Pacific Islands Development [Working Papers]
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Recent Submissions
Item Identifying binding constraints in Pacific Island economies(Honolulu, HI : East-West Center, 2014-11) Duncan, Ron; Codippily, Hilarian; Duituturaga, Emele; Bulatale, Raijieli; East-West Center. Pacific Islands Development ProgramThe emergence of a large number of small states over the past four decades or so (there are presently around 50 states with populations with less than 1.5 million) has led to considerable interest amongst researchers, member governments, and international agencies in their economic and environmental viability. The literature generated in the process has focused on the special problems and development challenges faced by such states, including their prospects for integration with the changing global environment. The study presented here builds upon this literature in examining the binding constraints to development. It is our hope that this study will benefit policy makers, researchers, and the donor community. Four Pacific island countries were chosen for detailed study of the factors underlying their economic success, or lack of it: Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, and Cook Islands. The choice of the four countries studied was based on two main criteria: economic performance and the geographical, ethnic, and migratory features that distinguish these countries. Fiji and Kiribati have both carried out economic reforms, but not of the comprehensive nature of those of Samoa and Cook Islands. It is of interest therefore to compare the results of the reforms undertaken across the four countries and try to understand the reasons for the different results. For comparative purposes, two small island countries were chosen from outside the Pacific region: Barbados and Maldives. Barbados has been seen as a model for developing countries by virtue of its traditional approach to development over a long period of time, achieving a relatively high level of per capita income and quality of life for its people. Maldives, by contrast, is a case where notable results have been achieved in growth and development in a relatively short period of time, based on a 'leading sector approach'. The country visits for this research study were initiated in 2008 and completed in 2010. These country visits provided the opportunity for the two main authors and their associates to interact with policy makers, researchers, and civil society in these countries and carry out in-depth studies on the political economy of the country, covering the political systems, the legal systems, the institutional frameworks, their economic performance, and their governance structures, and the results achieved. The insights gained in the process are reflected in the country chapters and the concluding chapter.Item Small is viable : the global ebbs and flows of a Pacific atoll nation(Honolulu: East-West Center, 2002) Finin, Gerard A.Item A weak state and the Solomon Islands peace process(Honolulu: East-West Center and Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2002) Kabutaulaka, Tarcisius TaraItem The amended U.S. Compacts of Free Association with the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands : less free, more compact(Honolulu: East-West Center, 2003) Underwood, Robert A.The proposed amendments to the Compacts of Free Association with the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) represent a significant change in their relationship with the U.S. The foremost issues for the U.S. are greater financial accountability and the establishment of trust funds to enhance budgetary self-reliance. Island interests include continuing eligibility for certain federal programs, the right to freely migrate to the U.S. and, for the RMI, U.S. payments for military operating rights on Kwajalein. While the strategic value of these two nations may be ascending, the new accountability procedures are likely to result in increased resentment toward the U.S. At the same time, adequate financial support is critical for the FSM and RMI governments to continue functioning in a manner that discourages out migration to Hawaii, Guam and other parts of the U.S. Historical, economic and security linkages will ensure continued direct U.S. involvement and additional compact changes in years to come.Item Coups, conflicts, and crises : the new Pacific way?(Honolulu: East-West Center, 2000) Finin, Gerard A.; Wesley-Smith, TerencePolitical takeovers in Fiji and the Solomon Islands are still unfolding. These crises are very much related, but not in the ways commonly assumed. Too often reduced by popular media to "racially charged cauldrons" where primordial "ethnic resentments" have suddenly boiled over to produce turmoil, the problems these societies face are actually rooted in a specific set of historical and contemporary circumstances. The legacies of colonial rule, the lingering effects of Cold War politics, and the erosive forces of globalization, as well as the policies pursued in recent decades by Pacific Island governments themselves, have all contributed to the challenges confronting island societies today. This just-released analysis examines the complex roots of these ongoing national emergencies and places them in a larger regional context, including the obligations of the international community.