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U n i v e r s i t y of P e r a d e n i y a

The Institutional Repository of the University of Peradeniya is the University's digital gateway to scholarly knowledge and research excellence. Established as the next phase of the Digital Library initiative launched by the University Library in 2011, it preserves, showcases, and provides open access to the intellectual output of the University community.

Through a rich collection of research articles, conference proceedings, theses, dissertations, and other scholarly works, the repository enhances the visibility, accessibility, and long-term preservation of knowledge, extending the global reach and impact of the University of Peradeniya’s academic and research contributions.

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The dynamic linkages between economic growth and sectoral growth : empirical evidence from Sri Lanka
(Department of Economics and Statistics, Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2025-09-11) Pusparasa, A.; Sukirtha, T.
Introduction The Sri Lankan economy has been undergoing a structural change over the last few decades. Agriculture, Industry and Services sectors play an important role in Sri Lanka’s economic growth. The contribution of the agricultural sector to national GDP has been fast declining while industrial and service sectors are dominating and have been showing remarkable improvements. Experiences of the developed economies have shown that the sectoral growth process is highly unbalanced (Sastry et al., 2003). Most early development strategies, advocated by Rosenstein-Rodan, Nurkse, and Hirshman among others, emphasized industrial development as the main source of economic growth (Schiff and Valdez, 1998). The role of agriculture in generating economic growth was shown to be minimal with the experience of the newly industrialized countries and others. The services sector was identified as an emerging sector. Based on this, the key sector would stimulate greater economic activity in other sectors and thus have a large multiplier effect on growth and development. Therefore a proper understanding of sectoral growth is necessary for designing appropriate long run strategies to achieve a sustainable growth rate in real GDP. While most of the literature mainly focuses on the determinants of aggregate growth, the sectoral growth literature mainly builds on the dual economic model originating in Lewis (1954) and Hirshman (1958). The dual economic model seeks to explain economic growth by emphasizing the role of sectors. Based on this theoretical context, there is no in-depth study on the inter relationship between sectoral growth and economic growth in Sri Lanka. Thus, this study attempts to examine the relationship among sectors and economic growth in Sri Lanka.
A study of the economic crisis associated with international trade and the living standards of the people in Sri Lanka : with special reference to state sector people.
(Department of Economics and Statistics, Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2025-09-11) Bandara, K.M.S.L.; Weragoda, L.
Introduction Sri Lanka’s economy has undergone considerable turbulence in recent years, driven by both domestic and global shocks that have deeply affected its major industries. Among these, the tea industry has experienced severe disruptions due to events such as the Easter Sunday attacks in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 -2021, and the prolonged post-COVID economic crisis. These crises, each distinct in nature yet interconnected through their connection to global trade, have significantly influenced the economic activities and living standards of those engaged in the tea sector. This study seeks to understand the extent to which these events have impacted the quality of life of individuals associated with the Harangala Tea Factory, located in the Kotmale Divisional Secretariat of the Nuwara Eliya District. The Easter Sunday attacks of 2019 were a significant economic turning point. While the immediate damage was most visible in the tourism and service sectors, the shockwaves extended to the broader export economy. By 2021, the effects of the attacks were still evident in reduced investor confidence, lower foreign exchange inflows. For the tea industry, these conditions led to disruptions in demand, logistical challenges, and a cautious trading environment. Export volumes declined, and income streams became less predictable, affecting the operational stability of tea factories and the financial well-being of workers. This instability was compounded by the onset of the COVID - 19 pandemic in 2020 and its continuation into 2021. The global health crisis brought unprecedented challenges to the tea industry. International demand fluctuated as global markets contracted and shipping delays became common. Simultaneously, local producers faced rising costs for agricultural inputs and protective equipment. At the worker level, income insecurity, health risks, and reduced access to services became everyday realities. In the post-COVID era, Sri Lanka’s economy entered a state of prolonged crisis. A combination of declining foreign reserves, mounting debt, and poor fiscal management culminated in a severe balance of payments problem. Between 2021 and 2023, the Sri Lankan Rupee depreciated sharply against the US Dollar. While tea exporters benefited from more favourable exchange rates, which increased the rupee value of their earnings, workers and small-scale producers suffered due to the rapid increase in the cost of living. This study aims to explore how these three global trade-related crises, namely the Easter Sunday attacks, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the post- COVID economic downturn turn have affected individuals directly engaged in the tea industry, with a specific focus on the Harangala Tea Factory. Through a combination of qualitative and quantitative data, the study examines how the living conditions of factory workers, estate labourers, and management personnel evolved throughout these crisis periods. The research seeks to distinguish between the positive and negative outcomes of each event, emphasising how global economic disturbances can generate uneven effects within the same community. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for future policy planning. While macroeconomic indicators provide a national overview, localised studies such as this offer valuable insights into the human dimensions of economic resilience and vulnerability. The Harangala case study highlights the importance of context-specific strategies to ensure that economic recovery efforts are inclusive and responsive to the needs of all stakeholders within the tea industry. Sri Lanka’s tea industry has been deeply vulnerable to successive crises, illustrating the interdependence between global trade disruptions and local livelihoods. Bandaranayake (2021) emphasises how the COVID-19 pandemic amplified pre-existing structural weaknesses in the Sri Lankan economy, with shrinking foreign reserves and disrupted trade flows directly affecting export industries such as tea. Similarly, Dissanayake (2021) highlights that while the depreciation of the Sri Lankan rupee temporarily benefited exporters by enhancing the rupee value of foreign earnings, rising inflation severely eroded household purchasing power, disproportionately burdening wage-dependent factory workers. Ekanayaka and Chatma (2010) add that volatility in exchange rates has long posed risks to Sri Lankan exporters, with the tea sector’s dependence on international demand making it highly susceptible to external shocks. Together, these studies establish the macroeconomic context for understanding how crises intensify vulnerabilities in trade-reliant communities. While prior research has predominantly focused on the negative impacts of international trade-related economic crises on Sri Lankan communities, this study examines both the negative and positive effects of these crises on community life.
AI and student entrepreneurship: perceptions, practices, and challenges in the path to sustainable innovation
(Department of Economics and Statistics, Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2025-09-11) Schiopu , Camelia; Constantin , Sanda; Foris, Tiberiu
Introduction The intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and entrepreneurship among young people has become increasingly relevant in the context of digital transformation and innovation-driven education. Recent research indicates a strong influence of digital and coding skills on students’ propensity to create new businesses, highlighting the importance of equipping them with practical AI-based capabilities (Sansone, 2024). This paper investigates the perceptions, current practices and challenges faced by students when attempting to use AI tools in entrepreneurial projects. The study explores how students understand and integrate AI into their business development. Using a mixed-methods approach—combining survey data from students enrolled in entrepreneurship Programmes and interviews with student entrepreneurs—this research aims to uncover diverse useful applications, from automating routine tasks to generative use cases such as content creation and business planning. These findings echo other recent studies showing that AI can significantly enhance entrepreneurial skills, including opportunity identification, creative thinking, and sustainable innovation (Vecchiarini-Piazza, 2023). The paper also addresses the role that higher education institutions play in supporting AI-driven entrepreneurship through curriculum updates, mentoring Programmes, and access to digital tools. It provides concrete examples and proposes useful ideas to improve entrepreneurship education in the context of new AI-driven technologies. Also, studies such as Almahry and Sarea (F. Almahry, 2018) highlight the importance of early entrepreneurial training, and Hadi & Abdullah (Hadi, 2018) emphasize the role of personal traits in business success Building on these perspectives, Luo et al. (Luo, et al., 2022) show that a supportive entrepreneurial environment, combined with targeted education, can significantly enhance students’ belief in their capacity to launch and manage a business. This underscores the need to integrate AI-related training into broader strategies for competence development in order to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Demand estimation of household food waste: A case from Kurunegala district
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2023-09-20) Thilakarathna, G.D.S.; Weerasooriya, S.A.
Household food waste is driven by consumer habits and behavior. It differs with demographic, social, and economic factors. This study aims to determine whether household food waste is a luxury good and identify how demographic and socioeconomic factors affect household food waste. For this, a Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS) model was used, which is augmented with demographic, socioeconomic, and expenditure controls. Data were obtained in October 2022 through an online survey from 195 respondents living in the Kurunegala District of Sri Lanka. Data on food habits and quantity of food waste in food categories based on the consumption of most households in Sri Lanka, namely, rice, other cereals, pulses, fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy products, eggs, and miscellaneous foods. Values (expenditure) on the waste of each food category were calculated by multiplying expenditure on each food category with the percentage of waste, and then expenditure share on each category of household food waste was obtained. The demand system estimation showed that all expenditure elasticities for all food waste categories as positive, indicating that they are normal goods. Food waste categories were identified as luxury goods or necessary goods. Waste of rice, other cereals, pulses, fruits, vegetables, and miscellaneous food in the household were necessary goods, while the waste of meat products, fish, dairy products, and eggs food categories were luxury goods. Expenditure share on household food waste differs with residence area. High- income group of households shows higher expenditure shares on food waste, lowest in the low-income group, and in between among middle-income households. Expenditure shares and expenditure elasticities vary with demographic, social, and economic factors. According to the study, most households practiced different management practices and they had positive attitudes toward minimizing household food waste.
Estimating the technical efficiency of small-scale inland fisheries: A case from Vavunikulam Tank
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2023-09-20) Nilusha, S.; Weerasooriya, S.A
The fisheries sector comprises coastal, offshore, and inland fisheries. Inland fisheries specifically involve the exploitation of fishery resources from inland water environments. Vavunikulam is one of the largest tanks in the Mullaitivu District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka, and holds immense potential for inland fishing. This study aims to determine the level of technical efficiency and identify factors affecting the technical efficiency of small-scale fishing households. This study also focuses on the role of the National Aquaculture Development Authority of Sri Lanka (NAQDA) and the fishing society in this context. Out of the 60 fishing households using the Vavunikulam tank, 50 fishermen were selected using a convenient sampling method. Data were collected with thoughtfully designed questionnaires. A Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier approach with an inefficiency model was used to estimate the technical efficiency and identify the determinants of the efficiency of fishermen. The maximum likelihood parameter estimates showed that fishing output was significantly and positively correlated with the number of fishing gear used and the duration of fishing. This indicates that optimizing input usage can lead to increased fish output levels. The study found that 69.80% of the deviation of observed fishing output from frontier output was due to technical inefficiency. The estimated mean of technical efficiency of the sample fishermen was about 86%, suggesting that by efficiently utilizing existing resources, the technical efficiency could be enhanced by 14%. Further results showed that education level, experience, and income from other sources were found to have a negative and significant effect on technical inefficiency, and age was found to have a positive and significant effect on technical inefficiency of fishing output. Therefore, government and policymakers should take necessary actions and foster policies to improve the technical efficiency of fishermen through providing formal as well as informal education, training programs, and credit facilities.