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Caribbean economies have suffered from stagnant growth since the 1990s. This can be a feature of small developing economies and is a major concern for policymakers. In this article, we examine establishment-level data to gain a better understanding of the factors that constrain the growth of businesses in the region. In addition to documenting broad differences in obstacles to business within and across the region, we particularly focus on the main obstacles affecting small and medium-sized firms. The econometric analysis highlights three main barriers at a regional level: an inadequately educated workforce; access to finance; and crime, theft and disorder. However, there are variations at the country level and the analysis indicates clusters of countries that experience obstacles to similar degrees. The article concludes with recommendations for alleviating the constraints to enterprise development and in stimulating economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the welfare participation of immigrant groups in the UK, which has experienced a large growth in its immigrant flows and population levels in recent years, especially following EU enlargement in 2004. The analysis particularly focuses on the types of benefits that immigrants tend to claim, as well as examining differences by area of origin. It also examines the factors that determine social assistance benefit claims, including an investigation of the impact of education, ethnicity and years since migration. Design/methodology/approach – A series of probit regression models are estimated using data from the UK Labour Force Survey collected between 2004 and 2009. Findings – Social welfare claims vary considerably by immigrant group as well as by the type of benefit claimed in the UK. There are also differences by immigrant group in the factors determining social assistance claims. Research limitations/implications – It is very difficult to generalise on the issue of welfare participation by immigrants in the UK. This is important, given policy changes towards migrants from non-EU countries and in relation to welfare reforms. Originality/value – The limited previous work in this area for the UK has tended to analyse all benefit claims made by immigrants as a whole, whereas this analysis splits immigrants into different groups and focuses on the types of benefits that are claimed. This has important implications, particularly given the recent increase in immigration to the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Kingdom was one of only three countries to allow migrants from accession countries to enter their labour markets more or less without restriction following European Union enlargement in May 2004. Therefore, it is important to establish the characteristics and labour market performance of migrants from these countries who have subsequently entered the United Kingdom. We principally analyse Labour Force Survey data to compare the labour market outcomes of recent migrants from Poland and other accession countries to those of earlier migrant cohorts from these countries as well as to those of other recent migrants to the United Kingdom. We find that the majority of post-enlargement migrants from the new member states have found employment in low paying jobs, despite some (especially Poles) possessing relatively high levels of education. It follows that recent Polish migrants typically have lower returns to their education than other recent arrivals. Migrants from the new member states who arrived immediately prior to enlargement have similar characteristics and labour market outcomes, apart from displaying a higher propensity to be self-employed. These results are discussed in the context of policy changes, migration strategies, assimilation effects and possible impacts on the sending countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to examine two aspects of the self-employment adjustment of immigrant groups in the UK. First, how the probability of self-employment for males changes with time since migration relative to the native population and second, how the probability of self-employment for males differs between immigrants and the UK-born within ethnic groups. Design/methodology/approach -- Limited dependent variable regression models are estimated using data from the UK Labour Force Survey collected between 2001 and 2005. The results are presented graphically to make clear the differences between ethnic groups. Findings -- The predicted self-employment probability of "Asian" immigrants increases faster than that of natives over the lifecycle while that of "Black" groups declines. Furthermore, the observed lower propensity of UK-born members of certain ethnic groups to be in self-employment is largely explained by differences in human capital. Practical implications -- High rates of self-employment amongst some ethnic groups in the UK are unlikely to be a transitory phenomenon. Originality/value -- While previous work on the UK has examined patterns of self-employment between groups and over time, the paper looks for the first time at how adjustment within groups takes place over the life cycle and across nativity status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrant workers constitute a vital component of many Western labour markets. Although migrants can benefit greatly by moving to higher-wage economies, it is important to compare their labour-market outcomes with those of native-born workers. In this paper, we discuss factors that have been found to influence labour-market success in the receiving country and examine the actual performance of recent migrants to the UK. The UK provides a good case study for conducting such an exercise because of the very large increases in immigration that have been seen over the past decade. We find that labour-market performance varies greatly between migrant groups and that outcomes have changed noticeably following the UK government's decision to allow migrants from Poland and other Central and Eastern European countries more or less free access to the labour market after EU enlargement in 2004. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals from ethnic minorities have a greater tendency to stay on in full-time education beyond the compulsory age. There are, however, wide variations between groups, and the paper explores the role for human capital considerations such as earnings and increased employability in this choice. Economic considerations and socioeconomic background are found to be important, but there is evidence for a separate ethnicity effect influencing choice. The method used is to fit a joint leaving and employment equation for males and females aged 18-24 using combined micro data from the British Labour Force Survey and the Sample of Anonymized Records from the 1991 Census. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]