Research Activities

Research Projects

FY 2016/2017 Research Topic: C-15
Comparison of Haiti and the Dominican Republic: Twin Countries that Took Different Paths in Governance

Outline

Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which we call the "twin countries of Hispaniola Island," have taken different development paths since being quite similar until the 1950s. Both had a monoculture economy based on sugar production, and society consisted of a majority poor class and small oligarchy. In addition, they had unstable political systems, which were frequently intervened in by the US government and national armed forces. However, in mid-1990s the Dominican Republic established democracy both in name and reality, and it is now entering the group of middle-income countries. On the other hand, Haiti, which used be economically more prosperous than its twin, has stayed in poverty with a sluggish economy and unstable, often failed democracy. Haiti has been the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. This project will seek to compare Haiti and the Dominican Republic from the viewpoint of how these countries have taken different development paths

Period

April 2015 - March 2017

Members of the Research Project
[ Organizer ] YAMAOKA Kanako
[ Co-researchers ] MITSUO Hisayuki
[ Co-researchers ] KOZAKI Tomomi (Professor, Senshu University)
[ Co-researchers ] HISAMATSU Yoshiaki (Professor, Toyo University)
[ Co-researchers ] OJIRI Kiwa (Associate Professor, Tokyo Woman's Christian University)
[ Co-researchers ] USAMI Koichi (Professor, Doshisha University)
Publications
  • IDE Selected Book Series