A GROWTH-INDUCEMENT STRATEGY FOR JAMAICA IN THE SHORT AND MEDIUM TERM

Acknowledgements
In the fall of 2010 the Jamaican economy registered its twelfth consecutive quarter of
economic decline and was in need of a targeted programme to induce its recovery and
growth. The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) was charged with developing this
programme within the framework of the twenty-seven-months Stand-By-Agreement
(SBA) the Country had entered into with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in
February of that year.
The performance of the economy had been generally poor for decades, and it was clear
from the outset that any proposed programme would have to be designed with an
understanding and sensibility that reached beyond the “wisdom” of conventional thinking
and approaches. Accordingly, the paradigm used by the PIOJ for the Growth Inducement
Strategy (GIS) for Jamaica presented in this study combines traditional scholarship with
public scholarship. Public scholarship is defined in our study as collaborative
knowledge-making with, about and for various publics and communities. It was utilised
because it grounds traditional academic scholarship in societal issues germane to
Jamaica’s current reality, such as justice, equity, democratic inclusiveness and
community empowerment, thereby ensuring their influential role in public policy.
Together, both forms of scholarship served to achieve a comprehensive and systematic
understanding of the constraints to, and the opportunities for, economic growth and
development of the Jamaican economy.
This study was carried out in the Growth Secretariat of the PIOJ, headed by Mr. Everton
Mcfarlane, Deputy Director General, and reflects collaboration between the departments
of the PIOJ, and consultations with a large number of persons in other Ministries,
Departments and Agencies (MDA) of the Government of Jamaica, and colleagues
representing community, private sector and civil society groups. The project was led by
the Director General, Dr. Gladstone Hutchinson, and the lead consultant for the project
was economic growth expert Dr. Donald J. Harris, Professor Emeritus of Economics,
Stanford University.
The project benefited significantly from the unstinting energy and organizing and
coordinating skills of Mrs. Rosemarie Broadbell, Chief Technical Assistant in the
Director General’s Secretariat, and from the technical and intellectual insights of PIOJ
colleagues including, inter alia, Mrs. Claire Bernard, Mrs. Marcia Blake-Hall, Mr. Joseph
Cox, Mr. Richard Lumdsen, Ms. Barbara Scott, Mr. James Stewart and Mr. Easton
Williams. Sincere gratitude is also acknowledged to the Jamaica Competitiveness
Enhancement Programme, funded through a grant from the Inter-American Development
Bank (IDB), for providing both technical and financial support that made this project
possible.
Lastly, because public scholarship was a critical component of the study paradigm, the
PIOJ expresses gratitude to persons from MDA, community and civil society groups, and
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