On the occasion of the second day of the 11th edition of the International Finance Summit, Joseph Harold Pierre, economist and political scientist, spoke on the theme “Analysis of the evolution of human capital in the Caribbean: Haiti and the Dominican Republic” . During his speech, Mr. Pierre affirms that the country does not invest enough in people, which does not promote the economic growth of the country which is far behind its neighbors in the Caribbean, the closest to the Dominican Republic. , Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.
There is a correlation between investing in health, education and a country’s economic growth. “In Haiti, we are seeing less growth every day a little more because there is no investment in education and health. And if there is, it is not efficient, ”analyzed economist Joseph Harold Pierre, during his speech at the International Finance Summit, this Wednesday, April 14.
To back up his claims, he proceeds by analyzing empirical data. Haiti’s human capital index from 2017 to 2020 ranges from 0.44 to 0.45. “This means that during this period a Haitian uses, depending on investment in health and education, 45% of his potential, or less than half. The Dominican Republic used 50% in 2020, Jamaica 54% in 2018, Trinidad and Tobago 60% in 2020 ”.
On this point, the difference between these 4 countries does not seem huge, but the impact is fundamental. “It is this difference that exists between Haiti and the Dominican Republic that makes Dominicans have a GDP of eight thousand dollars and Haitians 800 dollars. This difference means that Jamaica has a GDP of six thousand dollars and Trinidad and Tobago fifteen thousand dollars ”, enumerates Mr. Pierre, who points out that a study carried out in 2000, in Guatemala, revealed that when a country increases. its expenditure on education of 1%, in 20 years there is the possibility of doubling the GDP per capita.
It is essential to invest in education, insists the political scientist, an expert in Latin America, who reminds us of the choice of expenditure of the four Caribbean countries chosen as a sample. “In the 1990s,” he recalls, “the Dominican Republic invested $ 120 per Dominican in spending on health, education and social protection, and Jamaica $ 227. Far ahead of Haiti, which invests according to the most recent data in 2012, 31 dollars and in 2014, 38 dollars, the year in which the Dominican Republic invested 475 dollars per capita to improve its human capital through education, health and social protection, and Trinidad-and-Tobago $ 2,500 ”.
Haiti’s expenditure on social capital represents 6% of that of Jamaica, 8% of that of the Dominican Republic and 1% of that of Trinidad and Tobago. The Dominican Republic’s expenditure on culture doubles that of Haiti in health, ”says economist Pierre after advancing that Haitians have an average score of 340, Dominicans 348, Jamaicans 387 and Trinidadians 458, the result of the test carried out according to training and investment in education and health.
“What makes the difference between these 4 countries is not the number of years spent in class, which is almost the same amount. It is the quality of the school and the investment in the health sector because in general the investment made for a child under five determines his results later in school ”.
In conclusion, the economist stresses the need to invest in health and practical education (mathematics, computer science) in the country to improve human capital. It appeals to the intellectual elite of the country who must work to show the population the importance of education, political orientation and the formation of political parties.
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