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In the context of the current recession in industrialized countries and the resultant dim prospects for exports from small Pacific island countries, mobilization of foreign exchange earnings assumes considerable importance. The dependency of Samoa and Tonga on inward remittances is well known, as the two Polynesian island countries in recent years have been among the first top ten remittance recipient countries of the world. This paper examines the long-run nexus between economic growth and inward remittances during a three-decade period (1981-2008). The paper also discusses some important policy implications arising out of the study's findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remittances have been a great support to Pacific island countries (PICs). Aside from providing additions to domestic savings and, hence, real resources, they have been one of the major sources of foreign exchange earnings. In the context of falling exports and limited options to diversify their exports, inward remittances have assumed greater importance. This paper examines the nexus between growth and remittances in Samoa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pacific island countries (PICs), ever since their independence during the second half of the last century, have been among the world's top ten recipients of official development assistance (ODA) on a per capita basis. Until the mid 1990s, most of them were receiving aid from their erstwhile colonial masters for budgetary support. With the introduction of reforms in ODA delivery in the late 1990s with focus on program and project-tied aid, it was expected that aid would directly facilitate creation of much-needed growth enhancing infrastructures, physical as well as social, since domestic savings were found to be insufficient to finance them. However, continued stagnation in some PICs and deterioration in some others have been causing concerns. This paper seeks to examine the effectiveness of aid by undertaking a case study of Fiji, which has a longer time series data needed for econometric investigation. Based on the study's findings, the paper lists some policy conclusions relevant to the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the case for adopting the Australian dollar as a common currency among the island countries in the South Pacific. The proposal of a single currency was informally floated by Australia at the Pacific Forum Leaders Meeting in Auckland, in August 2003. The Pacific Forum consists of 14 developing island countries and the developed countries in the region, namely, Australia and New Zealand. In early 2003, a committee of the Australian Senate recommended adoption of a single currency as a possible remedy to meet the deteriorating economic situations in the Pacific island countries, arising out of poor fiscal discipline and failure to effectively use external aid inflows. Successful adoption of a single currency with either a new currency or an existing currency of a dominant partner in trade and development requires the fulfillment of various prerequirements, which are well known as optimum currency area conditions. The paper assesses the feasibility of the proposal in the light of these conditions and concludes that the time for adoption has not yet arrived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]