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We focus on the potential economic factors of tax revenue in Trinidad and Tobago and present cointegration test statistics for a second order VAR(2) based on Johansen's maximum likelihood approach. Our results suggest a positive relationship between the level of income and the tax ratio and also that external debt and inflation impede the collection of taxes. Additionally, we find that the degree of openness exerts an insignificant impact on the tax ratio. Our study recommends potential areas that may be targeted in order to raise tax revenues and which may also raise the consciousness that tax reform is a very important subject matter.

We analyse the role of educational choice on the degree of occupational segregation in Trinidad and Tobago during a period in which educational policies intent on equating gender opportunities in education were implemented. To this end we utilise waves of the Trinidad and Tobago labour force survey over the period 1991-2004. Our results show that while educational segregation has fallen substantially over our sample period, this has not translated into less occupational segregation. This suggests that the educational policy has not been sufficient to combat occupational segregation. However, results at a more disaggregated level show that experiences have been heterogeneous across educational and occupational groups.

AbstractTrinidad and Tobago has a non‐negligible proportion of its population in poverty. After constructing a household consumption aggregate adjusted for price and household composition differentials, we measured the rate of poverty and examined the determinants of poverty and household welfare on the basis of the Survey of Living Conditions 2005 data set. Relevant econometric techniques were adopted to identify the probability of being poor for all households and household welfare for a sample of only poor households. Our findings indicate that the poverty rate is higher than the existing estimates and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics play significant roles in poverty and household welfare. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a vital ingredient in achieving sustained growth in the Caribbean region. However, FDI inflows have been affected by issues such as market factors, trade barriers, costs factors, investment climate, political and foreign exchange stability. To this end, this paper examines the factors affecting FDI flows into Caribbean countries. We argue that Small Island Developing States in the Caribbean (SIDSC) can be affected by issues such as their small market size, high cost of energy, proneness to exogenous shocks from commodity prices, natural disasters and climate change. A point to note is that countries in the Caribbean with natural resources are expected to have biased FDI inflows. Additionally, countries throughout the Caribbean have different economic and productive structures and unique issues that can affect them based on their individual characteristics. To this end, a panel Autoregressive Distributed Lagged (ARDL) model is used to determine the factors affecting FDI inflows in the Caribbean over the period 2000 to 2019. The findings reveal that GDP growth, natural resource rents, gross capital formation and population growth are significant factors influencing growth in the Caribbean region.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a vital ingredient in achieving sustained growth in the Caribbean region. However, FDI inflows have been affected by issues such as market factors, trade barriers, costs factors, investment climate, political and foreign exchange stability. To this end, this paper examines the factors affecting FDI flows into Caribbean countries. We argue that Small Island Developing States in the Caribbean (SIDSC) can be affected by issues such as their small market size, high cost of energy, proneness to exogenous shocks from commodity prices, natural disasters and climate change. A point to note is that countries in the Caribbean with natural resources are expected to have biased FDI inflows. Additionally, countries throughout the Caribbean have different economic and productive structures and unique issues that can affect them based on their individual characteristics. To this end, a panel Autoregressive Distributed Lagged (ARDL) model is used to determine the factors affecting FDI inflows in the Caribbean over the period 2000 to 2019. The findings reveal that GDP growth, natural resource rents, gross capital formation and population growth are significant factors influencing growth in the Caribbean region.