Globalization Equity and Justice in Small Nation States

The effects of globalization on smaller nation Caribbean states have not been thoroughly examined, and the trade performance of these states has not been evaluated since the WTO came into existence. In this paper, we report on a study that conducted a comparative analysis of selected Caribbean nation states with other countries at different stages of development to determine their levels of performance from 1990 to 1995, the period before the WTO began full operation, and the period 1996 to 2002, the period after globalization. The selected Caribbean countries were Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname. The measures for comparison are changes in GDP per capita, capital investment as a percentage of GDP, foreign direct investment, current account balance, trade balance, export services, infant mortality, literacy rates, and agricultural and service labor force change. We also compared the economic and social performance of these countries with those of selected countries of North America, South and Central America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The economic performance of the Caribbean states varied and compared favorably with other developing economies and developed economies, but the socioeconomic indicators worsened for Suriname and other nation states. The current account and the trade balances were negative for Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, in spite of their positive changes in GDP per capita since the WTO came into operation. No factors provide evidence of how well the countries are likely to perform in the future with the implementation of the WTO. In general, the Caribbean states performed worse before, rather than after, the implementation of the WTO. Model results show that the Caribbean states should concentrate on the export of services and the increase of the agricultural labor force to stimulate significant economic growth. The factors influencing the growth of other regions vary, but export of services seemed to have a general effect on economic growth. In terms of social indicator improvement, countries in Asia and Africa should reduce infant mortality while North America and South America could benefit from improvement in literacy rates.