The Economic and Political Costs of Diversification as a Way Out of a Recession: The Case of Trinidad and Tobago

This study investigates further the previous paper by Shamsul Nahar and Al-Murisi (1997) by examining the interactive effects of the variables in that paper and introducing other variables associated with corporate governance and political costs. The present study postulated that percentage of external directors on audit committee interacted with the presence of an accountant on audit committee and with the number of years an audit committee in existence, respectively, to influence audit committee effectiveness. The study also posited that the interaction of the presence of an accountant on audit committee and the number of years an audit committee in existence positively and significantly influenced audit committee effectiveness. Addition. ally, the roles of leadership structure, audit committee chairman, and a firm's size on audit committee effectiveness were also investigated. Using a multiple regression from a sample consisting the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange listed companies, results showed that only a firm's size significantly influenced audit committee effectiveness in the predicted direction. Other variables, on the other hand, did not show any significant influence on audit committee effectiveness.

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From Trinidad and Tobago to the World: Determining the role of Calypso in a new Era

Caribbean Quilt ◽

10.33137/caribbeanquilt.v5i0.34367 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

pp. 7-11

Author(s):

Malek Abdel-Shehid

Keyword(s):

Trinidad And Tobago ◽

Regional Integration ◽

West African ◽

Major Influence ◽

New Era ◽

Transatlantic Slave Trade ◽

Cultural Sovereignty ◽

Caribbean Culture ◽

Musical Cultures

Calypso is a popular Caribbean musical genre that originated in the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. The genre was developed primarily by enslaved West Africans brought to the region via the transatlantic slave trade during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Although West-African Kaiso music was a major influence, the genre has also been shaped by other African genres, and by Indian, British, French, and Spanish musical cultures. Emerging in the early twentieth century, Calypso became a tool of resistance by Afro-Caribbean working-class Trinbagonians. Calypso flourished in Trinidad due to a combination of factors—namely, the migration of Afro-Caribbean people from across the region in search of upward social mobility. These people sought to expose the injustices perpetrated by a foreign European and a domestic elite against labourers in industries such as petroleum extraction. The genre is heavily anti-colonial, anti-imperial, and anti-elitist, and it advocated for regional integration. Although this did not occur immediately, Calypsonians sought to establish unity across the region regardless of race, nationality, and class through their songwriting and performing. Today, Calypso remains a unifying force and an important part of Caribbean culture. Considering Calypso's history and purpose, as well as its ever-changing creators and audiences, this essay will demonstrate that the goal of regional integration is not possible without cultural sovereignty.

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