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aware of integrating regionally first, then internationally. The Commonwealth Caribbean countries should sign more PTAs and TAs with outer countries in order to remove unnecessary trade barriers and to foster more economic development. From the share of knowledge, to increase sales from foreign exchange and inward foreign direct investments, the aforementioned can all be used to uplift a country’s citizens, who are being deprived from such benefits, to a much higher standard of living in general. Monetary benefits produced can be used for the construction of schools, hospitals, parks and other social infrastructures. Such benefits, in turn, give rise to higher education, health and social welfare and, therefore, more productive citizens. Needless to say that it is imperative that leaders in developing countries ensure they possess a sustainable economy since their continuous huge increases in
population will make it difficult for them to secure adequate food and nutrition alongside good standard of living for their future.
With the continued support from the high-income countries, developing countries can achieve economic growth and development. Advanced economies provide their support to developing countries through initiatives, such as Aid for Trade, Financing for Development and, most importantly, the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round of trade
negotiations (Fernández, 2008).
Leaders must be held accountable for their actions. Voters place their trust in the leaders they elect and as such, those leaders should fulfil their obligations by carry on with their promises, in turn giving back to the community that elected them. Regardless of how the quality of governance stands, countries, with the help of international governmental and non-governmental institutions should have check and balance in place to guarantee the proper governing of a country. These check and balances will deter leaders from steering towards the wrong path.
Finally, it is important that a country’s citizens ensure that the benefits of trade are distributed fairly amongst themselves. Through a proper social welfare system, fiscal and monetary policies, Government can ensure that the fruits of economic growth and
development reaches everyone fairly.
5.4 Research Limitations and Future Studies
The Commonwealth Caribbean countries are some of the last countries to be granted independence in the Americas. As a result, there were a few drawbacks.
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Primarily, there was a lack of data. Data on these countries was not readily available, particularly as it relates to the measurement of good governance and trade openness. As previously mentioned, there are various scores and indexes created by institutions on the measurement of good governance. However, most if not all, do not cover the countries in the study, and if they do, they only have for the last years. This points out the usage of only one dataset by the author – Freedom House Score, to measure good governance. The same drawback was encountered when measuring trade openness. There are multiple ways of measuring trade openness, but due to the lack of data and information, the author only relied on measuring trade openness as a country’s ratio of trade to GDP. Cross examining and referencing from other datasets would have been more beneficial for the measurement of the effects of good governance and trade openness since the findings would have provided a more robust outcome despite the datasets.
The results presented contributes to the existing literature and opens the doors for future research, especially since the results represent a quantitave analysis of the topic. For instance, in order to fully understand the effect of good governance, it is best to further analyse how corruption occurs within party lines, which will in return prepare institutions and citizens with more knowledge to combat corruption and give them the opportunity for
prosperity. Additionally, future study can include other Caribbean countries in the study. This would enable the researcher to control for other characteristics, such as language, ethnicity, colonial past, etc.
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Appendices
Appendix A: Main economic activities of the Commonwealth Caribbean Countries
Country Agriculture Industries Services
Antigua and Barbados sugarcane, vegetables,
cotton
light manufacturing, component
assembly for export tourism Belize sugar, bananas, citrus,
cocoa, marine products
garment production, food
processing, construction, oil tourism Dominica
bananas, citrus, mangos, coconuts,
cocoa, vegetables
soap, coconut oil, copra, furniture, cement blocks, shoes
tourism,
food, beverages, textiles, light assembly operations, edible oils, beef, pork,
poultry
gold, bauxite, food processing,
timber, textiles - sheep, pigs, goats, fish
food processing, cement,
furniture, clothing, starch tourism
Trinidad and Tobago
sugar, coffee, cocoa, vegetables, poultry
petroleum/petroleum products, liquefied natural gas, methanol,
ammonia, urea, steel products, beverages, food processing,
cement, cotton textiles
tourism
Source: Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (2018). World Fact Book (2018)
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Appendix B: Commonwealth Caribbean movement towards Regionalism
Compared to Latin America and North America, the Caribbean is a region composed of relatively small-sized countries with small-sized populations facing countless challenges.
From low economic performance to high losses due to natural disasters, these are few of the challenges jeopardizing the economic growth and development of the Caribbean countries.
The Commonwealth Caribbean Countries are very well conscientious of the small and low performing economies they all possess and the issues that tag along. To resolve their
challenges and curb these issues, these countries have opted regionalism. Numerous regional integration movements have been formed over the years to foster regional integration.
Commonwealth Caribbean movement towards Regionalism
Source: Compiled by author
West Indies Federation (WEF)
The formation of West Indies Federation (WEF) attests the regional cooperation that exists between the Commonwealth Caribbean countries, even before their independence. The WEF, although short-lived (1958-1962), was a political union composed of ten British colonies located in the Caribbean Region whose main objective was to attain independence from Great Britain as a single state. The exact reason for the demise of the federation is still unknown, however; it is speculated that this failure led to the independence of some member states (Sewell, 1997). The formation and failure of the WEF did not go in vain. In fact, it
Regionalism Date of Existence
WEF 1958-1962
CARIFTA 1965-1972
CARICOM 1973-
CSME 2002-
OECS 1981-
ACS 1994-
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fuelled the desire of the member states to work together for a common good-economic development.
Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA)
The WEF severed as a platform in which another body was created in 1968-The Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA). CARIFTA was a free-trade association geared at removing or reducing trade barriers within member states and thus enabling greater trade amongst each other (Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, 2008).
CARIFTA marked the first step towards economic integration in the region. Although the ultimate goal of the association was beneficial to all states, CARIFTA member states were small developing countries, and as such highly dependent on the revenues generated from import tariffs. This led to disagreement within the trade block and fuelled the interest for an integration movement that would deepen integration, boost the economies and bring greater benefits for all member states. This gave rise to the idea of the creation of a customs union-removal of all tariffs amongst member states. Until the dissolution of the association seven years after its creation, CARIFTA further gave rise to a custom union – the Caribbean Community and Common Market.
Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM)
Formally known as the Caribbean Community and Common Market - CARICOM was established on 4 July 1973 under the Treaty of Chaguaramas (ToC) which was signed at Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago (Treaty of Chaguaramas, 1973). Currently, CARICOM is a union of fifteen full member states and five associate members. The full member states are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, The Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Economically, CARICOM would deepen the intra-regional integration through the promotion of trade and economic cooperation through trade liberalization - abolishment of all trade barriers and quotas between member states. Other main objectives of CARICOM are to promote foreign policy coordination, functional cooperation and security cooperation amongst all its member states through the establishment of institutions (Deodat, 2010). Although almost all member states have small size economies when compared to
Formally known as the Caribbean Community and Common Market - CARICOM was established on 4 July 1973 under the Treaty of Chaguaramas (ToC) which was signed at Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago (Treaty of Chaguaramas, 1973). Currently, CARICOM is a union of fifteen full member states and five associate members. The full member states are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, The Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Economically, CARICOM would deepen the intra-regional integration through the promotion of trade and economic cooperation through trade liberalization - abolishment of all trade barriers and quotas between member states. Other main objectives of CARICOM are to promote foreign policy coordination, functional cooperation and security cooperation amongst all its member states through the establishment of institutions (Deodat, 2010). Although almost all member states have small size economies when compared to