Browsing by Author "Wignaraja, Ganeshan"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    EAFTA or CEPEA : which way forward?
    (2008) Kawai, Masahiro; Wignaraja, Ganeshan
    The spread of free trade agreements in East Asia amidst slow progress in the WTO Doha negotiations has stimulated a debate over the way forward. This paper examines the region's evolving trade architecture, characteristics of FTAs and welfare implications of alternative FTA scenarios. It suggests that consolidation of multiple and overlapping FTAs into a single East Asian FTA can help mitigate the harmful noodle bowl effects of different tariffs, rules of origin and standards. The paper also suggests that WTO-plus elements need to be further expanded and that consolidation into a comprehensive economic partnership in East Asia at the ASEAN+6 level would yield the largest gains to East Asia among plausible regional trade agreements. As the next priority, the paper points to the formation of FTAs between East Asia, the United States and the EU as well as making FTAs more multilateral-friendly.
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    Examination of Priority Export Products and Identification of New Export Products for Development and Promotion in Sri Lanka
    (1993) Kelegama, Saman; Wignaraja, Ganeshan
    The main objective of this study is to rank the priority export products list identified by the EDB according to the criteria: high labour intensity; high local resource intensity, high market potential, and high supply potential. The ranking exercise was done through using Non-Parametric Methods of Statistical Theory. The study also aims to identify new products that could be developed on the basis of exports made by countries that have/had similar initial conditions as that of Sri Lanka, and on the basis of imports demanded by major markets in the world.
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    Labour Absorption in Industries: Some Observations from the Sri Lankan Experience
    (1992) Kelegama, Saman; Wignaraja, Ganeshan
    Eleven years have passed since liberalization began in Sri Lanka, and yet the level of unemployment remains at about the same level as in mid-1977. Even if the export industries take time to respond to policy reforms, the fact that unemployment increased to pre-1977 levels by 1985 clearly shows that export-oriented industrialization has not been able to generate employment on a large scale. Why has this been the case? This paper attempts to answer this question by examining the labour-absorptive capacity of manufacturing and how it has changed after liberalization.
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    Nominal and real devaluation during trade liberalization: aid-induced dutch disease in Sri Lanka
    (1991-06) White, Howard; Wignaraja, Ganeshan
    In 1977 the Sri Lankan government embarked on an extensive programme of liberalization, an important element of which was devaluation to ensure a competitive real exchange rate. However, the eighties were marked by an increasing divergence between the real and nominal exchange rates, the depreciation of the former not being matched by similar movements of the latter. This paper presents an econometric model of real exchange rate behavior in Sri Lanka. Amongst other things, it is shown that increased aid inflows have made a significant contribution to the appreciation of the real exchange rate.