02207cas a2200241 a 4500 AALejournalIMF004778 230101c9999 xx r poo 0 0eng d 5.00 USD 9781451866070 1018-5941 BD-DhAAL BD-DhAAL DaCosta, Michael. Colonial Origins, Institutions and Economic Performance in the Caribbean : Guyana and Barbados / Michael DaCosta. Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2007. 1 online resource (37 pages) IMF Working Papers <strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required <strong>On-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students The countries that were once British colonies in the Caribbean share a common language and a colonial history of slavery, dominance of a plantation-based sugar industry, and broadly similar government and administrative traditions. Following independence in the late-1960s economic strategies and performance across the region diverged. However, by the end of the 1980s, in the face of economic collapse Guyana had abandoned its strategy of "cooperative socialism", and its economic policies converged with those generally supported by the IMF and World Bank. Despite this policy convergence and shared colonial origins, economic performance and social indicators in Guyana and Barbados have continued to diverge. The paper explores some of the origins of this divergence, and, in particular, the deep seated factors that derive from the countries' history, geography, and demographics. In Guyana, while the focus on sound macroeconomic policies and donor support has been important, the most pressing requirement for sustained progress is to strengthen domestic institutions and build consensus on the country's future direction. Mode of access: Internet IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2007/043 Full text available on IMF http://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/2007/043/001.2007.issue-043-en.xml IMF e-Library