innovation and national economic development has not extended systematically to low income countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing on an empirical survey of firms and case studies of university practices, the article examines conditions of universities, firms and their potential for interaction across a national system of innovation in three countries, Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa, in order to contribute to such analysis. In so doing, it attempts to open up a research agenda in terms of the specific challenges African countries face.     

American empire and ‘excluded states’: the millennium challenge account and the shift to pre-emptive development

In March 2002 President George W Bush announced the creation of what many insiders have heralded as a revolutionary development initiative: the Millennium Challenge Account (mca). The latter seeks to provide assistance to 79 of the world's poorest countries—many of which have been often equated with the term ‘failed states’—so that they may reap the benefits of neoliberal-led globalisation. One of the most novel, and coercive, features of this development compact is the ‘pre-emptive’ method in which it will administer aid. Under the mca, only countries that govern justly, invest in their people, and open their economies to foreign enterprise and entrepreneurship will qualify for funding. To this end the Bush administration has devised 16 eligibility criteria—ranging from civil liberties to ‘days to start a business’—that each country must successfully pass before receiving aid. Despite its impact on normalising, and thus legitimating, the tendency towards the privatisation of aid and militarisation of development, there has been very little critical work on the mca. This paper sets out to fill this gap in the literature by attempting to understand historically the mca as a moment of American empire.1 This article builds on the wider arguments developed in my forthcoming book, Contesting Global Governance: Empire, Class, and the New Common Sense in Managing Globalisation, London: Pluto Press. View all notes In doing so, I suggest that, while the form of the mca represents an unabashed articulation of US-led imperialism vis-a`-vis the poorest regions in the South, the content of this allegedly novel strategy reflects the same goals and interests that underlie the neoliberal agenda, namely, that the path to increased growth and prosperity lies in countries' willingness and ability to adopt policies that promote economic freedom and the rule of law.     

State Power and the Economic Origins of Democracy

Recent comparative politics scholarship on regime change has not taken state capacity seriously. Prominent works on the relationship between democracy and economic inequality center on the expectation by economic elites that democratization will lead to economic redistribution. But state capacity is necessary for redistribution, and where extractive capacity is lacking, rational economic elites should not fear that suffrage expansion would lead to effective redistribution, nor should the masses expect to gain economically from democratization. State capacity thus acts as a scope condition for the effect of inequality on regime outcomes. This prediction is confirmed through replication and extension of the analysis in Boix (2003), with the addition of the presence of a regularly implemented national census as a proxy for state capacity. In strong states, the effect of inequality on regime change is confirmed. But where the state is weak, inequality is shown to have no effect on regime outcomes. Thus, including state capacity in theories of regime change calls into question general claims about the “economic origins” of dictatorship and democracy.     

A RACE TO THE BOTTOM? EXPLORING VARIATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS IN THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR

This paper presents findings of a study examining state‐voluntary sector inter‐organizational relationships, and the capacity of third‐sector organizations to exercise autonomy over employment matters in this relationship. The aim is to provide insights into an under‐researched area of the inter‐organizational literature, especially in relation to its employment implications. In doing so, it reveals how, as with broader studies of inter‐organizational relations, state‐voluntary sector relations are not homogenous and therefore lead to differing implications for employment. In particular, three Types of voluntary organization emerge, employing, with varying degrees of success, various strategies to protect the terms and conditions of their employees in the face of cost‐cutting pressures from funding bodies. As industrialized countries increasingly turn to the third sector for the provision of social services, it argues that even for the strongest of these organizations, there are long‐term risks for staff morale and therefore quality of care provided by the sector if organizations fail to manage these external pressures from funders.     

Police in the Development Space: Australia's international police capacity builders

Abstract

International police now contribute the second largest proportion of personnel to peacekeeping missions after militaries. They are thus key contributors to post-conflict transitions in developing countries. In the past decade Australian police have played a major role in a range of international missions in the Asia-Pacific region, partially funded by Australia's international development budget. Increasingly the Australian Federal Police, as Australia's lead agency in this area, has explicitly adopted the development language of capacity building to describe a significant part of their role. This paper considers the contribution of Australian police to building or developing the capacity of new and/or re-formed police forces following conflict. It also examines the degree to which international police missions are able to contribute to broader development goals and achievements within these settings. In doing so, it engages with the question of ‘outsiders’ (non-development professionals) performing development work in the increasingly populated space of post-conflict recovery and reconstruction.