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Evaluates how economic co‐operation can be organized for the mutual advantage of the two economies of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The methodological approach adopted by the authors explores the dynamics of market design within the two transitional economies and examines how they could contribute to the performance of an all‐island economy. The emphasis is on public utilities, electricity and telecommunications as sources of inter‐firm synergies. At a time when many European countries are moving towards greater integration, it is imperative that the two economies on the island of Ireland integrate in order to realize competitive advantages. Integration may not be the panacea for solving specific economic problems such as unemployment or housing shortages, however, it will solve the problem of diseconomies of small scale which impair the competitiveness of commercially oriented public utility firms on the island. The politics is not about the spoils of a united Ireland but the gains from participation in an integrated Europe. The primary objective is in realizing the economic reality of all‐island commercial activities which will dissipate rents, eliminate inefficiencies, create incentives and release real economic growth.

Examines the socio‐economic situation of the least developed Pacific Island nations (Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Tuvalu and Kiribati) and the type of economics development advice which they have been given in recent years. Suggests that this advice was based on neo‐classical models and was insensitive to the institutional and cultural backgrounds of these countries. Argues that because of the insensitivity, proposed policies may be doomed and could result in further economic hardship.

Using the United Nations’ definition of least developed nations, examines the socioeconomic situation of the least developed Pacific island nations, namely the Melanesian countries – the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, the Polynesian countries – Samoa and Tuvalu, and the Micronesian country – Kiribati, and critically discusses the type of development policy advice given to these nations by Bretton Woods’ institutions and their “relatives”. Suggests that the emphasis of these institutions and many donor countries on the desirability of business‐led development, structural adjustment policies and the globalisation of these economies has paid insufficient attention to the cultural background, institutional and other constraints encountered by these economies and may have added to political instability in this region, as well as the occurrence of poverty and growing inequality. A different set of policy proposals would have emerged if greater account had been taken of the general views of Myrdal rather than relying almost exclusively on the neoclassical economic paradigm. This is especially unfortunate because severe poverty (even more so than in much of Asia) exists in several of these least developed nations e.g. the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

The purpose of this paper is to verifying the economic resilience of islands and, in particular, the role of the tourism sector in the reaction to the most recent economic crisis. The analysis concerns insular contexts, such as the greater island regions in the Mediterranean basin.

Static and dynamic panel data techniques are used for a sample of 13 island economies over a period of 16 years.

Results show that the growth factors for regional islands are similar to the ones usually considered for other regions, but the tourism-led growth hypothesis is highly supported. Tourism demand more than supply plays a role together with accessibility. The crisis has reduced the importance of tourism supply, while tourism demand and accessibility have remained crucial for growth together with other traditional engines of growth.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, none of the current works has considered territorial determinants and tourism indicators inside the same framework analyzing growth in island economies by considering the changes occurred during the crisis explicitly.

In September 2019, The Bahama Islands were hit by a category 5 hurricane Dorian, which stalled over the islands for two days. Dorian's aftermath left an estimated $3.4 billion dollars in damages, lost lives, homes destroyed, and a weakened economy heavily reliant on tourism. As residents worked to restore a sense of normalcy, six months later they were faced with the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic pandemic. Bahamians now had to cope with two major disasters. How to rebuild an economy inclusive of the tourism industry but also how to survive in the COVID-19 environment of lockdowns, wearing masks, social distancing, economic hardships, and employment loss in a still recovering economy. This chapter used an electronic survey to collect data about examining the ways in which Bahamians coped with two natural disasters simultaneously – hurricane Dorian and COVID-19 economically and socially, and how the islanders view The Bahamas moving forward in the face of these events.

This study aims to investigate growth differentials among small islands and the impact of tourism specialization on the growth and the economic performance of small islands.

The study is based on trade theory and uses data from a panel of small islands for 1995-2007. It applies panel regression and standard time series methods combined with a qualitative approach.

Small islands experienced stronger basic patterns of growth than many developed countries, especially where economies of scale are not an issue. The findings further suggest that tourism specialization is not harmful to growth, and, in lieu of technological gaps and resource limitations, tourism specialization is a sound option. Size, a lack of complete sovereignty or independence and export orientation do not seem to affect the variance in the real per capita GDP at a greater degree. Finally, small islands may leverage returns to scale in global markets.

While tourism specialization is assumed to enhance growth, in the case of small island destinations, the study did not formally test whether increased terms-of-trade may be perpetually improved.

The study prompted four policy suggestions: small island economies should engage in tourism specialization; small island economies should allocate more resources to the tourism industry than other economic sectors; the success of tourism specialization does not depend exclusively on comparative advantage; and institutional realities and path dependence may play a role in economic performance.

The originality of this study lies in the detection of a paradox in mainstream economics that indicates that small islands may not enjoy sustained economic growth. The detection led to a surprising discovery that tourism specialization may propel growth. The value of the study is twofold: theoretical value is added by suggesting a reconceptualization of the construct capital; and, practical value is strengthened in the sense that tourism specialization may only work under a condition where upon tourism offerings command higher prices than other commodities.

The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of the creative class of Curaçao, which is a small Caribbean island coping with globalisation. The paper will contribute to the development of a framework for the discussion of the Creative Economy.

The paper contributes to the development of a framework for understanding the Creative Economy. This framework is then applied to the case of Curaçao. After analysis, conclusions are drawn.

In Curaçao there are many conditions present which support the development and creation of the creative class or attract it from other locations. On the other hand, policies should be put in place to retain the creative class. The theories and methods relating to the creative class are not yet fully developed.

The paper contributes to a framework for understanding the Creative Economy of small Caribbean islands.

Although it is a widely accepted fact that climate change can negatively impact on tourism demand and affect the economies at the socio-economic level, empirical studies on the climate change tourism development nexus has been quite scant, especially for the case of island economies that are heavily dependent on tourism. This study aims to supplement the literature on climate change and tourism by empirically assessing the relationship between climate change and tourist arrivals for the case of 18 small island developing states over the period from 1989 to 2016.

This paper uses dynamic panel data techniques, namely, a panel vector autoregressive framework, which accounts for dynamic and endogeneity issues.

The results from the analysis confirm the existence of a significant relationship between climate change and tourism demand in both the long-run and short run. Further analysis shows a bi-directional causality between climatic change and tourism demand while the study also confirms the tourism led growth hypothesis.

This research supplements the literature on the tourism-environment link, especially for tourism dependent island economies.

Results from this study are important to policymakers who should spare no effort to mitigate the effect of adverse climatic change in the context of tourism development.

This study is built on a unique data set for a sample of island economies and interestingly adopts dynamic panel data analysis to account for dynamics and endogenity in the climate change-tourism development nexus.

This paper aims to identify factors that affect the sports tourism destination's competitiveness on a small island. Hence, this study looks at and evaluates these factors. The study then comes up with a model that clarifies the interrelationships between these factors.

The authors broke down the data analysis process into three steps. The first step was to conduct a literature review and use industry and academia experts' help to determine the essential aspects (fuzzy Delphi method). Then, a hierarchical model was developed, and the factors were categorised using the interpretive structural modelling (ISM) approach. Factors' driving and dependency power were also determined using MICMAC analysis.

This work has identified 13 key factors related to the sports tourism destination's competitiveness on a small island. For a small island like Kish Island, the two independent variables (government support and destination political stability) that define the institutional framework for the destination are most important. Building corresponding competitive and support strategies to address these two independent variables is thus beneficial.

The research's results provide decision-makers, practitioners, and researchers with new insights into the hierarchical model of determinants. The study will fill the existing gap between theory and practice.

Sports tourism destination managers on small islands may benefit from the proposed model since the model will enable them to organise the managers' priorities better to enhance the managers' destinations' competitiveness and provide tourists with a more accurate depiction of the destination.

According to the authors' knowledge, the research design presented in this article has provided the first attempt to hierarchical analyse these factors and develop a model for sports tourism destination competitiveness on small islands and destinations with less-developed economies. This study fills the gap in the destination competitiveness and sports tourism literature by not only identifying the key influencing factors but also examining the interactions between these factors and providing empirical evidence supporting their relationships.

Drawing on theories of development economics and sustainable tourism, this research explores the differences between sovereign and nonsovereign small island tourism economies (SITEs) and identifies the antecedents and effects of overtourism in the Caribbean.

The research design is based on a comparative case study of selected Caribbean SITEs. Case study research involves a detailed empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context. The main purpose of a case study is to provide a contextual analysis of the conditions and processes involved in the phenomenon under study. A comparative case study is an appropriate research methodology to explore new multi-faceted concepts with limited empirical evidence.

The results confirm previous studies that nonsovereign SITEs have a distinctive overdrive toward tourism specialization. Moreover, the findings indicate that overtourism is driven by both global and domestic policy factors and generates significant economic volatility, social inequality and ecological stress. The paper discusses the tourism policy implications of the evolving economic disconnectedness, environmental decay and social tensions in SITEs in the Caribbean.

Policy recommendations are presented for transitioning toward a more inclusive development and strengthening the resilience of small island tourism development in the Caribbean.