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Item School funding formulas in Sri Lanka(2013) Arunatilake, Nisha; Jayawardena, PriyankaEducation Quality Inputs (EQI) scheme, a formula based resource allocation scheme, was introduced to give greater authority and resources to schools in decision making for improving teaching and learning methods in schools. This paper assesses its effectiveness in distributing funds and improving learning outcomes.Results show that the EQI scheme has improving equity. Smaller less facilitated schools rely on EQI funds more, but their utilization of funds is weaker. Evidence suggests that EQI funds have improved teaching, school attendance and learning. However, the effective usage of EQI funds is being affected by several factors as discussed in the paper.Item National level implications of SDG implementation: the case of Sri Lanka(Southern Voice on post-MDG international Development Goals, 2017-03) Tilakaratna, Ganga; Nanayakkara, Wimal; Madurawala, Sunimalee; Jayaratne, Suwendrani; Wickramasinghe, KanchanaSri Lanka is one of the signatories of the UN mandate on Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) comprise 17 goals and 169 targets, ranging from poverty, inequality, health, education and environment. This paper examines the implications of SDG implementation in Sri Lanka, in particular how the SDGs are embedded in the national context, and issues related to coordination, monitoring, partnerships and stakeholder participation. It reveals that most of the SDGs and their targets are relevant to Sri Lanka, and are in line with the priority areas. The study stresses the need of a designated national-level body to coordinate activities carried out by different stakeholders and to drive implementation and monitoring of the SDGs in Sri Lanka. Participation of a range of stakeholders, including the government, international organisations, private sector and civil society organisations, academia and general public, is crucial for the successful implementation of SDGs. Inadequacy of awareness of the SDGs among many stakeholders and the general public is a key constraint to the effective implementation of the SDGs. Partnership and stakeholder participation can play an important role in raising awareness and monitoring of SDGs, sharing knowledge/expertise, as well as in mobilising financial and technical resources. Monitoring the progress of SDGs will also require strengthening the capacity of the national statistics office and other relevant agencies involved in the data compilation.Item Social protection and the MDGs in Sri Lanka(Southern Voice o post-MDG international Development Goals, 2014) Tilakaratna, GangaThe role of social protection in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has been widely recognised. The Sri Lankan experience demonstrates that social protection policies and programmes carried out by the successive governments over decades have helped make substantial progress on many goals. The importance of social protection goes beyond MDGs. The issues of ageing population, informalisation of work, low female labour force participation, and increasing vulnerability to shocks also stress the need for comprehensive social protection systems. Social protection has to be a key element of the post-2015 development agenda – either as a goal, or as an instrument to achieve several goalsItem Social protection in Sri Lanka: current status and effect on labor market outcomes(Institute for Human Development, 2015) Tilakaratna, Ganga; Jayawardana, SahanThere are many social protection programs in Sri Lanka targeting vulnerable groups such as the poor, elderly, disabled, children and women. These programs vary from cash and in-kind transfers to pensions, insurance and livelihood development programs. Despite the multitude of programs, the current social protection system has many weaknesses. This study provides a detailed analysis of Sri Lanka’s social protection system and further examines the relationship between social protection and labour market outcomes such as the labor force participation and employment status. The study uses both quantitative and qualitative analyses. The quantitative analysis reveals that social protection income as a share of household expenditure has a marginal negative effect on the probability of an individual’s labour force participation. This relationship holds for the prime age (25-59 years) and the elderly categories of both genders while no significant effect is observed on the youth. With regard to the effect on employment status, the study reveal a positive effect on employment categories like own account workers, but the marginal effects are very small, hence no conclusive interpretations could be made. The study stresses the need for improving the current social protection system, particularly its efficiency and resource allocation within the system.Item Return and reintegration without assimilation: South Asian migrant workers in the gulf during COVID-19(Institute of South Asian Studies, 2020-06) Weeraratne, BileshaTemporary labour migration and related remittances are integral components of the South Asian economies. A significant portion of labour migrants from this region head to the Gulf countries. Nevertheless, migrant workers to the Gulf are barred from formally integrating into the socio-economic context in their country of destination. In this context, using the case of the Kuwait Amnesty and other examples during COVID-19 pademic, this paper reflects on the disproportionate division of responsibilities between the South Asian and Gulf countries in terms of the assimilation, return and reintegration of migrant workers, in an attempt to improve the well-being of migrant workers through the frameworks of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.Item Financial inclusion, regulation, and education in Sri Lanka(Asian Development Bank, 2014-11) Kelegama, Saman; Tilakaratna, GangaSri Lanka has achieved a high level of financial inclusion compared to other South Asian countries. Its financial sector comprises a wide range of financial institutions providing financial services such as loans, savings, pawning, leasing and finance, and remittance and money transfer facilities. There is also evidence that a larger share of households in Sri Lanka accesses multiple financial institutions for their credit and savings needs. However, the use of insurance services, ATM facilities, e-payments, and mobile banking, is relatively low. Financial education is ad hoc and lags behind financial innovation and new products. The information technology (IT) literacy rate is only 35% in Sri Lanka, and with the growing IT–finance nexus, financial awareness and education have become all the more important. Strengthening the regulatory framework governing the microfinance sector and client protection is also crucial for improving financial inclusion in Sri Lanka. Much scope remains to improve financial inclusion, particularly related to cost and quality of financial services provided, and the sustainability of financial institutions.Item Sri Lankan migrant abroad: results from a rapid online survey during the spread of COVID 19(Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka, 2020) Weeraratne, BileshaItem Sri Lanka's macroeconomic challenges: a tale of two deficits(Asian Development Bank, 2019-03) Weerakoon, Dushni; Kumar, Utsav; Dime, RoselleItem 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, JanakaItem Understanding student migration from Sri Lanka(Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka, 2022-02) Weeraratne, Bilesha; Weerasekara, Harini; Bandara, ThiliniItem Effects of environmental regulations on South Asian food and agricultural exports: a gravity analysis(United Nations, 2014-01) Wijesinghe, W.P.A.S.Regardless of the occasional dissenting voices, free trade is now being embraced by many of the nations of the world. South Asian countries joined the global consensus for frictionless trade by forming regional trade blocs under the banner of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). However, intra- and interregional trade in SAARC has not yet reached the desired stage, and a range of empirical studies have therefore been carried out with the objective of determining the causes. This current study is also motivated by the poor performance of the South Asian countries in world trade and it investigates the effects of environmental regulation on the food and agricultural trade of four South Asian nations, i.e., Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. For this study, the Gravity Model for international trade analysis was used with country- and time-specific fixed effects followed by Heckman sample selection model to avoid possible biases that are widely cited in the gravity literature. Trade data were retrieved from Trade Map while data for other gravity variables were retrieved from relevant recognized data sources. The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) was utilized as a proxy measure for the environmental regulation of the four SAARC nations and their trade partners to denote environmental regulation of reporting and partner countries. The results of the coefficient estimates revealed that even though there appears to be a relationship between stringent regulations and foreign trade without these specific effects, its significance fades as soon as both the importing and exporting country-specific effects are taken into considerationItem Adoption of Environmental Management Practices in the Hotel Industry in Sri Lanka(2017-01-27) Wickramasinghe, KanchanaEnvironmental management has not received the attention that it deserves in the case of the hotel industry in Sri Lanka although sustainable growth in the industry requires consideration of such practices. Our study assesses the adoption of good environmental management practices in the Sri Lankan hotel industry, focusing on energy, water, solid waste and waste water management. The study is based on data from 78 registered hotels in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. We obtained primary data on the environmental management practices using a pretested structured questionnaire. In addition to the cross-sectional data, we collected panel data on electricity consumption from these hotels for 2009–2013. The results show that the highest number of practices, 3.7 on average, adopted by hotels is in energy management. The average number of water management practices is 2.6. Low adoption rates are observed for waste water and solid waste management practices. The results from Poisson and Probit regression models show that the hotel characteristics and customer characteristics are significant determinants of the adoption of good practices with large hotels, chain-affiliated hotels and classified hotels more likely to adopt them. Analysis of electricity consumption shows that the occupancy rate and involvement of the hotels in environment management projects lead to a reduction in electricity consumption. From a policy perspective, small hotels, independent hotels, and unclassified hotels need to be motivated to adopt good environmental management practices through training, capacity building and financial support.Item Role of ICTs in Early Warning of Climate Related Disasters: A Sri Lankan Case Study(Manchester: Centre for Development Informatics (CDI), University of Manchester, UK, 2011) Wickramasinghe, KanchanaClimate change is now increasing – and will further increase in future – both the frequency and intensity of natural disasters in Sri Lanka including cyclones, floods and landslides (MoE 2010). While a number of strategies are necessary to address growth in climaterelated natural disasters, an effective early warning system can play a crucial role in lessening the probable negative impacts. More generally, the need for such a system was highlighted following the huge devastation caused by the 2004 tsunami. After four years of research, development and piloting activities, the Disaster Early Warning Network (DEWN) was launched in Sri Lanka on 30th January 2009. It aims to provide timely, reliable and costeffective massscale disaster early warnings. DEWN represents a multipartite effort and a case for publicprivate partnerships in delivering ICTbased early warnings.Item Commons vs. Commons: Managing Scarce Water Resources in Dry Zone Village Tank Systems in Sri Lanka(The Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA), 2011-02) Senaratne, Athula; Wickramasinghe, KanchanaThe struggle of village tank farmers in the dry zone of Sri Lanka against rising scarcity of water and land resources strongly highlights the interdependence of local resources under diverse regimes of governance. The significant population in the dry zone that lives under the village tank systems represents one of the most vulnerable community groups in the country. This study attempted to identify technical, institutional, and policy solutions that could provide sustainable answers to the problems faced by the village tank farming community. Physical scarcity is only one aspect of the problem because scarcity is closely influenced by more contentious issues of institutional limitations. The research was conducted in the Anuradhpaura district of the North Central Province in Sri Lanka. The research design included participatory methods of focus group discussions (FGD) and key informant interviews (KII) to gather primary data. Secondary data were collected from various sources, especially from past researches on village tank systems. Findings revealed that temporal scarcity of water and associated problems of managing local resources have been the major challenges that have shaped the evolution of local farming systems and water mana gement strategies. The traditional system evolved to overcome this challenge through the development of a set of social customs and local institutions. These customs and institutions had governed the use of lowland as well as upland resources until recently. However, recent changes such as population growth, government policies, commercialization of local economies, and modernization of agriculture technology have gradually eroded the traditional system. These changes have favored a privately oriented and resource intensive commercial farming system. Such changes have contributed to the collapse of control exerted by traditional system of social customs and local institutions over local resources, especially over the upland component of the farming system. This collapse has led to major environmental problems affecting land and water resources in the village tank systems. Hence, what is needed is a holistic approach of integrated resource management that includes technical, institutional, and policy interventions applied over interdependent systems of local resources. However, the implementation of an integrated mangement practices has to be facilitated by a modified system of local institutional arrangements and appropriate policy interventions designed to create an enabling environment.Item The Role of Sri Lanka in Enhancing Connectivity between South Asia and Southeast Asia(Tokyo: Asian Development Bank Institute, 2014-07) Weerakoon, Dushni; Perera, NipuniImproving physical connectivity between South and Southeast Asia has long been recognized as a key element in promoting greater trade and investment linkages within the region. As an island economy, Sri Lanka's regional connectivity has been mainly through its main sea port in Colombo, a transshipment hub port for South Asia. Investments to expand capacity at Colombo port are underway as part of Sri Lanka's renewed efforts to develop its infrastructure following the long internal separatist conflict that ended in 2009. Despite significant improvements in physical infrastructure connectivity, Sri Lanka has made only limited headway in strengthening its trade and investment links with the rest of the region. Moreover, the country has seen a sharp decline in its overall exports-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio, which is worrying in view of the growing external debt financing of many large infrastructure projects through state-led investment initiatives. Thus, Sri Lanka needs to focus on two priority areas: engaging private investment in infrastructure by strengthening the country's institutional and regulatory environment; and implementing a more strategic trade policy geared to enhance regional integration efforts.Item Multiple Borrowing in the Sri Lankan Microfinance Sector(Brooks World Poverty Institute, University of Manchester, 2013-09) Tilakaratna, GangaThis brief discusses the extent of multiple borrowing in the microfinance sector in Sri Lanka, and its implications. It is based on a panel household survey carried out in 2006-07 and 2009-10. Detailed interviews with multiple borrowers and key informant interviews were also conducted.Item Regional Economic Cooperation And Connectivity In South And South-West Asia: Potential And Challenges(2013-10-01) Kelegama, Saman; Abayasekara, AshaniAlthough South and South-West Asian countries helped drive global economic recovery in 2010,this study suggests that economic integration and cooperation in the sub-region is low and below potential, especially compared to East Asia. Not only do additional possibilities exist for mutually beneficial cooperation, but regional economic integration and cooperation is also essential if the sub-region is to sustain its growth momentum, and address its key development challenges in future. This process involves enhancing intra-regional trade; removing obstacles to inter-regional trade in services; allowing a freer movement of labor; developing deeper and more crisis-resilient financial markets; and coordinating appropriate monetary and fiscal policies. Enhancing regional connectivity is a multifaceted task that requires the implementation of bold policy initiatives at the national and regional levels, and in many different areas. Such a task could sustain the sub-region's dynamism in decades to come andreduce the wide disparities in economic opportunities within and across South and South-West Asian countries.Item Tax reforms in Sri Lanka: will a tax on public servants improve progressivity?(Partnership for Economic Policy, 2012-12) Arunatilake, Nisha; Jayawardena, Priyanka; Wijesinha, AnushkaThe Sri Lankan government implemented tax reforms in 2011, including removal of the tax exemption given to public servants and reduction of personal income tax rates in order to improve tax compliance from pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) tax payers. This study evaluates the 2007 and 2011 tax systems in order to examine the effects that taxing the income of public sector employees has on total tax revenues and the tax base. The study also compares the distributional effects of the different tax systems. Study further conducts simulation analyses to assess the most progressive means of achieving the 2007 tax revenue levels. Implications for tax evasion are also examined under different tax systems. The study finds that the 2011 tax reforms reduce tax revenue by 48 percent relative to the structure of income taxation in 2007. This decline in tax revenues occurs even though income taxes are extended to public sector workers because the 2011 tax reforms reduced the rate of income taxes across the board and increased the ta x-free threshold. Our simulations show that tax revenues would have risen if the reforms were limited to introducing income taxes to public servants. The resulting hypothetical) tax system would also have been more progressive than the tax structure resulting from the 2011 reforms. The study evaluated the distributional impacts of modifications to the 2011 tax system which would increase tax revenue to their level in 2007. More specifically, the present study finds that the most progressive way to attain this tax revenue target would be to increase tax rates on taxable income by 6 percentage points and to lower the tax-free threshold from LKR 600,000 to LKR 400,000.Item The Economics of Tobacco in Sri Lanka(Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, UC San Francisco, 2004) Arunatilake, Nisha; Opatha, MaduwanthiThis paper describes trends in tobacco use in Sri Lanka, assesses the economic contribution of the industry (jobs, earnings, tax revenues and trade balance), and analyses the relationship between demand for cigarettes and prices and incomes, looking at different socioeconomic groups. It uses the estimated elasticities to simulate the likely impact of a tax increase on prices, government revenues and on demand, expenditures and tax burdens of different socio- economic groups.Item Transaction Costs and Institutional Innovation: Sustainability of Tank Aquaculture in Sri Lanka(South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE), 2006) Senaratne, Athula; Karunanayake, KalpaFreshwater community-based aquaculture was introduce to village irrigation tanks in the dry zones of Sri Lanka in order to off-set the limited supply of animal protein available to residents in inland areas. This paper examines transaction costs associated with the management of community-based aquaculture in Anuradhapura district, the most important inland fish production area in the country. Using data from 41 tanks and 340 households, the study finds that community-based aquaculture involves three types of management forms: tank management by farmer organizations, mangaement by sub-group within farmer organizations and out-sourcing of management to third parties. All three institutional arrangements involve transaction costs associated with information provision, collective decision-making, and protection of fish harvest from poachers. While the costs of information provision and collective decision-making are relatively low under all three institutional arrangements, the cost of protection is significant and is considerably reduced when the entire farmer’s association is involved in tank management. In general, while community based fisheries contributes cash flow to farmer organizations and bolsters village food security, the benefits to individual farmers are low. Hence, farmers have little incentive to participate in collective action. Of the three different institutional arrangements, management by farmer sub-groups is the most successful in providing benefits to participants. The study suggests that sustainability of community-based aquaculture depends on successes in experimenting with institutional arrangements that can minimize transaction costs and achieve adequate returns to participants through productivity gains from tanks.