Search results

Located between 10 and 11 degrees north of the equator, and seven miles from the northeast corner of Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago are a twin island republic and the southernmost islands in the Caribbean chain that begins off the coast of Florida. The islands have a tropical maritime climate with two seasons – a hot dry season from January to May and a hot rainy season from June to December. The daily temperature ranges from the low 70s to the high 80s year round, and for the 10-year period 1987–1996, Trinidad's mean low and high temperatures were 73 and 89 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively. As the islands are located south of the hurricane belt, neither has been hit by a hurricane since Hurricane Flora hit Tobago in 1963.

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to explore homicide trends in Trinidad and Tobago, to describe the factors that impact the risk for homicide perpetration and victimization, and to discuss the effectiveness of strategies implemented by law enforcement agencies to prosecute homicide cases.

Design/methodology/approach – The chapter employs a detailed review of relevant literature to explore homicide trends and the strategies instituted to investigate and prosecute this criminal offense.

Findings – Our findings suggest that homicide victimization and perpetration is concentrated among young men of African descent, who reside in underprivileged communities with a high population density. Gang violence prompted by a narco-drug economy, coupled with gun violence, accentuates the risk of homicide perpetration and victimization. As homicide rates remained high, law enforcement officials in Trinidad and Tobago were ill equipped to investigate and make arrests in these offenses.

Originality/value – This chapter adds to the literature on homicide in Trinidad and Tobago by (1) showing that geographic and demographic factors structure homicide victimization and (2) exploring how the political economy of drugs in the Caribbean contributes to murder.

This paper aims to examine the socio-economic effect of money laundering in Trinidad and Tobago. It assesses the efficacy of the administration of justice in addressing money laundering and the confiscation of the proceeds of crime. It identifies deficiencies within the existing anti-money laundering system and provides recommendations to ensure a robust anti-money laundering framework in keeping with international standards.

The paper embraces a pluralist approach. It uses qualitative and quantitative methods and uses a case study approach with contextual qualitative analysis. Empirical data are used and causal connections are linked to the analysis.

The paper highlights a fragmented and inefficient system in addressing money laundering and the confiscation of the proceeds of crime. It concludes that a robust money laundering framework, which meets international standards, requires strong legislative and institutional alignments that promote timeliness, collaboration and efficiency across many agencies.

Findings are limited to Trinidad and Tobago and to the period ending December 2018. Accordingly, these findings lack generalisability.

Trinidad and Tobago needs to revisit its silo approach to anti-money laundering (AML). New policies which embrace harmonisation, collaboration and timeliness in adjudicating upon ML matters are critical.

The negative socio-economic effects of money-laundering are considered in this paper. A disruption of money laundering and the confiscation of the proceeds of crime, benefits society economically and socially.

Trinidad and Tobago has been listed as a country with strategic AML deficiencies by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). This study provides assistance in guiding much needed reform in the anti-money laundering area and has not before been undertaken.

In the periods, following the First and Second World Wars, colonial states across the British empire underwent waves of reforms that were geared toward improving human well-being, from enhancing social conditions, such as health and education, to expanding opportunities for economic and political engagement. The literature on the colonial state typically traces these state-building efforts to the agency of European colonial officials. However, evidence from a historical analysis of Trinidad and Tobago reveals a different agent driving state reform: the colonized. A local labor movement during colonialism forced the colonial state to construct a number of state agencies to ameliorate the economic, political, and social conditions in the colony, thereby resulting in an increase in state capacity. This study, therefore, provides critical intervention into the colonial state literature by showing that the agency of the colonized, as opposed to just the colonizers, is key to state-building, and specifying the mechanisms by which the subaltern constrained colonial officials and forced them to enact policies that improved colonial state capacity.

This paper aims to highlight the possibility that the same cultural and/or institutional environment can differentially affect each of the two moments of entrepreneurship – opportunity identification and opportunity exploitation. It is possible that the cultural and institutional environment in a particular place may encourage opportunity identification, but discourage opportunity exploitation, or vice versa. Specifically, this paper argues that understanding entrepreneurship in Trinidad and Tobago requires that we focus on how Trinidadian culture and institutions differentially affect both moments of entrepreneurship.

To examine how Trinidad and Tobago’s culture and institutions affect entrepreneurial opportunity identification and exploitation in that country, the paper uses a qualitative approach. In total, 25 subjects agreed to interviews, conducted in July and August 2009 in Trinidad. The questions were geared at understanding attitudes toward work and entrepreneurship in Trinidad, and how politics, culture and ethnicity interacted with those attitudes. The paper also examined institutional indicators from the Economic Freedom of the World: 2013 Annual Report and the World Bank’s 2016 Doing Business Report.

The research identified features of the cultural and institutional environment in Trinidad and Tobago that help to explain why opportunity identification is relatively common among all ethnic groups there, but why opportunity exploitation appears relatively suppressed among African–Trinidadians. In particular, the research finds that the inheritance of British institutions, a post-colonial political culture, a post-colonial business culture and ethnically based social networks all have positive and negative influences on each moment of entrepreneurship.

Further research would involve an analysis of a wider set of both formal and informal entrepreneurial activities in Trinidad and Tobago, across industries and periods.

This paper has implications for understanding the complex nature of entrepreneurship, which many policymakers try to encourage, but which is shaped by deep cultural and historical factors, and also indirectly influenced by state policies and laws.

Ethnic patterns in entrepreneurship shape the way groups see themselves and others.

While authors writing about opportunity recognition/identification and opportunity exploitation have captured the important dimensions of entrepreneurship, they underestimate the possibility of a disconnect between entrepreneurial identification and exploitation. Focusing on instances where the disconnect exists allows us to move away from characterizations of cultures as progress-prone or progress-resistant, and instead allows us to focus on these gaps between identifying and exploiting entrepreneurship across cultures.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate empirically some of the factors which influence the ability and/or desire of women to join the labour force in Trinidad and Tobago.

The methodology used is based on a probit model employing variables such as education, age and earnings to estimate the probability of participation. Additionally, the influence of country‐specific qualitative factors, such as ethnicity and religion, were also considered.

The results of the model revealed that the level of schooling, age, household headship, and being single have positive influences on female participation in Trinidad and Tobago. Conversely, the presence of children in the household, accessing social security programmes, and chronic illness had negative effects on participation.

National surveys such as the Survey of Living Conditions (SLC) and the Household Budget Survey (HBS) have revealed a higher incidence of poverty among women compared to men in Trinidad and Tobago. One possible reason for this is the corresponding lower labour force participation rate of women when compared to men.

This research is particularly unique since it included both economic and non‐economic variables (religion and ethnicity) specific to the Trinidad and Tobago economy to investigate female participation in the labour market. Furthermore, the results of this research can serve as a useful tool for more gender‐sensitive policy formulation in Trinidad and Tobago, and possibly the wider Caribbean region.

Purpose: To present a descriptive framework that will provide the foundation for future exploratory research on the socioeconomic impact of Chronic Non‐Communicable Diseases (CNCDs) in Trinidad and Tobago. The paper also attempts to initiate discussions regarding the placement of greater emphasis on preventative health care. Methodology: Time series data was used to paint a picture of the changing epidemiological profile within the country. Secondary data was also utilised to illustrate changes in policy within the country. Data was obtained from various key stakeholders inclusive of Government Ministries and the Central Statistical Office of Trinidad and Tobago. Findings: CNCDs are the leading cause of death in Trinidad and Tobago and attempts have been made to address these issues. Recurrent expenditure continues to constitute the majority of health sector spending with programmes like the Chronic Disease Assistance Programme (CDAP) directly targeting the rise of CNCDs. However, at the time of writing, there appeared to be very few linkages between the various relevant stakeholders to facilitate the combination of their expertise which would undoubtedly aid in reducing the impact of CNCDs on the economic earning potential and social fabric of Trinidad and Tobago.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it describes the nature of internal controls (IC) in Christian and Hindu religious organizations (ROs) in Trinidad and Tobago. Second, the paper provides an assessment of the relative comprehensiveness of IC among the ROs examined and offers tentative explanations for the findings. Most of the information used in the paper was collected by conducting structured interviews with the chief financial officer(s) of each RO. This information was supplemented by published studies. The findings indicate that the ROs as a group have inadequate and patchy IC systems. Conversely, all the ROs examined had implemented many of the basic foundational elements of an effective IC system. This suggests that they could significantly improve the quality of their IC systems by instituting some fairly minor and cheap practices. The implications of these findings for administrators and researchers of ROs are discussed.

In 2008, the author wrote on the Concept of “Money Laundering Control: The Missing Link in Trinidad and Tobago. Now, approximately two years after that seminal assessment, the author has re-assessed the domestic anti-money laundering (AML) framework, with particular reference to the controls in place to address money laundering (ML) and the confiscation of the proceeds of crime. This paper aims to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the newly implemented regime and considers whether it meets international standards.

This analysis embraces a pluralist approach. Within this assessment, a case study method is used with contextual qualitative analysis. Empirical data is analyzed and causal connections are linked to the analysis.

This research highlights catalytic change and creativity in addressing deficiencies within the AML architecture in Trinidad and Tobago. Upon analysis, it is pellucid that a radically altered criminal justice landscape has emerged and a more aggressive and targeted approach to address ML and the confiscation of the proceeds of crime is apparent. The result is a shift in paradigm with tangible outcomes to suggest that the strategies have borne fruit and that the twin island Republic is indeed committed to strengthening the link.

Findings are limited to Trinidad and Tobago and to the period ended April 2020.

As a country with a medium to high ML risk, the possible negative socio-economic effects of ML cannot be underscored. Disruption of ML and the confiscation of the proceeds of crime are, therefore, imperative. This paper considers the progress made in addressing these pertinent issues and assists in assessing the effects of the reformation efforts undertaken by Trinidad and Tobago.

This study aims to present a detailed investigation into the approaches of academic librarians in Trinidad and Tobago in pursuing continuing professional development (CPD) activities. The paper also examines the extent of their participation in CPD at both the institutional and external levels in contributing to the development of their careers.

The instrument used was a questionnaire which assesses the effectiveness of the librarians in their involvement in and attitude toward CPD activities.

The paper demonstrates the active role and willingness of academic librarians in Trinidad and Tobago in providing and participating in CPD training and support to library and information personnel at both the national and international levels.

The paper underscores the effectiveness of a group of academic librarians in Trinidad and Tobago who pursue and provide a high level of CPD activities to professionals.