BECOMING A GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE PLAYER: THE CASE OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IN JAMAICA

This paper uses the NSI approach to examine the prospects for industrial development in Jamaica, a small middle-income developing country. It argues that the present state of the Jamaican NSI is not adequately developed to provide the necessary support to ensure that one of its key emerging industries – the music sector – becomes competitive on global markets. It suggests various policy options aimed at industrial upgrading and better integration with those markets. The type of applied research presented here is highly original and speaks to a wider audience, as it represents a novel attempt to operationalize the concept of NSI in a developing country context, with particular reference to the music and entertainment sector, which is not traditionally treated in the NSI context. This sector, however, has been selected as one of the leading emerging sectors for the Jamaican economy identified in its national industrial policy.