The Barbados Government recognised the urgent need for in-depth research to be done on the impact and implications of policy measures on areas critical to the development of its economy. The Government is fully cognisant of the fact that policy implementation (even policy formulation) directly and indirectly affect many other social and economic variables. It (policy) can take the form of economic (fiscal), social (employment, labour), macroeconomic (government spending), microeconomic (small enterprise development). It is for this reason, that the relationships, the causal nature of the also have to be underscored.

 

The Centre for Policy Studies, established as a unit in the Productivity Council, fills the void to provide researched analyses of the effect of policy measures with respect to both social and economic matters. It should give a clearer understanding of development in the context of a major set of problems such as poverty, unemployment, population growth, natural resource degradation, out of abstract economic models and concepts.