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This article sought to establish whether the perception and understanding of homosexuality among Barbadians has changed. It specifically investigated whether there was evidence of change in attitudes to different categories of relationships with homosexuals, Barbadians’ knowledge of the meaning of homosexual, their self-described attitude to homosexuals, and their attitude on the decriminalization of same-sex intimacy. The analysis utilized secondary data from two national surveys on attitudes to homosexuality conducted in 2004 and 2013. A two-tailed two-proportion z test was used to determine whether the observed changes were significant with p < .05. It was found that compared with 2004, significantly more people understood homosexual to mean someone liking the same sex. Significant changes were also observed in levels of acceptance and support for decriminalization of same-sex intimacy. There were significant declines in persons indicating that they would prefer not to have homosexuals as friends, family, children, employee, employer, teacher, or public official. This shift was accompanied by significant changes in those uncertain about they felt about such relationships. Only in the categories of family and child was there a significant increase in respondents indicating they would not mind having such a relationship. The results demonstrate that Barbadian’s level of acceptance increased although not to the point of supporting decriminalization of same-sex intimacy. The paper assesses the implications of the findings for the possible policy change within the country.

This paper examines the behavior of crude oil prices since 1980, and in particular the volatility of these prices. The empirical analysis covers \"spot\" prices for one of the key internationally traded crudes, namely Dated Brent Blend. A GARCH (generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedastic) model, which allows the conditional variance to be time-variant, is estimated for the period which includes the oil price slump of 1986 and the surge in prices in 1990 as a result of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The paper also discusses the growth of futures and derivative markets and the dynamic links between spot and futures markets.

Purpose>Public support for various policy options for managing cannabis in the Caribbean and the characteristics of those most likely to support specific policy options remains largely unknown. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of age, sex and employment status on the public attitudes towards the full legalisation of cannabis, partial legalisation (that is for medical or religious purposes) or its continued prohibition.Design/methodology/approach>Using secondary data collected from nationally representative public opinion polls conducted by Caribbean Research and Development Services from 2016–2018, this paper compares the public attitudes towards cannabis in Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica using a multinomial logistic model.Findings>Support for the continued prohibition, legalisation or partial legalisation of cannabis varied significantly by age, employment status and country of residence. Women, people over 51 years of age and the employed were more likely to support full prohibition. Attitudes towards cannabis policy in the Caribbean are by no means homogenous, neither are the policy shifts occurring across the region, with some of these changes occurring slowly and not necessarily reflective of cultural dynamics.Originality/value>This study is unique in its cross-country analysis in the Caribbean and providing valuable insight into the levels public support for cannabis legalisation. Its findings can help shape targeted public education in these countries.

In several recent articles, the Barro-Grossman model of general equilibrium under shortage has been modified to incorporate money demand and alternative retail sales mechanisms. This paper extends this work to allow for spillovers in deficit goods markets (modeled as feedback of black market prices on the real value of nominal money balances). Comparative statics analysis confirms the conventional view, recently challenged in the literature, that government expenditure in a shortage economy tends to reduce output. The conventional view associating shortage with higher savings is, however, substantially qualified. The model appears to be more consistent than previous models with the available empirical evidence, and offers insights into the consequences of price and monetary reform in shortage economies.

The paper explores the behavior of the long-run real exchange rate (RER) of Hong Kong SAR and China by testing the generalized-purchasing power parity hypothesis (G-PPP). The hypothesis argues that if the fundamental variables determining RERs are sufficiently integrated, as in a currency area, the RERs should share common trends. The findings of this study suggest (1) at present, Hong Kong SAR and China do not satisfy the conditions necessary for forming an optimal currency area by themselves; (2) when Japan and the United States are added to the group, common trends can be found; and (3) the long-run elasticity between the RERs of Hong Kong SAR and China is negative.

The paper examines the effects of increased financial integration on the economy and, specifically, the welfare of depositors and the business sector. A simple model of a small open economy with a fragile banking sector and imperfect capital mobility is developed. Increased international integration of the market for bank deposits makes runs on banks more likely and unambiguously hurts the domestic business sector. Depositors may gain or lose depending on the parameters. Even when depositors gain, the overall effect on the economy depends on the size of foreign assets held relative to the costs of bank crises.

This paper investigates the relationship between the nominal exchange rate regime and the volatility of relative commodity prices. The analysis shows that the relationship depends upon both the market structure and the economic agent's perception about future exchange rate movements. When the markets for manufactured goods are less competitive than the markets for primary commodities, the volatility of relative commodity prices rises when exchange rate uncertainty increases. If demand for manufactured goods is intertemporally dependent, even a small increase in exchange rate uncertainty can result in potentially large costs in terms of increased relative commodity price instability.

This paper estimates an empirical model for investment in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), a region with relatively low investment shares, using annual data for the period 1970-95. Cross-country and time-series evidence shows that openness to international trade, competition in the domestic market, freedom of international capital transactions, and low dependency ratios are positively correlated with investment in the WAEMU region.

A recent study by Grilli and Kaminsky (1991) argues that real exchange rate (RER) behavior is likely to be dependent on the particular historical period rather than on the nominal exchange rate arrangement itself. This paper reexamines RER behavior using alternative data sets, as well as different econometric methods, over the period 1880-1997. It finds strong evidence supporting the nonneutrality hypothesis of nominal exchange regime on RER volatility. Also, regime shifts play an important role in determining the persistence of shocks to the RER.

This paper examines the dynamics of economic growth. First, it demonstrates that the standard neoclassical growth model with constant elasticity of intertemporal substitution is not consistent with the patterns of development we observe in the real world, once we consider the initial conditions. Second, it examines an alternative growth model, which is consistent with endogenously determined initial conditions and also generates dynamics that are in accord with the historical patterns of growth rates, capital flows, savings rates and labor supply. The alternative model is a generalized version of the neoclassical growth model, with increasing rates of intertemporal substitution due to a Stone-Geary type of utility.