A study on the magnetocaloric properties of a CaBaCo
4
O
7
polycrystalline cobaltite has been undertaken along with research on the nature of magnetic phase transition. The magnetization as a function of temperature identifies the ferrimagnetic (FIM) to paramagnetic (PM) transition at a Curie temperature of 60 K. Moreover, a Griffiths-like phase is confirmed in a temperature range above T
C
. The compound undergoes a crossover from the first to second-order ferrimagnetic transformation, as evidenced by the Arrott plots, scaling of the universal entropy curve, and field-dependent magnetic entropy change. The maximum of entropy change is 3 J/kg. K for ΔH = 7 T at T
C
, and a broadening of the entropy peak with increasing magnetic field indicates a field-induced transition above T
C
. The analysis of the magnetic entropy change using the Landau theory reveals the second-order phase transition and indicates that the magnetocaloric properties of CaBaCo
4
O
7 are dominated by the magnetoelastic coupling and electron interaction. The corresponding values of refrigerant capacity (RC) and relative cooling power (RCP) are estimated to be 33 and 42 J/kg, respectively.