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*This paper is meant to help national and regional policymakers navigate the complex topic of business climate reform in the Caribbean. It combines the findings of four relatively independent data collection efforts to uncover which aspects of the current business climate most affect the private sector in that region. The analysis from the four sources indicates that the most pressing business climate constraints affecting private sector performance are: (i) an inadequately educated workforce; (ii) the cost of finance, and (iii) access to finance. These issues are discussed in detail along with others that significantly affect private sector development. The paper ends with a regional agenda and country-specific prioritized agendas for business climate reform.JEL Codes: D21, M13, M16, M38

This edition of the Caribbean Economics Quarterly focuses on the issue of long-term economic growth. As economies have recovered from the pandemic, the main question is: Will the region return to the slow long-run growth of the pre-pandemic period? The key lies in innovation and productivity. To understand the challenges facing businesses to innovate and increase productivity, the authors draw on recent firm-level data from the Compete Caribbean Partnership Facilitys Innovation, Firm Performance and Gender (IFPG) survey. This edition starts with an overview of past performance of Caribbean countries in terms of economic growth and productivity. It then describes the IFPG data and summarizes recent research papers analyzing those data and the conclusions emerging from that research. Finally, the country chapters draw on the Compete Caribbean database to describe the challenges facing firms at the country level.