The Long-Run Impact of Coups on Fiji's Economy: Evidence from a Computable General Equilibrium Model

Abstract

Coups have been used as a weapon to overthrow democratic governments in Fiji since 1987. The post-1987 period has been one of the most volatile ones in Fiji's history, in that it has undergone 15 changes in government. In this paper, we analyze the long run economy-wide impact of the May 2000 coup on Fiji's economy. This goal is achieved by using the computable general equilibrium model, which is at the forefront of 'impact studies'. We find that coups will have an adverse impact on the Fijian economy: real GDP will fall by around 8 per cent, real national welfare will fall by around 7 per cent and real consumption will fall by around 2 percent in the long-run.