This study examines the trade flows in commodities for CARICOM countries through the utilization of the traditional gravity model for international trade. Per capita GDP differential, trade to GDP and language all impact trade positively. On the other hand, geographical distance, exchange rate...

Using vector autoregressive (VAR) methodology, this paper empirically investigates the macroeconomic effects of oil price fluctuations on Trinidad and Tobago. Overall, we find that the price of oil is a major determinant of economic activity of the country. Our impulse response functions suggest...

Credit unions differ from commercial banks and other financial institutions since their members are the owners of the credit union and they elect board of directors in a democratic one-person-one vote system regardless of the amount of money invested in the credit union. Credit unions contribute...

Financial systems across the world have all come under pressure due to the on-going financial crisis. One of the most often asked questions during a collapse is how long and how deep will the decline be as well as what policy initiatives can be employed to shorten the recession. This study...

Keynesians propose that increases in tourist arrivals are associated with an expansion in private spending through the multiplier effect. To test this hypothesis, this study augments a simple consumption function with tourist arrivals and employs the dynamic OLS method to compute the short and...

This paper uses a VAR and VECM framework to examine whether financial development causes growth or vice-versa employing aggregate annual time-series data on Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. The results indicate that a long-run...

Using a neo-classical aggregate production model where capital, labour, technology, and energy are treated as separate inputs, this paper tests for the existence and direction of causality between output growth and electrical energy use in Barbados, analysed as a whole and in sectors...

This study examines the disciplanary effect of monetary union in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM); specifically, whether there is a systematic difference between fiscal discipline in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU), a sub-regular grouping in CARICOM and other CARICOM members which...