2,800 research outputs found
In pursuit of 1 Sri Lanka: Lessons from a Malaysian counterpart
No full textThe quest for national unity has become a leadership challenge for successive leaders of both Malaysia and Sri Lanka. While the two countries record significant differences in contexts and background, the similarities are equally striking. The following is an article that is based on a two-country study undertaken by the author to unpackage and explore the "1Malaysia" Programme that was launched in 2009 following the election of Malaysian Prime Minister's, Tun Najib Razak into his first term in office. The author spent a two week resident attachment at the 1Malayisa Foundation in Malaysia in the summer of 2012 to study further the facets of the governance programme that had been formulated with the intention of resolving the ethnic tensions that have plagued Malaysia since it gained independence, or Merdeka. The purpose of the endeavour was three-fold: First, to identify and extract aspects of the 1Malaysia Programme as relevant to the Sri Lankan context so as to formulate a potential 1Sri Lanka programme that is cognizant of the variables at stake. Secondly, the article seeks to critique the already existent framework of the 1Malaysia Programme by providing recommendations for improvement where necessary. Third, to begin dialogue and deliberations on the rich learning and exchange that can be cultivated between the two countries by providing a framework for bilateral cooperation between the Governments of Malaysia and Sri Lanka
Promoting growth in Sri Lanka : lessons from East Asia
Full text linkSri Lanka's weak economic performance, although compounded by the civil war and budgetary imbalance, largely reflects the following: 1) a stop-and-go pattern of policy reform, because of political constraints - even though the results of reform were generally positive; 2) weak economic management, resulting in high inflation and a high fiscal and balance of payments deficit; 3) poor management of public spending; 4) mixed performance in exchange-rate management, with periods of substantial overvaluation; 5) financial policies that (despite recent improvements) hamper efficient financial intermediation; 6) prolonged trade protection, followed by selective trade liberalization; 7) continued distortion in agricultural policies; 8) inflexible labor markets and, despite Sri Lanka's outstanding track record on human development, problems with the quality of the labor force. To address a substantially unfinished policy agenda, Sri Lanka needs to intensify efforts to peacefully resolve civil conflict. There is also a need to squarely address its macroeconomic imbalances, involving a sharp reduction in the fiscal deficit, a cutback on public spending and redefinition of spending priorities, improvement of cost recovery for public services, and continuing to improve the management of the exchange rate. In trade policy, eliminate most quanitative restrictions, further reduce tariff protection, simplify the tariff structure, and, possibly, reform customs (to reduce leakage and abuse). Rationalize employment, exit, and bankruptcy regulations and procedures. The authors recommend improvement in communications between government and the private sector. It is necessary for the financial sector to become more competitive by legislating banking reform, giving state-owned banks more autonomy and putting private commercial banks on an equal footing with the two state banks, with the ultimate goal of privatizing the state banks, and also strengthen the supervision of banking. Also in the financial sector the authors have identified a need for privatization in insurance and pension funds to strengthen the capital market. Several aspects of the agricultural sector need to be revamped. Primarily, privatization of the estate plantations, perhaps through long-term management contracts and the gradual sale of share in assets; reduced trade protection; implementation of land reform; strengthen agricultural support; and possibly support rural financing institutions. Lastly, the authors suggest an end to government controls on hiring, firing, and wage setting as well as rationalization in civil service employment decisions.Labor Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Decentralization,Banks&Banking Reform,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Achieving Shared Growth,Inequality
Education expenditure and economic growth under decentralization: An empirical study of Sri Lanka and Canada.
No full textIn this study the authors undertake an empirical investigation into the nexus between government education expenditure and economic growth in Sri Lanka during the period 1960-2015. The direct and indirect effects of government expenditure on economic growth are estimated. The impact of decentralization of education sector in1987 on these effects are analysed. Sri Lanka’s experience under decentralization (1988-2015) is compared to the experience of Canada (1990-2014). The study finds a negative direct effect and a positive indirect effect of education expenditure on economic growth in Sri Lanka, and a positive direct effect and a negative indirect effect in Canada. The study also finds a positive direct effect and a negative indirect effect of non-education expenditure of government on economic growth in Sri Lanka. Redirecting government expenditure in favour of education, without substantially improving factor productivities in education sector, will generate a negative impact on economic growth in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s water policy: themes and issues
Full text linkFresh water resources in Sri Lanka remain a free public good with the State acting as the trustee and custodian of the resource. Although the country is blessed with a seemingly plentiful supply of water, it encounters severe problems of temporal and spatial scarcity. Nearly five decades of efforts at formulating a national water policy with a view to introducing a bulk water allocation system have failed mainly due to a lack of understanding of the basic issues confronting certain elements that constitute the basic policy. This paper presents selected key themes and issues which help stimulate the formulation and adoption of an improved water resource policy statement. The author argues that what is important in the case of water is not the question of ‘ownership’ of water but regulating the user rights of this common property resource, particularly since such use is always in a state of flux. In the course of its movement in the hydrological cycle, it can only be owned when it is captured in a receptacle or in an impounding tank or as treated water in a reservoir and water conveyed in an irrigation channel. But, it is this very right to abstraction of bulk water from its natural state that is not defined and left to the will of individuals and agencies – virtually resulting in the creation of a ‘free for all’ situation. While the domain of water is characterized by over 50 legislative enactments and a plethora of agencies numbering over 40, there isn’t a single neutral agency to determine the appropriate balance between the demands for off stream consumption and the volume of water flows needed by the river system. The objectives of this paper are: to clarify the meaning of the terms ‘ownership’, ‘user rights’, ‘common property rights’, and ‘right to water’; to analyze and suggest refinements to several water policy themes and issues such as ‘bulk water entitlements’, ‘groundwater management’ and ‘user conflicts’; to outline the roles of institutions for clarity in implementation; to suggest elements that should constitute a future water policy. A better understanding of the issues relating to this finite and vulnerable resource will help clarify the policy concerns that are constantly overlooked – intentionally or unintentionally - in the domain of water. Does Sri Lanka have the right water resource policies for the twenty-first century? Such concerns prompted policyholders to attempt several policy reforms in Sri Lanka’s water domain during the last five decades. Several United State Agency for International Development (USAID) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) efforts culminated in producing a ‘national water resources policy and institutional arrangement’ document with a water policy approved by the Cabinet of the Government of Sri Lanka in March 2000. Yet, public concerns expressed on certain sensitive issues, and the lack of consensus due to the changing hands of the subject of policy development among various successor ministries, resulted in the demise of this water policy formulation effort.Length: pp.113-126Water policyOwnershipGroundwater managementInstitutionsWater use
Webometric Analysis of Institutions Involve in Environmental Science Related Research Publications in Sri Lanka (2003-2013)
Full text linkWebometrics is a new field of bibliometrics, which originated in 2004. Webometrics mainlyuse bibliometric techniques in order study the relationship of different sites on the WorldWide Web (www). Local and international online journals become very popular amongscientists, as an effective place to publish their research articles. Therefore new technologicaland statistical approaches (such as Web Impact Factors) were introduced to evaluate theseexpanding online publication systems. In this study webometric concepts were applied to theWorld Wide Web, to analyse the quantity (number of papers) and impact (citation indexes) ofSri Lankan research institutions in environment science sector.Environmental science is a multidisciplinary subject and, the definitions for environmentalscience depend on particular country, institutions and journals. For this research environmentscience was defined by using eighteen (18) key subjects. Based on those key words, onlinedata collection of Google Scholar was done with “Harzing's Publish or Perish-version 4.0.12”software, using a ten (10) year time window (2003-2013). Data collection was done up toindividual author level and for an each author, number of publications, number of citations,citation per paper, citation per year, citation per author,h-index, annual h-index werecalculated. Self-citations were manually omitted from the system. Based on the results eachinstitution was estimated quantitatively (using number of publications, authors) andqualitatively (using citation indexes, h- index).The Study analysed 41 Sri Lankan research institutions, and 25 of them producedenvironment science related research publications. It included 867 scientists in 14 localuniversities and 220 scientists belong to other research institutions. According to the results53.35% of Sri Lankan online research publications (2003-2013) belonged to EnvironmentScience.The average number of environment science related research publications publishedby a Sri Lankan university was 25.03 papers per year. The annual citation of a university was79.17. Average values for citation per paper and, citation per author were 2.23 and 5.76.Average annual h-index of a Sri Lankan university was 4.09. Other research institutions hadcomparatively lower values. Average number of environment science related researchpublications per institution per year was 4.92 papers and annual citation per institution was19.60 papers. Average values for citation per paper and citation per author were 4.68 and3.93. Obtained annual h-index value was 0.35Highest contribution for the Sri Lankan online research publication sector was given by theuniversities rather than the other semi-government and non-government research institutions.Quantity and the quality of the research publications of particular institution depend on manyfactors; such as number of researchers, importance of their research field, number of online journals published or contributed by the institution, reputation of the researchers and theinstitution, amount of annual investment allocating for research purposes and several otherfactors.
A Review of Trends in Suicide and Deliberate Self Harm in Sri Lanka
Full text linkSri Lanka is a unique country with an alarmingly high suicide rate overlapping with deliberate self harrn. More lives have been lost as a result of suicide than due to ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, during the last two decades. Over the past few decades scientists from medical and sociological disciplines have examined the causes, impact, and preventive measuresfor this phenomenon. This article aims at reviewing trends in suicide and deliberate self harm in Sri Lanka with special reference to the methods used. Information was gathered from the libraries of the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine, Sri Lanka Medical Association and the University of Sri Jayawardenepura and a collection of articles by the author. Findings show that suicide in Sri Lanka had been documented in the early civilization and reports are mainly of prominent people in the society who took their lives. The methods used to commit suicide were violent. During British rule reporting of suicides were more organized and methods used gradually transformed from hanging to drowning and self poisoning. During the period from J 950 to J 995 the suicide rate has rapidly increased by eight fold. Sri Lanka was rankedfirst in the world in J 995for the highest suicide rate of 47/ J 00,000 and since then a gradual decline in suicides has been noted. Methods used were determined by the availability: agrochemicals remained the first choice and other substances including therapeutic substances emerged as other tools to commit suicide. Methods used showed a geographical variation. Suicides among the youth were common in the second half of the ur century and in 2007, the same was true for females whilst in males the age at suicide increased to 45 - 50 years
Post-Disaster Housing Reconstruction in Sri Lanka: What Methodology?
Full text linkResearch methodology is the procedural framework within which the research is conducted. This includes the overall
approach to a problem that could be put into practice in a research process, from the theoretical underpinning to the
collection and analysis of data. Choice of methodology depends on the primary drivers: topic to be researched and the
specific research questions. Hence, methodological perspectives of managing stakeholder expectations of PDHR context
are composed of research philosophies, research strategy, research design, and research techniques. This research belonged
to social constructivism or interpretivism within a philosophical continuum. The nature of the study was more toward
subjectivism where human behavior favored voluntary stance. Ontological, methodological, epistemological, and axiological
positioning carried the characteristics of idealism, ideographic, anti-positivism, and value laden, respectively. Data collection
comprises two phases, preliminary and secondary. Exploratory interviews with construction experts in the United Kingdom
and Sri Lanka were carried out to refine the interview questions and identify the case studies. Case study interviews during
the secondary phase took place in Sri Lanka. Data collected at the preliminary stage were used to assess the attributes of
power, legitimacy/proximity, and urgency of stakeholders to the project using Stakeholder Circle™ software. Moreover,
the data collected at secondary phase via case studies will be analyzed with NVivo 8. This article aims to discuss these
methodological underpinnings in detail applied in a post-disaster housing reconstruction context in Sri Lanka
Mapping Two Decades of Human-Elephant Conflict Research in Sri Lanka (1999–2023): A Scopus-Based Bibliometric Analysis
No full textHuman-elephant conflict (HEC) remains a pressing concern in Sri Lanka, where human settlements and agricultural activities increasingly encroach upon the natural habitats of elephants. This bibliometric analysis aims to explore the existing research on HEC in Sri Lanka, identify major thematic areas in the literature, and analyze the trends and patterns in scholarly publications. A thorough literature retrieval was performed through Scopus database, resulting in a dataset of research articles, review papers, conference proceedings, book chapters, conference review, letter, and review. Visual mapping and bibliometric tools were applied to analyze articles on HEC published between 1999 and 2023 in the Scopus database. An assessment was carried out on 52 articles. Various bibliometric indicators were utilized to examine the trends in scholarly output, author contributions, institutional collaborations, and recurring research topics. The results reveal the heightened academic engagement with HEC research in Sri Lanka over the years, with a focus on topics such as elephant behavior, agricultural practices, mitigation strategies, and policy interventions. The analysis also highlights the collaboration networks among researchers and institutions involved in HEC research in Sri Lanka. Overall, this bibliometric analysis offers an in-depth overview of existing HEC research in Sri Lanka, highlights areas where further investigation is needed, and proposes directions for future research and policy actions aimed at mitigating HEC.
DOI: http://doi.org/10.31357/fhss/vjhss.v10i02.1
Women Entrepreneurial Characteristics in Developing Successful Brands in Sri Lanka
Full text linkExpansion of women in higher positions of the organizations and emerging trend of women entrepreneurs has enhanced the scholarly interest in the field of women entrepreneurship and their characteristics. Nevertheless, the contribution of them is still invisible in emerging economies. Developed and established economies have been the focus of many researchers whereas the author has focused on Sri Lanka, an emerging economy to understand the contribution of women entrepreneurs. Main objective of this research is to understand the how women entrepreneurs have developed successful brands in Sri Lanka and how they have used their innate femininity in developing their businesses. Industries focused by the researcher in order to obtain an understanding of the women entrepreneurial characteristics were fashion, bakery and cosmetics in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Seminal literature for the research was focused on ten women entrepreneur characteristics. This research was conducted as a qualitative research. Primary data collection has been done using in- depth interviews with three women entrepreneurs selected by purposive sampling method and participant and non-participant observations with data triangulation. Based on the literature an interview guide was prepared and the data was collected. The richer interpretations have been derived from the in-depth interviews and narratives were built using the stories narrated. Data has been analysed using thematic analysis. Practical implication of this research is to identify the unique entrepreneurial characteristics and use them to enhance the women led businesses in emerging economies.
Keywords: Women Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurial Characteristics, Brand Development, Emerging Economie
Trade Unions and Their Impact on Productivity: A Review of Sri Lankan Context from 1995 to 2015
Full text linkThere are many factors that cause trade union actions such as problems related to organizational culture, management and administrative issues, problems related to working conditions, demand for higher salaries and other benefits by the employees and political influences. As a result of these trade union actions, lots of working hours may lose and it could badly affect the productivity of the organization. This study was conducted with a view to make a review on trade unions and their impact on productivity in Sri Lankan context for the period of years 1995-2015. 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka recognizes Freedom of Association and Freedom to join and form trade unions as fundamental rights of every citizen of Sri Lanka. Industrial Disputes act (No. 43 of 1950) of Sri Lanka states different methods to resolve Industrial disputes such as Collective agreements, Conciliation, and Arbitration. According to the statistics of Labour Department of Sri Lanka, many industrial disputes occurred in the period of 1995-2015 and government intervened to settle many of them. Thousands of employees involved in those industrial disputes and plenty of man days lost as a result on annual basis during the period of 1995-2015. Therefore the author came to the conclusion that industrial disputes impacted a lot in a negative way for the productivity of labour force in Sri Lanka and hence it affected badly for the economy of Sri Lanka during the period of 1995-2015.Key Words: Trade Unions, Industrial Disputes, Productivit
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