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    Role of Social Protection in Disaster Management in Sri Lanka
    (2015-01-07) Wickramasinghe, Kanchana
    Sri Lanka has witnessed a striking increase in both the frequency and intensity of natural disasters over the last few decades. Natural disasters have caused human, physical, fi nancial and environmental losses and made substantial impacts on the economy of Sri Lanka. The impacts of natural disasters are not homogeneous across various segments of the society. The distribution of impacts depends on the degree of physical vulnerability of a particular region to natural disasters and the socio-economic vulnerability. The poor, especially those who are dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods, such as farmers and fi shermen are highly vulnerable to the negative impacts of natural disasters. Given the signifi cant economic costs of natural disasters, disaster management issues have received high policy priority. Apart from reducing the physical vulnerability of the population, social protection systems do have an important complementary role in minimizing the effects of natural disasters. Sri Lanka is well-known to have an extensive social protection system. However, the degree to which the present system provides protection against natural disasters remains unexplored. Thus, the present study assesses the degree of protection provided by the present social protection system in Sri Lanka against natural disasters, identifi es gaps in doing so, and thereby suggests suitable recommendations to strengthen the system. The study reveals that the present social protection system in Sri Lanka is not adequate to address the socio-economic vulnerability due to external shocks created by natural disasters. All the disaster-related socio-economic measures in place are highly skewed towards immediate relief, whereas long-term economic well-being of the disaster vulnerable groups has received minor attention. The disaster insurance schemes are also not properly developed and the existing crop insurance schemes show a low coverage. Microfi nance services also do not adequately respond to the needs of the disaster vulnerable groups. The study recommends the need for making reforms in the existing programmes, thereby to suggest better protection against natural disasters without introducing new measures and increasing the complexity of the system.
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    Out-of-pocket expenditure in accessing healthcare services among Chronic Kidney Disease patients in Anuradhapura District
    (The Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2017-06-13) Senanayake, S J; Gunawardena, N S; Palihawadana, P; Bandara, S; Bandara, P; Ranasinghe, A U; Karunarathna, R H; Kumara, G P
    Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) has significant economic impact on both patients’ households and the country. To assess the out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure of accessing health services among CKD patients in Anuradhapura District This community based cross-sectional study included a representative sample of 1174 registered CKD patients from all 19 Medical Officer of Health areas in the District of Anuradhapura. Trained para-medical staff visited the households and administered an interviewer administered questionnaire to gather information. A total of 1118 CKD patients participated. Mean age was 58.3 (SD 10.8) years. Fifty nine (5.3%) patients had been hospitalized during the six months preceding data collection. The total OOP for a hospital admission for one patient was Rs. 3625 (IQR 1650-8760). Thirty eight (3.4%) patients were on dialysis. The median direct cost per patient for an episode of dialysis was Rs.595 (IQR 415-995) while the median direct cost for a dialysis patient per month was Rs.5490 (IQR 3950-10934). In the study population a total of 1095 (98.0%) had attended clinic at least once during the six months preceding the study. The OOP expenditure for a single clinic visit for one patient was Rs.434 (IQR 200-860). CKD patients living in the Anuradhapura District spent significant amounts on accessing health care which can worsen their economic hardships. Planned interventions are warranted in order to improve their quality of life and financial situation
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    Environmental Management Practices in the Hotel Sector in Sri Lanka: Experience from the Western Province
    (Colombo: Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2014-10) Wickramasinghe, Kanchana
    The study intends to assess environmental management in hotels in Sri Lanka and factors affecting the adoption of environmental management practices.
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    Education Participation in Sri Lanka—Why all are Not in School
    (Elsevier, 2006) Arunatilake, Nisha
    Despite Sri Lanka’s 1990 commitment to provide 10–11 years of free education to all, only 93% of children in the 5–14-year-old age group were in school by the year 2000. Moreover, the education participation rates are not equitable across the country, varying by socio-economic groups. This paper examines the determinants of school non-participation of 5–14-year olds in Sri Lanka using household, community and school-level information obtained from an island-wide survey. The study finds that demand side problems such as poverty, direct and indirect costs of schooling, and cultural factors as well as supply side shortcomings such as quality of education seem to affect schooling behavior of children. Policies facilitating compulsory education in the country at present gives prominence to awareness building, monitoring and improvements in education delivery. The results show that these efforts need to be complemented by other supply side improvements and income transfer measures, especially for the poorest, to achieve universal school attendance.
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    Realizing the sustainable development goals in the 4IR
    (2019) Tilakaratna, Ganga; Perera, Janani
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    The price elasticity demand in the United States: a three-dimensional analysis
    (2018) Abayasekara, Ashani; Burke, Paul J.
    In this paper we employ a dataset of three dimensions—state, sector, and year—to estimate the short- and long-run price elasticities of state-level electricity demand in the United States. Our sample covers the period 2003–2015. We contribute to the literature by employing instrumental variable estimation approaches, using the between estimator, and pursuing panel specifications that enable us to control for multiple dimensions of fixed effects. We conclude that state-level electricity demand is very price inelastic in the short run, with a same-year elasticity of –0.1. The long-run elasticity is near –1, larger than often believed. Among the sectors, it is industry that has the largest long-run price elasticity of demand. This appears to in part be due to electricity-intensive industrial activities clustering in low-price states
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    Labour migration in South Asia lessons from covid 19
    (2020) Weeraratne, Bilesha
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    Book Review: Bina Agarwal, Gender and Green Governance: The Political Economy of Women's Presence Within and Beyond Community Forestry
    (New Delhi: Sage, 2011) Wickramasinghe, Kanchana
    In the vast literature on a range of dimensions of forest governance, the facet of gender has received meagre attention. In addition, the nexus between women’s presence and forest governance has been less established through rigorous analysis. Moreover, in the gender and governance literature, the issues addressed are limited in range and there is a lack of empirical verification. In this context, the book titled Gender and Green Governance: The Political Economy of Women’s Presence Within and Beyond Community Forestry can be viewed as an immense, novel contribution to the literature and a milestone in the ongoing debate on forest governance, gender, rural energy and political economy. The study is based on a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative assessment using the information collected through the author’s extensive fieldwork in selected areas of India and Nepal.
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    The Political Economy of Trade Integration in South Asia: The Role of India
    (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010) Weerakoon, Dushni
    The South Asian regional trade integration process to date has generated only limited enthusiasm. It suffers from significant shortcomings, primarily on account of a very cautious approach adopted to achieve the ultimate objective of ‘free trade’ within the region. In turn, this has led to a fragmentation of the integration process, with some of the partners of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) bloc opting for a speedier and more liberal bilateral process with India. India’s engagement remains the critical feature as the single most important trading partner for almost all the other South Asian countries. However, the dynamics of Indian economic integration initiatives too have been changing rapidly, whereby it is looking increasingly to strengthen its economic relations with the wider Asian region. In this context, the question of India’s willingness to give leadership to carry the rest of South Asia as the bridge that connects the region to East Asia needs to be examined. The current evidence suggests that India has attempted to do so via a host of bilateral and regional arrangements, but that the divergences in strategic interests amongst SAARC countries has left Pakistan on the margins of an evolving scheme of overlapping trade initiatives in South Asia. Thus, while something approximating ‘free trade’ in South Asia appears to be taking shape, it is unlikely to take the form of an inclusive South Asian regional integration process envisaged by SAARC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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    Transforming Conflict with an Economic Dividend: The Sri Lankan Experience
    (Routledge, 2005-09) Kelegama, Saman
    Peace can generate an economic dividend, which can be further increased by appropriate economic reform. This dividend can in turn be used to raise popular support for conflict-resolution measures along the road to achieving a final political settlement, a strategy that characterizes the recent period in Sri Lanka. However, despite an increase in economic growth following the cessation of hostilities between the LTTE and the government, no substantial dividend has materialized for either government supporters in the South or LTTE supporters in the war-torn Northeast. The causes of this failure include delays in disbursing aid which would have eased adjustment to economic reforms—resulting in cuts to public spending that affected Southern households—and weak institutions that impeded the effective use of aid in the Northeast. The Sri Lankan experience highlights some important lessons for both government and donors on making use of an economic lever for consolidating a peace process and conflict resolution. It also highlights some of the dangers in relying too much on economic levers to consolidate a peace process when levels of mistrust are high.