Barbados owes much of its economic development to a growing culture of entrepreneurship. And the progress the island has made is also closely linked to the number of entrepreneurs it has fostered.
That’s the conclusion of Paul Pounder, a management studies lecturer at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. He made the observations in research entitled Economic Reform And Entrepreneurship In Barbados.
“The case of Barbados shows that economic development causes entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurship causes economic growth as highlighted by the [gross domestic product] and [gross national product] graphs shown in this research which is based on the economic reforms set out by the government of Barbados,” he noted.
“This research identifies a small fragment of the mechanisms of entrepreneurship, and provides basic observed support for the causal relationship between economic development and entrepreneurship at the national level.
“Moreover, this study serves as a starting point to further assess the institutional framework on economic growth, and consequently entrepreneurship. Richer measures for institutional framework are the key obstacle faced by future research,” he added.
Pounder said the research “also shows that market access is indeed an important determinant of Barbados’ economic development”.
“The [gross domestic product] and [gross national product] per capita results do show that the importance of market access has increased slightly over the last decade. The research also reflects the positive impact of economic policy improvements on Barbados’ overall market access, and the subsequent contribution to overall economic development levels.
“Overall, the research lends support to the view that current efforts to improve market access by investing in import and export initiatives have its benefits.”
He said the research also concluded that “policy conducive to entrepreneurship must promote economic development first to be successful”.
(SC)
