Public Debt and Productivity: The Difficult Quest for Growth in Jamaica

October 1, 2006

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Rodolphe Blavy. Public Debt and Productivity: The Difficult Quest for Growth in Jamaica, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2006) accessed December 26, 2024

Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary

The paper analyzes Jamaica's experience of low growth despite consistently high investment. Cross-country analysis provides evidence of a significant and negative relationship between total public debt and productivity growth. Looking at the specific channels through which high debt affects productivity growth and the allocation of resources in Jamaica, the study finds that high public debt has been associated with macroeconomic uncertainty and an output structure that relied excessively on a few maturing sectors with limited scope for productivity growth. Furthermore, public investment has been crowded out by debt service, further adversely affecting productivity growth.

Subject: Informal economy, Productivity, Public debt, Public investment and public-private partnerships (PPP), Public investment spending

Keywords: Debt, GDP, Investment, Jamaica, WP

Publication Details

Pages:

25
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2006/235
Stock No:

WPIEA2006235
ISBN:

9781451864953
ISSN:

1018-5941

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