Suchergebnisse

In 2005 and 2006, Maltese agriculture continued to adjust to EU membership and to its single market, with strong emphasis on environmental awareness, food safety and animal welfare. This adjustment was not an easy one as it followed many years of protectionist policies. In fact, all sectors required either radical reorganization in the way they operate or outright restructuring. ; peer-reviewed

The creation of successful business environments is an important prerequisite for durable and sustainable competitiveness. This chapter documents the type of constraints that may hinder business success as well as the policy approaches that may create operating environments conducive to business success in small island contexts. Surrounding influences and circumstances are well known to make considerable difference for business―both on a national and global level. The defining characteristics of small island economies themselves have also been explored and documented in what is now a considerable body of research. Less well known is the manner in which conditions in small island contexts may make a difference to business. The contribution of this chapter lies in juxtaposing knowledge on the type of contextual conditions that may result in business success against situational considerations applicable in small island contexts. The chapter reviews the kind of market and regulatory failures that may hinder business success and then proceeds to examine a number of good-practice examples in the domains of connectivity, sector-led initiatives, innovation, place-based approaches, sustainable tourism, circular economics, and climate change. Drawing lessons from islands that have managed to actively capitalize on their geographic specificities and succeeded in attaining higher levels of competitiveness, the chapter provides a synthesis of factors that create the right environment for business to develop and flourish in small island contexts, and that boost marine island economy competitiveness. Today's marine economy is, however, dependent upon onshore infrastructure; labour; expertise; and healthy and stable ecological, social, and political environments, none of which can simply be taken for granted. The very factors that make islands ideal for hosting marine activities—such as an extensive land-sea interface and density-facilitated agglomeration economies—may be placed at risk by marine economyoriented island development. It is thus that economic activities on the land-sea interface—whether port services or coastal tourism—can reduce islanders' access to the sea as well as lead to environmental degradation that threatens the continued viability of the economic activities in question. Those pursuing island development should take care to balance short-term and longterm objectives while leveraging the very real competitive advantages that arise from island spatialities. ; peer-reviewed

The economic vulnerability index (EVI) was initially developed by Briguglio (1992, 1993, 1995) to explain the seeming contradiction that a country can be economically vulnerable and yet register a relatively high GDP per capita. Many versions of the index were produced following Briguglio's work, including Chander (1996), Wells (1997), Atkins et al. (1998, 2001) and Crowards (1999). The general conclusion that emerged from these studies is that small island developing states tend to be more economically vulnerable than other groups of countries. The characteristics of small island developing states (SIDS) are well documented (see for example, Briguglio, 199 5 ), and include limited ability to exploit economies of scale; lack of natural resource endowments and a high import content (especially of strategic imports such as food and fuel). Other characteristics relate to limitations of production diversification possibilities; dependence on a narrow range of exports; limitations on the extent to which domestic competition policy can be applied; inability to influence international prices; and, in the case of island states, high international transport costs and uncertainties of industrial supplies due to insularity and remoteness. Small size also creates problems associated with public administration, the most important of which is probably the small manpower resource base from which to draw experienced and efficient administrators. Another problem is that many government functions tend to be very expensive per capita when the population is small, due to the fact that certain expenses are not divisible in proportion to the number of users. ; peer-reviewed

This report presents a profile of the economic vulnerability and economic resilience of St Lucia. Economic vulnerability is defined as the exposure of an economy to harmful external economic shocks that are outside the economy's control, typically resulting from high degrees of economic openness and dependence on a narrow range of exports. Economic resilience is refers to policy-induced ability of an economy to withstand and rebound from the negative effects of such shocks. In this report, such resilience is associated macroeconomic stability, market efficiency, good political governance, social development and good environmental management, as explained in Briguglio et al. 2006, 2009). Economic vulnerability and insufficient resilience typically lead to a slower and more volatile pattern of economic development (Cordina 2004a, 2004b). ; peer-reviewed

This report presents a profile of the economic vulnerability and economic resilience of Seychelles. Economic vulnerability is defined as the exposure of an economy to harmful external economic shocks that are outside the economy's control, typically resulting from high degrees of economic openness and dependence on a narrow range of exports. Economic resilience refers to the policy-induced ability of an economy to withstand and rebound from the negative effects of such shocks. In this report, such resilience is associated with macro-economic stability, market efficiency, good political governance, social development and good environmental management, as explained in Briguglio et al. (2006, 2009). Economic vulnerability and insufficient resilience typically lead to a slower and more volatile pattern of economic development (Cordina 2004a, 2004b). ; peer-reviewed

This report presents a profile of Vanuatu's economic vulnerability and economic resilience. Economic vulnerability is defined as the exposure of an economy to harmful external economic shocks that are outside the economy's control, typically resulting from high degrees of economic openness and dependence on a narrow range of exports. Economic resilience is the policy-induced ability of an economy to withstand and rebound from the negative effects of such shocks. In this report, such resilience is associated with macroeconomic stability, market efficiency, good political governance, social development and good environmental management, as explained in Briguglio et al. (2006, 2009). Economic vulnerability and insufficient resilience typically lead to a slower and more volatile pattern of economic development (Cordina 2004a, 2004b). ; peer-reviewed

The Republic of Malta is a small, open economy with strong trade ties to the EU and accepted for EU accession in 2004. Malta has a population of around 383,000 and a labour force of just over 156,000. Its Gross Domestic Product currently stands at just over one half of the EU average on a per capita purchasing power parity basis, making Malta an Objective One country for the purposes of EU development Funds. In view of the absence of natural resources and the smallness of the domestic markets, Malta's imports, exports and gross capital flows each amount to over 100% of its GDP, of which over one half are undertaken with the EU. Following a period of rapid real GDP growth during the first half of the 1990s - when it averaged 6% per annum - partly stimulated by fiscal expansion, the Maltese economy currently faces the twin problems of an excessively large fiscal deficit and a slowdown in economic growth, which at an average of 4% per annum over the past five years remains significant but insufficient for a country in Malta's state of development. If persisting, these factors could jeopardise the process of economic convergence to the EU. ; peer-reviewed

In 2011, the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) commissioned the Development of a dedicated strategy for health research and innovation in line with its mandate from Government to identify areas of national priority and design and to also implement strategic approaches to enhance economic competitiveness and quality of life. The Strategy was drawn up by a steering group which also included people from outside the health sector, to ensure that it also keeps note of the economic side of things. ; peer-reviewed