The Road to Sustained Growth in Jamaica

by World Bank Group

'The Road to Sustained Growth in Jamaica' is part of the World Bank Country Study series. These reports are published with the approval of the subject government to communicate the results of the Bank's work on the economic and related conditions of member countries to governments and to the development community. Jamaica's economic history is a story of paradoxes and potential. It has an English-speaking and a reasonably well-educated labor force, is close to the world's largest market, the United States, and has an abundance of natural beauty that has spurred tourism. Many of its social and governance indicators are strong, including near universal school enrollment and poverty levels below that of comparable countries. However, 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 important 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.

222 pages, Paperback

First published May 3, 2004

About the author

The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and most famous development bank in the world and is an observer at the United Nations Development Group. The bank is based in Washington, D.C. and provided around $61 billion in loans and assistance to "developing" and transition countries in the 2014 fiscal year. The bank's stated mission is to achieve the twin goals of ending extreme poverty and building shared prosperity. Its five organizations are the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

The World Bank's (the IBRD and IDA's) activities are focused on developing countries, in fields such as human development (e.g. education, health), agriculture and rural development (e.g. irrigation and rural services), environmental protection (e.g. pollution reduction, establishing and enforcing regulations), infrastructure (e.g. roads, urban regeneration, and electricity), large industrial construction projects, and governance (e.g. anti-corruption, legal institutions development). The IBRD and IDA provide loans at preferential rates to member countries, as well as grants to the poorest countries. Loans or grants for specific projects are often linked to wider policy changes in the sector or the country's economy as a whole. For example, a loan to improve coastal environmental management may be linked to development of new environmental institutions at national and local levels and the implementation of new regulations to limit pollution, or not, such as in the World Bank financed constructions of paper mills along the Rio Uruguay in 2006.