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Item Stabilization and Liberalization: A Closer Look at the Sri Lankan Experience 1977-93(Institute of Policy Studies, 1994) Dunham, David; Kelegama, SamanThree years before the World Bank introduced its first structural adjustment loan in 1980, Sri Lanka had embarked on a process of economic liberalization. The results of this have been documented at the end of the 1980s. The events illustrate the difficulties of managing the transition from a closed to an open economy. However, tensions between different needs of stabilization and adjustment have received very little attention in the literature. Why Sri Lankan liberalization faltered during this period has still not been adequately answered. This paper attempts to provide an answer to this crucial question.Item Does Leadership Matter in the Economic Reform Process? Liberalization and Governance in Sri Lanka, 1989-1993(Elsevier, 1997) Dunham, David; Kelegama, SamanGovernance assumptions of the East Asian miracle may not be a sufficient or a necessary condition for effective economic reform or for solid growth to emerge in other Asian economies. This paper argues that in Sri Lanka, where the state is not strong, where it is not well coordinated, and is neither cohesive nor disciplined in organizational terms, strong political leadership proved critical in the second wave of reform from 1989-93 - even if it was essentially illiberal in the process of implementation. Technical and political imperatives are seen to be interrelated and parts of a single reform package.Item Stabilization and Adjustment: A Second Look at the Sri Lankan Experience, 1977–93(John Wiley, 1997) Dunham, David; Kelegama, SamanMainstream thinking on economic policy assumes a logical progression from stabilization to liberalization and adjustment that is rarely attainable in practice. Most developing countries have been forced to undertake them simultaneously with a resulting tension between them, and with conflicting demands being made on economic policy. This paper reexamines Sri Lankan economic performance in the 1980s from this perspective. It argues that the pristine application of theory is not an appropriate yardstick and that “economic mismanagement” is at best an incomplete explanation of what was happening. It contends that incompatible demands were at the time being made on economic policy, and stresses the importance of external shocks and the political sustainability of the reform process.Item The Second Wave of Liberalisation in Sri Lanka: 1989-1993 Reform and Governance(McMillan, 1999) Dunham, David; Kelegama, SamanItem Economic Reform and Governance: Second Wave of Liberalization in Sri Lanka 1989 - 93(Institute of Policy Studies, 1995) Dunham, David; Kelegama, SamanThis paper examines the second wave of economic liberalization in Sri Lanka from 1989-93 (President Premadasa years) from both a traditional economic and from a governance perspective, looking at political and technical determinants of economic policy. Authors argue that the two dimensions are interwined, that political will is an weight from “bad” to “good” governance, a government can improve economic performance may be misconceived. The paper is also first attempt to fill a gap in the literature on Sri Lankan economic policy.