Caribbean Business Cycles

This paper attempts to identify and describe some of the key features of Caribbean business cycles during the period 1963-2003, and will focus on several questions. What are the key stylized facts of Caribbean business cycles? Do expansions and contractions in the level of real output have similar features, and how do they compare with the business cycle defined as alternating periods of above- and below-average rates of economic growth relative to trend? Is there any relationship between the duration and amplitude of Caribbean business cycles? Is there any support for the notion that expansions and contractions in trend-adjusted output have a fixed duration? Is there a relationship between movements in real output among Caribbean countries and between the Caribbean and developed countries? Is there a relationship between movements in trend-adjusted output among Caribbean countries and between the Caribbean and developed countries?