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In the Caribbean, one of the most visible effects of the rise of creative and cultural industries is the proliferation of festivals, some of which began in the pre- and immediate post-independence era. The number of such festivals has increased tenfold, and the multiplicity of genres represented has also increased. Despite this proliferation, and despite the festivals' possible economic, social and cultural importance, there is a singular lack of empirical data about them. Responding to this information gap is the main motivation for this paper, which contributes to the enrichment of the literature on creative and cultural industries in the Caribbean, principally through the issue of the statistical observation of festivals. There is also some preliminary analysis of the data in the form of descriptive statistics, then a preliminary univariate analysis, then, finally, a more complicated multivariate analysis based on simple and multiple factorial analysis of correspondence. The results provide some evidence that festivals have the potential to influence the performance of the tourism sector and, by extension, the performance of the wider economy, in the Caribbean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Social & Economic Studies is the property of University of the West Indies - Mona and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Social & Economic Studies is the property of University of the West Indies - Mona and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Social & Economic Studies is the property of University of the West Indies - Mona and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Social & Economic Studies is the property of University of the West Indies - Mona and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This section presents abstracts of articles that appear in this issue about economic development in the Caribbean region, housing in Kingston, Jamaica, and a case study of Guyana's monetary policy and the International Monetary Fund.

Copyright of Social & Economic Studies is the property of University of the West Indies - Mona and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Social & Economic Studies is the property of University of the West Indies - Mona and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Social & Economic Studies is the property of University of the West Indies - Mona and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article looks at the various alternative approaches available for modelling the Caribbean economy and examines their potential for economic forecasting and policy simulations. The difficulties and potential benefits associated with the construction and use of the various models are considered in some detail with special emphasis placed on data requirements. Where they exist, illustrations of the various approaches appearing in the literature on Caribbean econometric modeling are critically analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Caribbean continue to experience natural disasters which result in loss of life, as well as severe financial losses and economic distress despite the sustained efforts of regional and international agencies to promote disaster risk reduction. Main productive activities, including tourism and agriculture, are usually severely affected by these events, with consequent negative effects on the host economies. The disposition of business enterprises to take natural disaster risk management action is likely to be a factor in attenuating the severity of outcomes from natural hazard events. This study examines the risk reduction and preparedness measures implemented by a sample of business entities in two Caribbean SIDS, Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada which have different natural hazard exposures and natural disaster experience. The results indicate areas of deficiency, particularly with respect to risk reduction. The findings also suggest that the responses are influenced mainly by the nature of the business and the characteristics of the organisations, rather than by natural disaster exposure and experience. Recommendations are offered for public policy initiatives that may successfully motivate the business sector to assist in reducing severe natural disaster effects from major natural hazard events in the Caribbean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]