GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
GLOBAL
DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Copyright © 2010 International Development Options
All Rights Reserved
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Volume Six Winter-Spring 2010 Numbers 1-2.
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THEME: THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC CRISIS: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CARIBBEAN REGION
GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS TO REAL SECTOR CONTRACTION: EXPLORING TRANSMISSION
MECHANISMS IN A SMALL OPEN ECONOMY– BUSINESS COPING STRATEGIES IN JAMAICA
David Tennant.
Department of Economics
University of the West Indies
Mona, Jamaica
Published Online: March 15, 2017
ABSTRACT
This article examines the Jamaican experience in the aftermath of the United States financial crisis to highlight the impact of contagion and other types of transmission mechanisms in a small open economy. A micro-level approach is adopted focusing on the post-crisis coping strategies being utilized by businesses. Coping strategies were categorized according to their expected impact on socio-economic outcomes, with distinctions made between strategies with direct adverse, indirect delayed, and minimal domestic socio-economic impact. The study utilized primary data from a comprehensive survey of Jamaican businesses in the immediate post-crisis period, which captured the experiences, expectations and plans of critical decision-makers in the business community. Statistical tests of association were used to highlight the transmission mechanisms most highly associated with each type of coping strategy. The extent to which businesses’ choice of coping strategies was impacted by basic business characteristics and the Government of Jamaica’s policy response to the U.S. crisis was also assessed. The information and analysis presented in this study are useful in the discourse on crisis transmission mechanisms, particularly where countries exhibit atypical tendencies.