Comparative economic performance in Papua New Guinea and Fiji

Despite possessing very different resource and skills bases, Papua New Guinea and Fiji have followed remarkably similar paths of development since 1970. Underlying this has been the comparable evolutionary path of the respective countries' institutions, policies towards international trade and governance. Success in economic and social development in both countries has been unsatisfactory, particularly for Papua New Guinea. The adoption of inappropriate institutions and inward-looking policies played a big role in restricting development in the 1970s through to the 1980s. A reversal of policies and institutional frameworks emerged for both nations in the 1990s, but while Fiji has to some extent capitalised on this, for Papua New Guinea, the severe deterioration in governance, financial and macroeconomic management, and law and order has seen the paths of development of the two countries begin to diverge.