- December 2009
In this issue: Dr. Barbara Ingham, Dr. Mark Figueroa, Dr. Compton Bourne, Prof. Dennis Pantin, Prof. Norman Girvan, Dr. DeLisle Worrell &Vaughan A. Lewis
The thematic focus in this issue includes: green jobs; unemployment; unemployment duration; green economy, Caribbean, employee engagement, Big Five Personality Model, job satisfaction turnover intentions, Commercial banks; higher education; student loan; tertiary institution; tuition; Citizenship by Investment Program, Foreign Direct Investment, National Development Fund, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, unemployment, education, labour force, Saint Lucia and universal secondary education.
Pages: 1-23Author(s): Mahalia Jackman, Jade Kirton and Winston Moore
In many countries, green jobs are one of the fastest growing segments of the labor market. As a result, many firms, governments and individuals are making human capital investments in these areas. However, very little is known about the labor market characteristics of green jobs. This paper therefore investigates one aspect of green jobs: unemployment duration. It attempts to identify some key descriptive characteristics of these jobs relative to the rest of the labor market, as well as the key determinations of unemployment duration of individuals that would have worked in these jobs. This analysis would be important for policymakers as these industries become a larger part of greener economies in the future.
Keywords: green jobs; unemployment; unemployment duration; green economy
Pages: 23-48Author(s): Riann Singh, Narendra Ramgulam, Roxanne Lewis and Shalini Ramdeo
Employee engagement has become an emerging topic given its positive association with several work outcomes. This study evaluates employee engagement within the Caribbean hotel industry, suggesting that each dimension of the Big Five Personality Model can predict work engagement. The relationships between engagement, job satisfaction, and voluntary turnover intentions are also validated.
Data was collected from three hundred and ninety-five front-line hotel employees in five Caribbean islands: Jamaica, Barbados, Bahamas, St. Lucia and Tobago. Findings suggest that (1) employees were fairly engaged; (2) the personality dimensions of conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness predicted engagement; (3) higher job satisfaction and reduced turnover intentions as outcomes of engagement as mediated by these dimensions.
Keywords: Caribbean, employee engagement, Big Five Personality Model, job satisfaction turnover intentions
Pages: 49-78Author(s): Delroy Chevers, Damian Cunningham, Rory Frankson, Keisha Samuels and Sonya Stevens
Over the past five years, the Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB) in Jamaica has been struggling to fulfil its mandate of disbursing loans to qualified students. The established government funded SLB was not equipped to handle the 153% increase in loan applications over the period 2007 to 2012. With this crisis and little change to the SLB’s funding policy, many students had, and continue to seek alternative funding options. In response to this crisis, commercial banks have expanded their loan offerings. However, many commercial banks have found offering student loans, to be challenging due to the regulations that are required. Hence, the research question seeks to ascertain whether students can afford the funding options offered by commercial banks in Jamaica. Three top tier tertiary institutions that have a bachelor degree in business administration program and five major commercial banks were selected for the study. It was discovered that all the funding options provided by the commercial banks were affordable when students chose University A; two of the five options were affordable when students chose University B and none when University C was chosen. The study highlights the need for policy changes to strengthen the viability and sustainability of the SLB.
Keywords: Commercial banks; higher education; student loan; tertiary institution; tuition
Pages: 79-114Author(s): Imran Williams and Roger Hosein
The seemingly unchartered territory of the Citizenship by Investment Programs (CIP) among the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), in recent times have come to the fore as the most viable means of attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). This paper seeks to make a case for the CIPs in the OECS, as they offer a lucrative additional revenue stream to governments. It delves into the structure of the CIP in the OECS, paying particular attention to the programs’ management and receipts utilisation. Additionally, the limitations of the CIP are discussed and recommendations postulated to improve the functioning and perception.
Keywords: Citizenship by Investment Program, Foreign Direct Investment, National Development Fund, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
Pages: Owen S. Arthur, Prof. of Practice Author(s): 115-123
This presentation is intended to support enlightened public discussion of the objectives being sought, the design and the likely impact of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme that forms an essential component of the Barbados Economic Recovery Programme.
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Pages: 124-157Author(s): Janai Leonce and Raijeanne Preville
A logit based model was used to assess the degree to which the demise of the banana industry, the introduction of Universal Secondary Education (USE) and labour participants’ characteristics such as age, gender and educational attainment were significant predictors of unemployment in Saint Lucia. The results show that age, educational attainment and proxies for labour participants’ access to the labour market were negative predictors of unemployment while being female was a positive predictor. Proxies for spill-over effects associated with the transition from agriculture to services were not significant while the introduction of USE was marginally insignificant. With respect to unemployment the most vulnerable cohort of the labour market were females between the ages of 20 - 25 with minimal access to the labour market and below primary schooling.
Keywords: unemployment, education, labour force, Saint Lucia, universal secondary education
Pages: 158-178Author(s): Jodie Keane and Hilary Enos-Edu
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Pages: 179-187Author(s): R. Clive Landis
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Pages: Jeremy CollymoreAuthor(s): 188-193
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Pages: 194-200Author(s): Joy St. John
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