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Education is highly regarded as having a central influence on individuals' understanding and backing of democracy, but whether this occurs in young and small democratic states remain unknown. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether schooling and education have a positive impact on an individual's democratic values in Fiji, whose democratic system has been subject to three coups since independence in 1970.

To achieve the goal of this paper, the ordered probit probability model is used. The ordered probit model serves as a better framework for statistical analysis whenever field survey responses are ordinal as distinct from numerical.

The results from an ordered probit model reveal that the education level does not affect an individual's democratic values. However, it is found that gender, age, and ethnicity do have an influence on individuals' endorsement of democracy.

Democracy has more than once proved to be an elusive dream in Fiji. This paper aims to provide the answer whether education can be the facilitating factor in transition towards a more democratic state.

This is the first study which comprehensively explores whether schooling and education has a positive impact on an individual's democratic values in Fiji.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed comparison between Fiji and Mauritius and points out why Fiji which was better than Mauritius in the mid-1980s has fallen behind.

The paper uses recent literature on why countries fail economically and qualitative analysis and statistical evidence where necessary to compare the two countries.

During the first decade of independence, Fiji's economy grew at a rate of more than 5 per cent per annum. However, its economic prosperity was disrupted by the military coup in 1987. As a small island nation, Fiji's economic progress has been dismal and this can largely be attributed to the political instability created by the coups. Small island states like Mauritius has had uninterrupted growth rates in the same period and as a result has delivered significant improvement in the quality of life of its people.

Fiji could not become the Mauritius of the Pacific and points due to the lack of political stability and inclusive economic and political institutions.

Fiji could improve the quality of life of its people if it addresses the institutional constraint and it can learn from Mauritius.

Comparing Fiji, a small island nation like Mauritius and pointing out clear lessons not only for Fiji but also other small island nations in the Pacific.

The purpose of this paper is to forecast Fiji's exports and imports for the period 2003‐2020.

To achieve the goal of this paper, the autoregressive moving average with explanatory variables (ARMAX) model was applied. To this end, the paper drew on the published export demand model and the import demand model of Narayan and Narayan for Fiji.

The paper's main findings are: Fiji's imports will outperform exports over the 2003‐2020 period; and current account deficits will escalate to be around F$934.4 million on average over the 2003‐2020 period.

Exports and imports are crucial for macroeconomic policymaking. It measures the degree of openness of a country and it signals the trade balance and current account balances. This has implications for inflation and exchange rate. By forecasting Fiji's exports and imports, the paper provides policy makers with a set of information that will be useful for devising macroeconomic policies.

This paper aims to examine the export‐led growth hypothesis for Fiji and Papua New Guinea (PNG).

The paper investigates the export‐led growth hypothesis for Fiji and PNG who have been facing dismal economic growth performances over the last couple of decades.

Findings of the study suggest that for Fiji there is evidence of export‐led growth in the long‐run, while for PNG there is evidence of export‐led growth in the short‐run.

The findings of this paper have important messages for policy makers given that export sectors in both countries investigated are underdeveloped due mainly to a sustained period of political instability.

The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence of food security and human development inter‐relationships for a sample of low‐income countries.

The analytical procedure involves the estimation of a reduced form equation utilising cross‐country data that relates human development to food security indicators.

Empirical results confirm a positive correlation between food availability, calories and protein supply and human development. Food accessibility, measured by food prices and vulnerability are found to be negatively correlated with human development.

The implication of the findings is that poor countries should increase efforts to enhance agricultural production through an operational emphasis on farmers at a risk of food insecurity – especially low‐income small holders and women farmers.

The paper examines the effect of food security on human well being.

The main purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the main institutional and governance issues facing the Pacific Island countries (PIC) and to point out how they affect their economic performance. The paper also provides a description of the key characteristics of the PIC and points out why these characteristics may present special challenges to achieving sustainable levels of growth.

This paper discusses the issues of governance, institutions and economic growth in the PICs.

The main conclusion of the paper is that PICs would have to align their policies so that appropriate and better economic integration is achieved not only regionally but also globally.

This paper allows policy makers to take note of the main issues in governance and institution building.

This paper provides policymakers and scholars an overview of the institutional and governance issues facing the PICs.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the two issues of regional trade agreements (RTAs) and the new theory of international trade and draw conclusions for Pacific Island countries (PICs). The authors provide a deeper conceptual treatment of the consequences of RTAs and analyse the new theory of international trade to explore its implications for trade policy in PICs.

With regard to RTAs, the argument is developed in the context of the conjecture that questions the benefits from adopting more open trade policies with neighbours while maintaining restrictive policies towards the rest of the world. The authors draw on international and regional analytical literature and on recent modelling work to review critically the possible gains and losses of RTAs for PICs. In the latter issue, the focus is on the roles of imperfect competition and scale economies and their relevance to PICs.

Freeing up trade gradually and unilaterally and realizing the benefits of comparative advantage remains the best way to maximise welfare. PICs could be worse off under a complex system of overlapping RTAs and existence of RTAs by Australia and New Zealand outside the region has the possibility of marginalizing weak PICs economies.

PICs are currently at a critical juncture in terms of trade policy making with various trade agreements being thrown in the region and this paper has the capacity to provide some answers to policy makers on the approach to take.

The paper offers insights into regional trade agreements and the new theory of trade.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the export, import, and total trade determinants using reduced form equations for six Pacific Island countries (PICs) with an institutional focus.

A fixed effects model, controlling for AR(1) errors, using panel data for selected PICs is utilized. Controlling for common determinants of trade, four indicators of institutional quality: government effectiveness; rule of law; regulatory quality; and control of corruption are tested.

The empirical results indicate that improvements in institutional quality variables matter for improved levels of trade. The results also provide confirmation that the appreciation of currency does not significantly harm trade; higher levels of technological diffusion are vital for improved trade; and that gradual liberalization of trade through tariff reduction strongly facilitates more trade.

This study clearly points out that the institutional quality in the selected countries is a significant factor in determining the level of trade.

This paper expresses the view that institutions matter for enhanced trade.

Trade liberalization policies pursued by the Pacific Forum Island Countries (FICs) have been further cemented as an appropriate strategy for economic growth through the recently adopted trade agreements. Proponents of trade liberalization also argue that free trade leads to improvements in environmental quality. According to the “environmental uznets curve” (EKC) hypothesis there would initially be some environmental degradation, but as income rises through free trade, demand for higher environmental quality would lead to improvements in the quality of the environment. It is suggested that FICs should have complementary environmental and social policies to ensure that the environment is sustainably managed and the poor are not left out in the new economic environment. Free trade amongst the FICs therefore is not a case of “two gains for one”. That is, we cannot expect both a rise in per capita income and environmental quality to be delivered simultaneously without the adoption of complementary environmental and social policies. The vulnerable environment of the FICs cannot wait for environmental quality based on the EKC hypothesis.

The results of the 1999 and 2001 general election seem to suggest that the Indo‐Fijian community in Fiji voted on the issues of poverty, unemployment and lack of opportunities amongst the Indo‐Fijian community. The Indo‐Fijian community, since the military coups of 1987 and more recently in May 2000, has increasingly felt marginalised by the Indigenous Fijian led governments. The expiry of land leases and the lack of opportunities for many of them in both the rural and urban areas are a source of increasing concern. Indian politicians are also raising these concerns in their struggle for political and economic rights for the community. Based on a national survey data this article examines some of these concerns. It analyses the extent of concern about poverty, unemployment and lack of basic facilities such as water, housing and electricity among the community and draws conclusion for the future of Indo‐Fijian political and economic rights.