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A Three-wheeled attraction: an analysis of Three-Wheeler drivers in Sri Lanka's labour market
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2022) De Silva, Thisali
The existing labour shortage in Sri Lanka has been inflicting high economic pressure not only on agricultural and industrial sectors but also on labour supply for domestic activities countrywide. Manufacturing sector industries such as apparel and construction, and service sector industries like tourism suffer from labour shortages that the country is currently experiencing. The shortage of people in some industries, such as the construction sector, is attributed to the reluctance of youth to take up this type of employment (Praveen et al. (2016)).
Are there good quality teachers for all classrooms in Sri Lanka?
(Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka, 2017-12) Arunatilake, Nisha; Abayasekara, Ashani
Highly qualified teachers in all classrooms are necessary for implementing education reforms aimed at modernising and improving education in the country.Using school census data for 2016, this study examines the adequacy of teachers for teaching mathematics,English and Science at the secondary level in Sri Lanka. across provinces and across different school categories.The study also analyses the distribution of government expenditure on teacher salaries across different types of schools. The study finds that although the available number of teachers for different subjects is sufficient at the national level, the available in-field and experienced teachers are inadequate to meet the current demand for such teachers. The study further finds that the deployment of teachers and the distribution of public expenditure on qualified teacher salaries are not equal across different categories of schools.
Belt and road initiative, debt and diplomacy: challenges and opportunities for China-Sri Lanka economic relations
(Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka, 2019-06) Weerakoon, Dushni; Wijayasiri, Janaka
Better schools for better O-Level results in Sri Lanka
(Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka, 2017-11) Abayasekara, Ashani; Arunatilake, Nisha
Child poverty in Sri Lanka: issues related to their education and access to safe water and sanitation
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2018-06) Nanayakkara, Wimal
The aim of this study is to have a closer look at poor and vulnerable children in Sri Lanka, who are faced with various deprivations, related to access to education, safe water and sanitation. Out of the estimated population of 21.2 million in Sri Lanka in 2015, almost one third are children under the age of 19 years.1 It is important to know as to how many of these children are deprived and vulnerable, who are the children most affected and where are they located. Most of the socioeconomic indicators at national level indicate that Sri Lanka has made considerable progress during the last two to three decades, including reduction of poverty. However, eradicating extreme poverty for all people everywhere and to reduce poverty in all its dimensions, as envisaged in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) - 1 (SDG- 1), is a difficult task unless suitable strategies are developed and implemented to minimise regional variations and variations between various Socio-economic Groups (SEGs). To achieve this goal, one of the main requirement would be to ensure that no child is in extreme poverty in Sri Lanka, as extreme poverty in children would lead to an intergenerational poverty cycle,2 which needs to be broken.
Climate Insurance for Dry Zone Farmers in Sri Lanka: Prospects for Index Insurance
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2019) Wickramasinghe, Kanchana
Credit-based participatory poverty alleviation strategies in Sri Lanka: what have we learned
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 1997-10) Gunatilaka, Ramani
The principal objective of this EXECUTIVE SUMMARY study is to evaluate some of the key credit-based, participatory poverty alleviation strategies implemented by both the government and NGOs in Sri Lanka. Important questions raised are the extent to which social mobilisation efforts have succeeded in empowering the poor, and how successful have credit programmes been in reducing the vulnerability of poor households and in providing capital for microenterprise development. Project management issues such as the capacity to monitor, evaluate and assess programme impact, and the extent to which programmes are integrated and coordinated, are also looked at. The study aims to highlight the best practices that have the potential for replication, and where results have fallen short of expectations, has tried to identify the causes and suggest modifications to programme design that may help in achieving success in the future.
Debt for climate and nature swaps in Sri Lanka
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2025-07) Fernando, Lakmini; Madurawala, Sunimalee; Wimalarathne, Menaka
In addressing the triple challenges of high indebtedness, climate change and loss of nature, debt-for-climate and nature (DfCN) swaps are recognised as an effective fiscal instrument for developing economies. These are agreements between the debtor and creditor where debt repayments are restructured to reduce the debt burden, with the funds allocated to climate-positive investments that support environmental commitments. Debt swaps, therefore, can be used to reduce foreign debt obligations and unlock fiscal space for environment-related investments. With the conclusion of debt restructuring, Sri Lanka is in a more favourable position to implement a DfCN swap. An early start to the preparatory work would enhance the government’s readiness for successful implementation. Externally, implementing DfCN swaps requires a transformed global financial architecture where developing countries are better supported to maintain sustainable debt levels and higher climate investments. Multilateral financial institutions have a bigger role to play in this regard. Internally, long-term planning, stringent commitments across all sectors and capacity building are critical in implementing DfCN swaps. DfCN swaps have the potential to re-establish financial and governance credibility and accomplish the financing needs of debtor countries. However, whether the benefits of DfCN swaps can be fully capitalised depends significantly on the government’s willingness to implement broader policy reforms and its ability to negotiate more favourable debt agreements.
Economic and Social Development under a Market Economy Regime in Sri Lanka: Buddhadasa Hewavitharana Felicitation Volume I
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2010-06) Kelegama, Saman (ed.); Gunewardena, Dileni (ed.)
This Volume of essays is dedicated to Prof. Buddhadasa Hewavitharana, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Peradeniya and the current Chairman of the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka. Professor Hewavitharana had an illustrious career and distinguished himself as a leading economist in Sri Lanka. This introductory chapter has two parts: first a biographical note on the professor, followed by an overview of the chapters in this Volume.
Economic and Social Development under a Market Economy Regime in Sri Lanka: Buddhadasa Hewavitharana Felicitation Volume II
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2010-06) Kelegama, Saman (ed.); Gunewardena, Dileni (ed.)
This is the second volume of essays in honour of Professor Buddhadasa Hewavitharna, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Peradeniya and the Chairman of the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka.
Elasticity Estimates for Cigarettes in Sri Lanka
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2020) Arunatilake, Nisha; Weerasekara, Harini; Thilanka, Chamini
Tobacco is extremely harmful to health and has been found to increase the risk of many non-communicable diseases including cancer, heart diseases, and respiratory illnesses. The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), of which Sri Lanka is a signatory, was formed to end the tobacco epidemic. Since signing the WHO FCTC treaty in 2003, Sri Lanka has introduced several initiatives to control tobacco use in the country. These measures have decreased the tobacco incidence in Sri Lanka, but tobacco consumption remains high with 28.1 per cent of males being smokers in 2018 (World Health Organization.
Estimating Aswesuma Effectiveness
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2025-05) Amarasinghe, Pulasthi
This paper develops and demonstrates an analytical framework to simulate the effects of the cash transfers proposed by the Aswesuma programme on households under various eligibility criteria for selection of its beneficiaries. The results enable decision-makers to evaluate the possibility of utilising joint or weighted criteria of 22 indicators used in selecting eligible candidates and to identify the necessary changes to move people along the poverty evaluations set forth by the programme criteria. The addition of other factors affecting key welfare outcomes highlights the importance of including climate change and disaster preparedness as a subset of eligibility criteria.
Health and socio-economic determinants of malnutrition in the plantation sector of Sri Lanka
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2015-08) Weerasinghe, Manuj C ; Bandara,Samanthi
In the early 19th century, the predominant agrarian economy of Sri Lanka was transformed into a commercial and capitalist nature, with the introduction of the plantation (estate) sector by the British colonial rulers. Among the key cultivation crops in Sri Lanka, tea became the major export crop after the destruction of coffee plantations due to a fungal disease. Due to the failure of recruiting sufficient labour force from the indigenous Sinhala and Tamil communities, thousands of labourers were brought from South India for employment in the estates. These Indian labourers were relocated in the estates, particularly in the central hills. Considering the specific nature of the population living in those localities, including their occupational and ancestral relations, those areas are categorized as the estate sector. Due to political, cultural and religious sensitivity of the estate sector, and the historically established management styles of those geographical boundaries they reside, different service delivery models and service seeking behaviour has evolved. Health is no exception.
Impact of migration and remittances on investment in agriculture and food security in Sri Lanka
(Colombo: Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2012-02) Samaratunga, Parakrama A.; Jayaweera, Roshini; Perera, Nethmini
Out-migration for work abroad has been a known phenomenon within the Sri Lankan labour force for a long time. However, by the mid-1980s, the proportion of unskilled workers was becoming more significant and at present this percentage lies in the region of 65 per cent. A large segment of these unskilled migrants come from the rural sector where the main occupation is agriculture. Out-migration of small farmers or members of their families can have both positive and negative effects on rural agricultural production as well as consumption. This study intends to formally examine the impact on rural agricultural production and the food security situation in farm families resulting from out-migration of the members of the rural agricultural sector of Sri Lanka.
Incentivizing Foreign Investment in Sri Lanka and the Role of Tax Incentives
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2013-04) Wijesinha, Anushka; Ekanayake, Raveen; Mahendra, Gajen
While this paper does acknowledge that tax incentives are not the only factor in determining the foreign investment attractiveness of the country, that tax incentives violate the equity principle of taxation, that the evidence supporting the effectiveness of tax incentives is contentious, and are a drain on the country's exchequer, it also acknowledges that Sri Lanka would need to maintain some form of tax incentives regime to remain competitive in attracting good quality FDI. The key argument of this paper is that this tax incentives regime must be designed, implemented, and monitored in a smarter and more cost-effective way so that the impact on revenue is minimized and economic policy objectives can be realized.
Industrial development in Sri Lanka: papers presented at the fourth annual sessions
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 1989)
Insurance to promote human-wildlife coexistence
(International Institute For Environment and Development, 2023)
This guide is for governments, conservationist practitioners and insurers to design and introduce insurance schemes to reduce human-wildlife conflict (HWC) and promote human-wildlife coexistence. HWC imposes significant costs on poor, small-scale farmers and pastoralists in many parts of the world, particularly those living adjacent to protected areas and on larger-scale operations such as plantations. Costs include losses from crop damage, livestock injury or death, property damage and human injury or death. Opportunity and other indirect costs add to the burden of HWC. Biodiversity is also impacted as wildlife is often injured or killed in retaliation.
Manufacturing exports from Sri Lanka: opportunities, achievements and policy options
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2017) Athukorala, Prema-Chandra
Non-Farm Employment in the Settlement Sector in Sri Lanka with Special Reference to the Mahaweli Development Programme
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 1988) Bandaragoda, D. J.
The paper is based on a case study of the land settlement programme in Sri Lanka with the focus on the Mahaweli areas. The study was conducted particularly with a view to isolating the special characteristics that distinguish state-sponsored settlement areas from other rural contexts, and to understanding how such characteristics relate to non-farm employment.
Palm Oil Industry In Sri Lanka: An Economic Analysis
(Institute Of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2023) Pathiraja, Erandathie; Samaraweera, Ruwan; Fernando, Hiruni; Bogodage, Jaann
Palm oil is the main edible oil source consumed in the world. Sri Lanka began importing palm oil a few decades back mainly due to the increasing local demand driven by population and income growth, changes in food habits and developments in food and related industries. Considering the rising demand for imported palm oil and the potential suitability of climatic and soil factors in the country, oil palm was allowed to be cultivated on 20,000 hectares (ha) as part of a strategy to promote import substitution. Hence, regional plantation companies (RPCs) were permitted to cultivate oil palm in marginal rubber lands in selected districts. However, oil palm cultivation and consumption are globally criticised for its environmental and health impacts regardless of rewarding factors such as low cost and versatility in food and many other industries. Sri Lanka also paid attention to possible environmental hazards and health impacts of consuming palm oil as well as resistance from local environmental activists. As a result, oil palm cultivation was banned and a phase out within 10 years was proposed as a policy decision. Subsequently, the country took measures to restrict the importation of palm oil, considering its health hazards. Yet, alternatives to satisfy the local demand are limited. Hence, the decision was revised to keep the market open under licences. However, the industry investors claim that the criticism is unreasonable. Therefore, this study explores the economic aspects of the industry, such as costs and returns, contribution to the economy, tariff protection, market linkages etc., including potential environmental and social issues in the palm oil industry value chain in Sri Lanka.

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