Browsing by Author "Kannangara, S.D.P.P"

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Does infrastructure development spur poverty alleviation? Evidence from Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Gooneratne, D.W.A.; Kannangara, S.D.P.P
Infrastructure refers to the basic facilities and systems that serve a country, region, or community, playing a significant role in promoting economic growth. The physical infrastructure, such as transportation, power, and telecommunication, eases economic access and contributes largely towards economic development, whereas social infrastructure improves people's living standards by focusing on education, health, and sanitation. Infrastructure development acts as a key pillar of economic development, whereas inefficient practices upsurge the vulnerability of the poor to lower quality of life and economic shocks and hinder their access to basic facilities. However, despite the substantial capital allocations on infrastructure projects over the last decade, more Sri Lankans were seen slipping into poverty lately. The study aims to examine the impact of infrastructure development on poverty alleviation in Sri Lanka. The study uses a quantitative research approach where secondary data were collected from 1960-2020 for multiple indicators available under four key segments, i.e., transportation, power, water, and telecommunication, to measure infrastructure development. Poverty alleviation was proxied through per capita consumption expenditure. Further, the study adopts Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique to analyze the relationship between the variables. The co-integration test results of the study depict a long-run relationship between infrastructure development and poverty alleviation in Sri Lanka. The ARDL test results posit that infrastructure development and economic growth lessen poverty in both the long and short run. Further, the Causality test corroborates an optimistic and unidirectional causality from infrastructure development to poverty reduction in the Sri Lankan context. The study findings depict the importance of developing government economic policies to implement positive NPV-generating projects to maximize the benefit for the vulnerable parties in society.
Fiscal Vulnerability, Financial Stress, and Macroeconomic Policies in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Adhikari, A.M.C.P; Kannangara, S.D.P.P
Fiscal policies are crucial when delivering sustainable development goals. Further, fiscal policies support to implement the domestic public resources and enhance the effectiveness of public spending. Moreover, fiscal policies enrich investment and contribute to fiscal reforms. These provide references to SDG target 17.1, which emphasizes the financial options and strengthening domestic resource mobilization. Therefore, it is pivotal to identify fiscal vulnerability to enhance macroeconomic policies. The study aims to examine the imbalance in the public finance structure in Sri Lanka to contribute to fiscal reforms by implementing appropriate macroeconomic policies. The study has selected several variables to develop indexes for fiscal vulnerability, financial stress, and macroeconomic policies. These three indexes were developed based on the historical data in the country under specific indicators. Therefore, the study uses a quantitative research approach where secondary data were collected from 1960-2020 for different indicators available under three indexes i.e., the index of fiscal vulnerability, an index of financial stress, and an index of macroeconomic policies. Further, the study embraces Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model to analyze the casual long run and the short run relationship between variables. The co-integration test captures the causal relationship results of the study, and it illustrates a long-run relationship between variables with directional causality. The study findings describe how important it is to implement a capacity mechanism suitable for Sri Lanka because prior literature emphasized that developing countries should develop their capacity mechanism considering IMF guidelines. Moreover, the study contributes to implementing fiscal monitoring mechanisms and identifying the refinancing risk of public liabilities. The study emphasizes an appropriate fiscal assessment to enhance macroeconomic policies in the Sri Lankan context.
Impact of Internal Migration on Rural Development in Sri Lanka
(10th ICME at University of Ruhuna, 2021) Kannangara, S.D.P.P; Herath, H.M.T.S.
Internal migration and rural development are the most debated areas of a development process, which have not been adequately addressed for years in many developing countries, particularly in Sri Lanka. Therefore, the purpose of 1this study is to analyse the relationship between internal migration and rural development. This study used the quantitative approach and secondary data, spanning annually from 1996 to 2019. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model was used to test the hypothesized relationship between the constructs using EViews 11 student version. According to the ARDL results, the study reports a significant positive relationship between internal migration and rural development. Further, it revealed that despite the substantial improvement of rural development that happened over 1996 to 2018, internal migration has also increased by 16 per cent. It is expected that the findings of this study help various level policymakers to address the issues relating to rural development and internal migration from a novel and different perspective. This study also gives insights into problems relating to rural development, internal migration, and urbanization. Future studies may investigate urbanization problems in Sri Lanka which were mainly created by the overflow of internal migration. These problems should be considered by the authorities for the continued sustainable development in Sri Lanka as a whole.
Is Financial Sector Evolution Pivotal in Poverty Alleviation in Sri Lanka?
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Kannangara, S.D.P.P; Gooneratne, D.W.A.
The studies in the field of financial sector development have gradually flourished, drawing increased attention from scholars globally. The rich literature posits that financial development is a core requirement in achieving the economic growth of a country. World Bank postulates that the evolution in a country's financial sector ensures capital accumulation via savings growth, mobilization of funds, risk management, and continuous flow of foreign direct investments whilst reinforcing efficient capital allocations leading to economic development. Albeit efficient credit allocations and increased investments correspond to financial development, inequalities in income distribution are often visible in society. Raising the savings rate, mobilising and pooling funds, producing investment information, facilitating and encouraging foreign capital inflows, optimising capital allocation, economic growth through capital accumulation, and technical advancement is essential to the financial sector development in poverty alleviation. The study investigates the impact of financial sector development on poverty alleviation in Sri Lanka. The study adopts a quantitative approach where secondary data are manually collected from 1960-2020. Financial sector evolution was proxied through broad money stock (M3) to nominal GDP ratio and domestic bank credit to the private sector to GDP ratio, whereas poverty alleviation was measured using the per capita consumption expenditure. The study employs Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique to analyze the relationship between the variables. The co-integration test results of the study depict a long-run relationship between financial development and poverty alleviation in Sri Lanka. The ARDL test results posit that financial development coupled with economic growth lessens poverty in both the long and short run. Further, the Causality test corroborates an optimistic and unidirectional causality from financial development to poverty reduction in the Sri Lankan context. The study results reflect the importance of continuous developments in the financial sector by improving financial accessibility and diversifying financial products while reinforcing the financial institutions of the country aiming at the underserved market segments.
The Role of Social Entrepreneurs in Lessening Poverty in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Kannangara, S.D.P.P; Ranwala, Randini; Surangi, H. A. K. N. S.
This research examines the role of Sri Lankan social entrepreneurs in lessening poverty. No poverty is the first goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and it is the most compelling issue of the twentieth century. Millions of people suffer worldwide, unable to obtain basic human needs such as food, clean water, and sanitation. The World Bank has categorized poverty into two groups: absolute poverty and relative poverty. Absolute poverty refers to having a lack of resources to meet physical needs. In contrast, relative poverty refers to having a lack of resources to live a life relevant to their social status. Social entrepreneurship is about recognizing social problems and achieving social change by employing entrepreneurial principles and operations. The qualitative research method, particularly a discourse analysis, was adopted to collect and analyze data through the lens of Giddens’ structuration theory. Data were collected from four speeches and discussions of social entrepreneurs published as videos on the internet. Findings revealed that social entrepreneurs play a leading role in recreating social systems, providing entrepreneurial skills, and supplying health and education to people. They also teach people to stand on their own two feet and empower ‘others’ to help solve their challenges and create a new future. Social entrepreneurs bring value to the continuous fight against poverty. This research has theoretical and public policy implications. In terms of the theoretical debate, the study contributes to the literature by using Giddens’ structuration theory as a theoretical framework that fosters social entrepreneurial activity in Sri Lankan contexts. From a policymaker’s perspective, this research should be taken into account for the design of policies to support social entrepreneurship by considering the contribution to eradicating poverty.