CASE STUDY REPORT FORMAT

Case Study Case Study 5: Institutions, Inequality, and Incomes: Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire
No./TITLE
Chap. No./Title Chapter 5: Poverty, Inequality, and Development

 INTRODUCTION

 Introduction/Brief background of the case

o On the islands of Hispaniola, there are countries that are quite similar yet different
when it comes to their environmental resources, nature and wildlife. One country is
blessed with the richness of lands and trees while the other is possessed by dry and
barren lands. These two countries are ironically beside each other and separated by a
border that looked like there was an arbitrary knife that slices the islands in two. Haiti
and Dominican Republic are similar when it comes to their population but when it
comes to their development it is seen that DR have completely outclassed Haiti because
of their environmental advantages. Haiti is in the western part of the island where you
can see nothing but a plain field and devoid trees, while on the other side of east, DR is
a rich land filled with forest and pine trees. Haiti shows to have a poor development
because of lack of resources and policies that make up for their weaknesses while at
the same time prone to climate change and environmental disasters as seen in news.
This shows that environmental development is also crucial and not to be slept on when
it comes to the development of the country.

 EVALUATION OF THE CASE

o Economic Growth
 Haiti: GDP of 14.33 billion USD (2019)
 DR: GDP of 88.94 billion USD (2019)
o Economic Development
 Economic Development Indicators
● Haiti: GDP per capita of $2,345 in 1960 but fell into $1,581 in 2007
● DR: GDP per capita of $2,345 in 1960 and risen into 9,664 in 2007

● Social Indicators: Haiti

1. Low HDI ranking at number 161
2. High literacy rate but has high under 5 mortality rate with a
population of 10 million people
3. Extreme Inequality; high slavery and Political Instability

● Social Indicators: Dominican Republic

4. Higher HDI ranking number 96 in the world
5. Population of 10 million people without a serious problem to
education as well as a higher under 5 mortality rate in Haiti
6. Extreme Inequality; high slavery but has an effective political
implementation that improve its environmental preservation

 IDENTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM

 Key Issue
o Haiti suffers from an environmental crisis as well as an ongoing slow-motion disaster of
poverty and suffering in a nation of 10 million people. Its neighbor, the Dominican

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CASE STUDY REPORT FORMAT
Case Study Case Study 5: Institutions, Inequality, and Incomes: Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire
No./TITLE
Chap. No./Title Chapter 5: Poverty, Inequality, and Development

Republic (DR), also with a population of over 10 million with higher incomes, less poverty,
and much better environmental conditions. Haiti’s environmental disaster could have
been substantially averted with better domestic policies. And so it is not the root cause of
Haiti’s problems. The highest contributor to these crises are their diverged policies. To
further understand its opportunities and constraints, it is often helpful to start with the
beginnings of colonial times. Haiti and the DR is a tale of contrasts. Haiti soon became one
of the highest-income countries in the world, albeit with one of the highest extremes of
inequality in history. In contrast, the DR, with fewer slave plantations, was more the
tortoise to Haiti’s hare. This experience reveals how influences of deep, structural
inequality and education (or its lack) can shape the evolution of institutions over time.
There are three factors that can, through the quality of policies, affect the extent of
environmental decay and how that can, in turn, worsen human capabilities and
development prospects.
 Causes
o Geography and Original Environments
 Haiti and the DR started with similar geographies and environments, with some
modest differences. Rainfall is slightly higher in the DR because the rain typically
comes from the east; Haiti is more mountainous, and its mountains block the rain.
The rivers flow mostly eastward from these mountains, providing water for the
DR. These modest initial environmental differences may have put Haiti at some
disadvantage, but Haiti has done well economically in comparison to the DR in
some periods. environmental damage was already under way under colonial rule,
with deforestation due to extensive logging and overuse of the soil. Adverse human
influence has had a bigger impact in Haiti.
o Institutions: Historical Legacy
 Clearly, neither country started with favorable institutions. The abundance of
resources and the island’s suitability for sugar production led the Spanish to create
institutions designed for extraction. Both Haiti and the DR suffered subsequent
attempts to reinstate slavery and fought wars against each other. While the
brutality of slavery ended, extreme inequality persisted in Haiti under a new
mulatto and black privileged class for whom the French elite were the cultural
reference point. During the occupation of the United States in the DR, significant
infrastructure was built, including schools, roads, and ports—projects continued
and extended to hydropower under the subsequent brutal Trujillo dictatorship;
this helped facilitate a relatively higher growth rate, though inequality was
reinforced while freedoms were repressed. The United States also occupied Haiti
and proceeded to restore basic security and order, road construction, expanded
public health, education services, and other infrastructure improved. However,
after its occupation, the dictator François “Papa Doc” Duvalier, did not focus on
modernizing Haiti, in some contrast to Trujillo. Duvalier was only interested in
short-term rent-seeking opportunities instead of maintaining the country’s
infrastructure. The DR has emerged as a much more democratic nation since the
1978 elections, while at least until very recently Haiti has made far less progress.
o Human Capital
 Haiti has the highest illiteracy rate in the western hemisphere, estimated at more
than half the population. The school system is badly underfunded and
disorganized. Health conditions are equally bad and include high under-5
mortality, hunger, and a large HIV/AIDS problem. The 2010 cholera outbreak was
a symptom of a broken health system. The DR, although not without serious
education problems, has done a far better job than Haiti at providing its people
with the human capital they need to compete in a globalizing economy.

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Case Study Case Study 5: Institutions, Inequality, and Incomes: Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire
No./TITLE
Chap. No./Title Chapter 5: Poverty, Inequality, and Development

 GOVERNMENT RESPONSES

1. The Spanish New World Repartimiento System

2. Trujillo Dictatorship
3. Policy Implementation
4. Agricultural Expansion

 EFFECTS OF GOVERNMENT RESPONSES ON THE ECONOMY

Government Responses Effects of Responses

The Spanish New World Repartimiento System
Received land tracts and the right to use native
labor, was first implemented in Hispaniola.  When
importing slaves became too expensive for the
Spanish, the French gained control of Haiti in
1697. The colony became a major slaveholding
plantation economy and the wealthiest European
colony in the New World. But a large majority of
the population were slaves. A slave revolt led Haiti
to independence in 1804.

Trujillo Dictatorship Significant infrastructure was built, including

schools, roads, and ports—projects continued and
extended to hydropower. Basic security and order
were restored, and road construction, expanded
public health, education services, and other
infrastructure improved.
Policy Implementation Growth rates accelerated in the DR due to
improvements in education, trade policies, and
infrastructure. Remittances and tourism grew to
become nearly a quarter of the country’s GDP, and
net manufacturing exports per capita doubled.
Agricultural Expansion This was implemented by the government to
reduce poverty but it turns out failed because it
was poorly managed
 RECOMMENDATIONS

 Geography and Original Environments

o The Haiti government should strive to push reforestation to bald forests. They may also
adapt the Brazil’s preventive measures to keep Amazon healthy. By adding some
protections and “extractive resources” to their yet existing forests, they may yet find their
ecology generating profits. Proper forest management will lead it to a rapid growth in
ecotourism and a very high, profitable, and sustainable fruit yields. Products that can be
harvested without serious ecological disruption include fibers, latex, resins, gums,
medicines, and game. The case of Haiti adds to the growing evidence that environmental
destruction can retard the development process more generally and needs to be a bigger
priority.
 Institutions: Historical Legacy
o The Haiti government should understand the importance of long-term plans in contrast
with François “Papa Doc” Duvalier’s short-term rent-seeking opportunities. The Haiti
government should strive to diversify its economy. While it is true that they used to be the

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CASE STUDY REPORT FORMAT
Case Study Case Study 5: Institutions, Inequality, and Incomes: Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire
No./TITLE
Chap. No./Title Chapter 5: Poverty, Inequality, and Development

major exporting country for sugar, times change. Its continued focus on sugar has left Haiti
not only contending with volatile sugar prices but also competing against sugar-
subsidizing rich countries.
 Human Capital
o The Haiti government should pursue to put more capital in the development of their
education and health infrastructure. But this is not enough. More schools and more
hospitals does not guarantee a more educated and a healthier nation. They may implement
Mexico’s Progresa/Oportunidades to help the kids of poor families stay in school.

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