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Growth in the Dominican Republic and Haiti: Why has the Grass Been Greener on One Side of Hispaniola?

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  • Laura Jaramillo
  • Ms. Cemile Sancak

Abstract

The Dominican Republic and Haiti share the island of Hispaniola and are broadly similar in terms of geography and historical institutions, yet their growth performance has diverged remarkably. The countries had the same per capita real GDP in 1960 but, by 2005, the Dominican Republic's per capita real GDP had tripled whereas that of Haiti had halved. Drawing on the growth literature, the paper explains this divergence through a combined approach that includes a panel regression to study growth determinants across a broad group of countries, and a case study framework to better understand the specific policy decisions and external conditions that have shaped economic outcomes in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The paper finds that initial conditions cannot fully explain the growth divergence, but rather policy decisions have played a central role in the growth trends of the two countries. This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF. The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate.

Suggested Citation

  • Laura Jaramillo & Ms. Cemile Sancak, 2007. "Growth in the Dominican Republic and Haiti: Why has the Grass Been Greener on One Side of Hispaniola?," IMF Working Papers 2007/063, International Monetary Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2007/063
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    Cited by:

    1. Cruz-Rodríguez, Alexis, 2015. "Crecimiento económico y desalineación del tipo de cambio real en la República Dominicana: ¿Hay alguna relación? [Economic growth and the real exchange rate misalignments in the Dominican Republic: ," MPRA Paper 70974, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Marko Danon, 2014. "Constructing a Novel Competitiveness Index for European Regions," GREDEG Working Papers 2014-42, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    3. Ewout Frankema & Aline Masé, 2012. "An Island Drifting Apart: Why Haiti mires in poverty while the Dominican Republic forges ahead," Working Papers 0027, Utrecht University, Centre for Global Economic History.
    4. Mr. Umidjon Abdullaev & Mr. Marcello M. Estevão, 2013. "Growth and Employment in the Dominican Republic: Options for a Job-Rich Growth," IMF Working Papers 2013/040, International Monetary Fund.

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    Keywords

    WP; Haiti; GDP;
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