PERS 2015

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A study on the nature of the customers who used IT driven banking services of Commercial Banks
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Abeyrathna, B.G.C.M
Introduction Numbers of sectors are maintaining their services with quality and systematically by using information technology. Around two decades before, commercial banks started to apply information technology for their services. In the first stage, IT was used only for internal affairs. However nowadays, it has been developed as a self service provider. Currently, banks offer services with high quality and efficiency by using IT driven services such as ATM, Mobile banking, Internet banking etc. If there is an enormous queue inside the bank for small scale and small transactions, it will disturb the banks essential, valuable and prominent transactions. Therefore, customers have been given opportunities to paying bills, exchanging money, and inquiring the balance at home by a telephone or a computer. A research was conducted in New Zealand banking sector and the results show significant relationships among online customer service quality, online information system quality, banking service product quality, overall internet banking service quality and customer satisfaction (Rod et al, 2008). Moreover, it was identified a positive relationship between IT and efficiency of banking services (Naseem et al, 2012). Further, a comparative study in Japan and South Asian countries revealed a positive relationship between IT and productivity of the banking activities (Swierczek and Shrestha, 2003). Commercial banks can be identified as with internet banking facilities and without internet banking facilities. It means some commercial banks use more and more internet banking facilities for their transactions. It was conducted a comparative reserch using this kind of two commercial banks. This research comparatively showed favourable amount of profit and efficiency of activities exist in banks which with internet banking facilities than the other banks (Malhotra and Singh, 2009). Furthermore, It was identified lack of knowledge exist in Sri Lankan clients regarding IT driven banking services. Therefore it was mentioned that the problem of returns of investment on IT driven services are questioning (Suraweera et al). No studies have been done regarding the nature of the customers who use IT driven banking services of commercial banks in Sri Lanka. Therefore, this study is mainly focused on whether there is any special group of customers’ using IT driven banking services of commercial banks.
Undernourishment in dveloping nations in Asia: investigating the macroeconomic links
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Musfir, A. H. M.; Jayasinghe-Mudalige, U. K.; Edirisinghe, J. C.; Herath, H. M. L. K.; Udugama, J. M. M.; Lokuge, L. D. M. N.
Introduction Food security is defined as ‘a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life’ (FAO, 2002). The major dimensions of food security include, food availability, accessibility and utilization, and lack of which, individually or collectively, could lead to a ‘food insecure’ society. The specific objective of this study was to examine empirically the relationship between a set of key macroeconomic indicators on prevalence of undernourishment in the Asian region – the most populous region in the world and possesses the highest undernourished population, and about two-thirds of the world’s hungry live in Asia.
An empirical analysis of households electricity demand in Ampara district in Sri Lanka
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Aslam, A. L. M.; Nigel, J.; Lebbe, S. M. A.
Introduction Electricity plays a crucial role in the socio economic development of a country (Beenstock et. al., 1999). Sri Lanka is one of the nations which produces electricity from a mixture of sources such as hydro power, thermal power, wind power and bio energy (Public Utility Commission for Sri Lanka, 2012). Hydro power is the primary source of electricity in Sri Lanka and generates electricity in ten large and one small power station in the Laxapana, the Mahaweli, and the Samanala complexes. In 2013, the electricity generated by hydro power was 6,918 GWh. The thermal power is the second source of electricity in Sri Lanka which produces 4,772 GWh and the generation of power through Non- Conventional Renewable Energy (NCRE) sources, including mini-hydro generation was 1,171 GWh in 2013. Bio energy is another source of power in Sri Lanka to supplement the electricity to Ampara and Monaragala districts which is made by using paddy husk. The electricity generated by bio energy was 260 GWh in 2013 (Central Bank report, 2013). In Sri Lanka, electricity is mainly used for residential, religious, general, industrial, and hotel purposes. Numbers of consumers of the above categories have continuously increased in the past. The number of domestic consumers are 88% of the total number of electricity consumers in 2011.The largest share of 40% of the total electricity units has been sold to domestic users in 2011 (Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka, 2013). Electricity demand has been analyzed theoretically and empirically using different approaches (Beenstock et. al., 1999; Athukorala et al., 2007; Abosedra et al., 2009). These studies have considered different factors that influence the household electricity demand patterns according to the context and have analyzed the household electricity demand both at micro and macro levels. Complementing the existing studies, the present study will investigate the empirical realities of the households electricity demand in Ampara District in Sri Lanka. Hence, this study attempts to fill the research gap on household electricity demand through empirical test in the selected District. As there is a lack of research on this important issue, this empirical study is aimed to address this gap and this study was conducted in Ampara District of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka.
The present of past slaves: the socio economic situation of Sri Lankan Kaffir people
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Kopinath , C.; Herath, H.M.D.R.
Introduction Sri Lankan Kaffir is a group of people or an ethnic group living in Sri Lanka for nearly four hundred years. They were traditionally scattered in some parts of the country, mainly Negombo, Batticaloa and Trincomalee; but they are largely found today about 45 in number, in Sirambiyadiya, a small village located in Puttalam District (Hussein, 2009). The Kaffir community had its early origins in the slave labor brought into the country from Africa during the colonial period. Colonial powers brought them as a part of the naval force, domestic workers, soldiers, servants, sailors, merchants, mystics, mothers, musicians, linguists, dancers, divers, concubines, commanders, administrators, nurses, nannies, palace guards, and bodyguards living a range of experiences across diverse societies, cultures, conditions, and periods (Omar, 2011). Kaffir people are referred to as Kapiriyo in Sinhala and as Kapili in Tamil without any specific meanings attached to those terms. However, the term Kaffir has a different meaning. It is often used in much of the Indian Ocean world (outside of East Africa) to describe any person of African descent, regardless of religion or faith (Jayasuriya, 2000; Gwyn Campbell, 2006; Omar, 2011). According to the first census of Sri Lanka there were 245 Caffres1 (Kaffirs) living in Sri Lanka and only one Kaffir was found in Colombo town, others resident in other parts of the country (Ferguson, 1873). Kaffirs served as slave people in Sri Lanka and their music tradition, dance, dressing patterns, their language, and religious practices are unique (Brohier, 1973). Sri Lankan Kaffirs are a distinct ethnic group, but are not known to many of the other Sri Lankan groups. They are now no longer a community of slaves, but still live under relatively poor socio economic conditions and without the recognition of others that has been taken as a research problem of this study. 1 The term Caffres was used to denote Kaffir people in the early census of Sri Lanka Ferguson (1873).
Causal relationship between international trade and tourism: empirical evidence from Sri Lanka
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Chandrasiri, D. P. D. D.; Samaranayake, D.I.J.
Introduction Sri Lanka has an inherit benefit of having a highly diversified tourism product which could be pitched against any other well established tourism destination in the world. It is highly labor intensive and very significant source in employment which recorded over 1.2 million tourist arrivals in 2013 with 26.7% of growth compared to the previous year (Central Bank Report, 2013). Furthermore, continues performance within the industry is validating by the Master-Card ratings in 2015, ‘Colombo’ is the city with the best growing tourism sector in the world. The collaboration of such fast gaining industry with trade protocols and economic growth of a country may vital for an under developed country to achieve an adequate position within modern market structures. Shan and Wilson (2001), and Kadir (2010) use Granger causality test in heterogeneous panels to investigate the nature of causality vary among travel and trade flows of some under developed economies. Their findings indicate that there is a bilateral causality between trade in goods and the tourism expenditure for respective countries, which stimulates us to investigate the domestic phenomena where fewer researches were taken.
Prevalence of intra industry trade: Analysis of firm level total factor productivity in Pakistan’s manufacturing sector
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Ali, Haq Shujaat; Arisha, Akbar
Introduction Trade in today’s world has moved away from inter industry trade and towards intra-industry trade. Consumers in France can buy both French made Peugeot cars and imported German Mercedes. Similarly, consumers in Germany can also import Peugeot and many other cars from around the world while Mercedes is exported all over the globe. This represents a perfect example of intra industry trade that is marked by product differentiation and the ability of firms which produce essentially similar products to compete in the international market. The underlying mechanism that enables such trade to take place is productivity at the firm level. This is different than the concept of comparative advantage where countries as a whole specialized in industries for which they had abundance of relevant factors of production such as labor, land, technology and skilled human and financial capital. On the other hand, the concept of trade originating from differences in firm level productivity means that within a country, all those firms export which have a sufficiently high rate of total factor productivity that enables them to compete at the international market. This is exogenous of the economy’s overall comparative advantage and a firm may be exporting products in which the country in general may not have the best factors of production. This can happen if the firm proactively improves its method of production through import of technology, develops human capital, takes advantage of economies of scale and moves along its learning curve through learning by doing. With an ideal mix of such factors, it is possible for any firm producing any product anywhere in the world to become an exporter. A second explanation of intra industry trade analyzes the effect of product differentiation. Consumers may be willing to pay extra for a product if a firm creates a market niche for its brand. Most of the existing literature found that increase in total factor productivity (TFP) leads to increase the exports (e.g., Baldwin and Gu 2015; Haider, 2012; Wagner, 2005; Girma et al., 2004; Bernard and Jensen, 1999) Moreover, Krugman (1979) sets up a model of non- comparative advantage trade. But he does not directly examine the causal relationship between TFP and exports. He found that trade and trade gains occur even between countries that have similar technology, taste and factor capabilities. Melitz (2003) examine how intra-industry trade is incorporated into world trade. He shows how trade leads to less productive firms exiting the export market and only the more productive firms remain. Taken together, the results indicate that a relationship exists between TFP and exports. Hence, this paper will analyze how improvement in productivity affects exports.
An empirical analysis of industrial exports and exchange rates in Sri Lanka
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Ekenayake, E.M.G.P.; Kankanamge, Anuruddha
Introduction Industrial exports have earned 74.2% from total exports in 2014 with the consistence of textiles and garments, diamonds, gems and jewelry, petroleum products (Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Annual Report, 2014). One of the major policy which is implemented by Sri Lankan government is devaluation of rupee against US dollar to increase competitiveness of exports in international markets (CBSL Annual Report, 2011). International agencies like World Bank and IMF also recommended devaluation of local currency to promote exports in developing countries related to the theory (Fischer, 1998). For example, Marshall Lerner condition supports devaluation of currency under some specific conditions (Kulkarni and Clarke, 2009). Empirical research also supports this view (Aziz, 2012; Boy and Caporale, 2001). The existing literature provides evidence of not only the mean exchange rate but also the volatility of exchange rate creates adverse effects on exports of developing countries like Sri Lanka (Arize, Osang and Slottje 2000). However, there is no sufficient empirical evidence that examines the impact of exchange rate in Sri Lanka particularly on industrial exports. Also the previous studies (Ekanayake and Chatrna ,2010; Hooy and Choong, 2010) identified inconsistent results. Thus, this paper attempts to fulfill the above research gap by empirically investigating the effect of exchange rate on real industrial exports in Sri Lanka.
What next with NIFA? evidence of currency divergence in South Asia
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Samaranayake, D.I.J.
Introduction The global financial crisis in 2007/08 was considered as one of the worst economic crisis in the world. It paralyzed lots of economic activities in the world and generated negative results after the Great Depression1in1929/30s. The crisis played a major role in the failure of key businesses and declines in consumer wealth in trillions of U.S. dollars. Therefore, lot of intellectual as well as public discussions takes place in various countries to identify the key issues behind this crisis. New International Financial Architecture (NIFA) becomes a one of popular topics among those discussions. According to the ‘Report of the Task Force of the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs of the United States’ in 1999, NIFA was introduced as a framework to prevent financial crisis. Maintaining the dominance of U.S. dollar as world currency and capital account liberalization are two major aspects of NIFA. It exerts pressure on subordinate regions such as South Asia to peg their currency below the value of U.S. dollar (Wade,2008). However, NIFA failed to defend the capitalist giant; U.S from financial crisis in 2007/08. As a result of that adverse fallouts from the crisis were damaged the economies of both developed and least developed countries in the world (Crotty,2009). Therefore, subordinate regions such as South Asia needs to think of their own way to prevent from such destructive neo-liberalize waves .Some of economists have done several studies to identify the relevance and challenges behind the currency convergence in South Asia (Khalid and Rajaguru, 2004; Chowdhury et al., 2008; Mohsin, 2011). However no specific study is done to examine the effects of NIFA on currency convergence. Therefore this study focuses on the effects of NIFA on the monetary integration of the region.
A policy beyond formalities: Fuelling privet sector investment in Bhutanese economy
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Choden, Kinga; Samaranayake, D.I.J.
Introduction Investment is a process of adding more value to the already existing stock of capital. In Bhutan, investment has been playing a vital role in building up the private sectors through making profitable investment. But the private sector investment in Bhutan is still in limited number though the country has stepped through 50 years of development. As a result private sector investment has been an overwhelmed issue ever since and Pokhrel (2014) has mentioned the importance of doing business in Bhutan and describe the situation that the private sectors are facing regarding the investment. Ease of doing business for Bhutan is important where people who are interested to take up the business and people who have already taken interest must find it easy to do business in particular economy. Five indicators are used by the Ease of Doing Business Index (EDBI) to measure how easy it is to do business from a regulatory and bureaucracy perspective. According to the Doing Business Report (2015) Bhutan rank highest on getting credit (71th) while at the other end, it ranks lowest on resolving insolvency (189th). Therefore, this study has perform a bottom to top analysis on 5 EDBI indicators to identify whether there is a relationship between limited private sector investments and bureaucratic formalities in the Bhutanese economy.
Dynamic causal relationship between government expenditure and government revenue in Sri Lanka
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Edirisinghe, Navoda; Sivarajasingham, Selliah
Introduction An opposite fiscal policy is a vital ingredient for sustainable economic development. Sri Lanka is often suffering from a persistent fiscal deficit one that has been increasing in an exponential way in nominal as well as real values. Many scholars have drawn their attention to comprehend the budgetary movements and the causal relationship between government revenue and government expenditure since, it is essential to address unsustainable fiscal deficit and evaluate the government’s role in the management of resources. Moreover, such evaluation clears the way for sound fiscal policy formulation and implementation to achieve rapid and sustainable socio-economic growth (Obioma & Ozughalu, 2010). Persistent behavior of budget deficit raises many unanswered questions in existing literature. The direction of causality between the government revenue and government expenditure is still a puzzle. Theoretical literature explains the causal relationship between government revenue and government expenditure by considering four hypotheses. The tax-and-spend hypothesis, proposed by Friedman (1978) explains that raising taxes will simply lead to more spending. The spend-and-tax hypothesis, proposed by Peacock and Wiseman (1961, 1979) postulates that government expenditure causes government revenue. The third school, fiscal synchronization hypothesis argues that government may take revenue and expenditure decisions simultaneously, because the two variables interact interdependently (Meltzer & Richard, 1981; Musgrave, 1966). Finally, fiscal neutrality school or institutional separation hypothesis which was introduced by Baghestani and McNown (1994) is based on the perspective that government revenue and expenditure decisions are independent of one another. Using bounds testing approach for Sri Lanka Narayan (2005) identified government revenue Granger cause government spending in the short run. In the long run, government spending Granger causes government revenue. Using Engle Granger Co-integration approach and Error Correction Model (ECM) for Sri Lankan Ravinthirakumaran (2011) found bidirectional causality between revenue and expenditure which supported the fiscal synchronization hypothesis. According to the existing literature, it proves that only limited numbers of studies have concentrated on this issue in Sri Lanka and no one has extended their analysis to identify the short run and long run dynamics and budgetary movement. By considering these research gaps, this study investigates the direction of causality between government expenditure and government revenue for Sri Lanka.
Impact of supermarkets on small traders and neighborhood stores in Karachi, Pakistan
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Akhtar, Neha Nadeem; Shahid, Shahan
Introduction This paper is an attempt at filling the current void in literature concerning the impact of large supermarkets on small neighborhood stores in Pakistan. After examining possible reasons for their growth and reviewing existing literature from Hong Kong and Turkey — countries which have experienced a similar process in their history — we use a survey to determine consumer perceptions about supermarkets. Additionally, we use data from our survey to plot supermarket consumers on a map to assess their geographical reach. This exercise allows us to deduce the impact these stores are likely to have on small retailers.
Potentials for foreign exchange earnings in Sri Lankan tourism industry: considering leakage and linkage effect
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Tennekoon, P.W.; Rajaratne, E.P.M.
Introduction Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries globally and especially in the developing countries. International tourism is crucially needed for foreign exchange earnings, employment, income, government revenue and stimulation of regional development. The tourism industry is a cluster of goods and services that incorporates numerous inter- related industries such as infrastructure, transportation, hotels, food and beverages industry etc. which can create a spillover effect across all the sectors. Even though the tourism sector has opportunities to significantly contribute to regional economic development, tourism and hotels tend to use large wholesale retailers rather than small enterprises. Due to several reasons such as shortage of capacity, poor quality and general unreliability of service delivery, the tourism related companies import goods, services, and skilled labor that alleviate the industry’s positive impact on the local economy (Hall, 2008). This is because the revenue from the industry often flows back to foreign owners and suppliers. More than two-thirds of the revenue from international tourism never reaches the local economy because of high foreign exchange leakage (Pleumarom, 1999). In view of the fact that one third of tourism spending accounts to food (Belisle, 1983), maximizing linkages to local food sector could have a significant impact on reducing leakage. Leakage from at least six factors: (i) the cost of goods and services purchased to satisfy the needs of visitors, (ii) purchase of materials and equipment from other countries to provide infrastructures for tourism, (iii) payments to foreign factors of production, (iv) expenditure for promoting a destination abroad, (v) transfer pricing and (vi) payment of profits, dividends, royalties, and incentives etc. to attract investments in the sector (Mill and Morrison, 1999). The foreign exchange earnings are usually overstated as leakages neglected and not taken into consideration. The leakages must be subtracted from foreign exchange earnings in order to estimate the real possible economic impacts associated to tourism. Therefore there is a research worthy area in Sri Lanka regarding the net foreign exchange earning capability of the tourism sector is left out for serious studies. The problem of this research, therefore, relates to the net foreign exchange earnings of the tourism industry in Sri Lanka.
Is low responsiveness of income tax functions to sectoral output an answer to Sri Lanka’s declining tax revenue ratio?
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Madhushani, P.Y.N.; Jayawickrema, Ananda
Introduction From 1950s to the present, the economic structure of Sri Lanka has changed significantly.Six or seven decades ago the country was highly dependent on its agricultural sector. But the GDP of the country today is mostly generated in service and industrial sectors. Since domestic agriculture is a small scale subsistence sector, one may not expect high contribution of that sector to the tax revenue. But the growth of industrial and service sectors results in large corporate sector and raises the income of employees of the sectors. Therefore, the expansion of services and industrial sector is expected to generate high positive impact on the tax revenue, especially income tax revenue. This study focuses on long-term tax elasticities of income taxes of Sri Lanka in relation to changes in the sectoral composition of output. Tax buoyancy is an indicator to measure the efficiency and responsiveness of revenue mobilization in response to growth in the tax base, GDP or national income. A tax is said to be buoyant if tax revenue increases more than proportionately in response to a rise in the tax base. If the tax revenue shows less responsiveness to tax base, that type of taxes fails to generate enough revenue for the government in the long run. Ahmad (1994) finds that the expansion in agricultural and service sectors is not very important in the determination of tax revenue. But the industrial sector growth reports a positive impact on tax revenue collection of developing countries. Tancy and Zee (2001). find the uncertainty of agricultural income and informal sector income as a reason for low tax collection in developing countries. Indraratne (2003) cites tax evasion, tax avoidance and tax incentives as major reasons for the low responsiveness of taxes to the national income. Waidyasekar (2004) and Jayawickrama (2008) reveal that the buoyancy of corporate income tax and goods and service taxes are low and that caused a decline trend in the average tax ratio. There are many studies that focused on tax buoyancy of Sri Lanka using GDP as the tax base. No studies used segregation of tax based, as agriculture, industry and services incomes to examine the responsiveness of taxes to changes in sectoral output.
Economic consequences of drug abuse in Sri Lanka
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Hewawaduge, S.; Dorabawila, S.
Introduction Drug abuse in Sri Lanka has been a critical issue for a long time. This study allows us to identify the severity of drug abuse problem and what are the economic and social pressures behind the drug abuse problem in Sri Lanka. By analyzing and gathering quantitative data, this study presents the first formal analysis of the economic consequences of drug abuse in Sri Lanka. Thereby policy makers can get a better understanding about the current situation and severity of the problem. The consequences of drug abuse categorize under productivity loss, healthcare cost, crime related cost, cost of institutionalize, incarceration cost and welfare loss (Executive office of the President, ONDCP, 2004). Many of these costs have to be borne by the government and negative externalities are borne by the society as well. Various studies have identified that drug abuse creates economic loss to a country. According to the “Evaluation of Mexico’s drug trafficking”, illegal drug industry directly creates economic loss to Mexico (Rios, 2008). Estimated societal cost of drug abuse in the United States was $180.8 billion in 2002 (Executive office of the President, ONDCP, 2004). Each year government has to spend large sums of money to provide treatment facilities and make people aware about drug abuse in order to control this problem. As Sri Lanka is still a developing country, it is essential to estimate the economic cost of drug abuse, in order to identify the severity of this issue and the impact on the development of the country
Modeling inter-temporal impacts of judicial autonomy and security risks upon defense spending: a case for Pakistan
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Akhter, S.T.; Lak, Z.R.
Introduction Pakistan is the 6th largest army in the world. Historically speaking Pakistan relished high geopolitical significance during the cold war regime and initiation of the Marshall plan. This has border disputes with some of the neighboring countries in the region has to maintain deterrence due to unpleasant ties with India and is facing a state of insurgency and extremism, which currently is a wide spread phenomenon in the country (Deger, 1990). Leverages and favoritism as extended by judiciary in form of taking oath on provisional constitutional order (PCO) has provided an extra institutional support for military regimes, causing a further increase in military spending. Sizable demand for military spending along with the supply side pull factors such as the international security assistance, aid for military, foreign aid in response to the war against terrorism, have serious implications for Pakistan. Pakistan has witnessed numerous internal and external tensions over the course of years including sectarian violence, rise in terrorism across country, insurgency in Baluchistan, border tensions as well as proxy wars by some of the neighboring countries. Many countries do feel that terrorism is rising and it should be given first preference to fight. They feel that terrorism is now changing its shape and is becoming more and more complex through the use of mass media and eventually making use of weapons causing chemical, biological and nuclear mass destruction (Deutch, 1997). Counteract terrorism and the war on terrorism will impact all other sectors quite negatively still they didn’t object to the notion to present a unified front against the war on terrorism (Brady, 2002). Despite aspects of conventional culture of inefficacies, specifically in the third and forth levels of judiciary regarding low rates of conviction, limited access to justice by vulnerable communities, justice delayed and nepotism (Voigt and Guttmann, 2014). Especially during the military interventions, the judiciary has been under severe criticism for extending leverage and undue leniency by declaring such interventions as lawful and providing a protective shield (Voigt et al., 2015) to such regimes by taking oath on PCO. The proposed framework of analysis specifically looks into the lead-led effect of this extended role of judiciary appearing in form of taking oath on PCO, during the military interventions, upon preferences for defense spending. Corruption perception index (PCI) reveals that the perception of corruption for judiciary is comparable to that of other organs of the state and that 96% respondents reported corruption and bribe culture by officials in judiciary (Transparency International, 2002). The World Justice project (2015) shows that Pakistan with a regional rank of 4 out of 6 and 83 out of 102 in ‘absence of corruption’ in global ranking. And with a regional rank 5 out of 6 and 91 out of 102 for ‘provision of fundamental rights’ in global ranking. Further, with a regional rank of 4 out 6 & 91 out of 102 in ‘civil justice’ of global ranking. Moreover, with a regional rank of 5 out of 6 and 94 out of 102 in ‘criminal justice’ in global ranking. With regards to polarization, the culture of discrimination and working without influences, in ‘lawful transition of power’ with a rating of 0.45, for ‘due process of law’ with a rating of 0.27, in ‘no improper influence in regularity enforcement’ with a rating of 0.37, in ‘no discrimination in civil justice’ with a score of 0.37, in ‘no discrimination in criminal justice’ with a score of 0.28. Autonomy of judges can be divided into four categories; institutional independence, financial independence, personal independence and functional independence. Institutional independence is compromised when seeking or taking information from others may be manoeuvred. Personal independence is compromised if judges’ tenure is suspended before the retirement age. Functional independence is compromised if other stake holders like the legislature or army influences the workings of the judges. Finally financial independence is compromised if the courts are unable to fulfil the judges’ mandates (Andeans, 2007). Aspects of judicial autonomy as well as security risks, affecting defence spending in inter-temporal settings have not been explicitly quantified for Pakistan, in the literature at hand. So this study tries to fill this gap.
The causal relationship between government revenue and expenditure in the determination of budget deficit in Sri Lanka
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Inthuja, T.; Ranjith, J. G. S.
Introduction The total government revenue which heavily depends on tax revenue and the total expenditure as a percentage of GDP is continuously declining over the past few years in Sri Lanka. However, the budget deficit as a percentage of GDP has not been reduced commensurately and still remains high (CBSL, 2014). It shows that the failure of fiscal policy makers to understand the relationship between government expenditure and revenue, and to manage the budget deficit appropriately. Ravinthirakumaran (2012) suggested that the government decisions on revenue and expenditure are jointly made by the fiscal policy makers. However he asked that why the budget deficit remains high and it is not properly addressed. Another study by Kesavarajah (2012) found that various types of fiscal expenditures have different degree of impacts on economic growth. The author sheds some lights on the significant potential to improve growth efficiency of fiscal spending and thereby improve tax revenues. Although the relationship between government revenue and expenditure has been attracted by previous researchers attention has not been made adequately to explore the particular aspect referring in the determination of the budget deficit in Sri Lanka that focusing in this study. Therefore this study attempts to examine the interrelationship between government revenue and expenditure drawing particular attention on the impact of some selected variables, such as expenditures for education, health, defense and unemployment as major components that basically causing the persistent budget deficit of Sri Lanka.
Measuring the impact of per capita income and average years of schooling on income inequality: A panel data analysis
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Siriwardana, T.M.A.C.; Ranjith, J.G.S.
Introduction At the crest of the age of globalization are tainted by several economic crises, which undoubtedly have implications for income inequality. Therefore, it might be possible to find a link between income inequality, human capital and per capita income. In this regard, the relationship between income inequality and per capita income are highly discussed area in economics since 1950s. In this regard, Kuznets (1955) curve provides theoretical basement to contrast the dynamic relationship between income inequality and per capital income paradox. Some of the existing literature detected negative relationship between income inequality and growth which depends on exogenous factors such as human capital (Fuente, 1997). In contrast Frorbes (2010) identified positive relationship and Corak (2013) found no relationship between those variables. Therefore, there is no consensus among the researcher regarding the relationship between income inequalities, human capital and economic growth. However, most of the above research uses panel data only for the less time period (10 to 20 years). With this research gap, in this study we uses 40 years observation for 140 countries to analyze the relationship between income inequalities, human capital and economic growth.
Households demand for food commodities: evidence from Kurunegala divisional secretarial division, Sri Lanka
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Kumari, U.W.B.M.; Nigel, J.
Introduction In Sri Lanka, as like in many of the world’s poorest and developing countries one of the prime components of the final demand for food is household consumption. The food ratio which presents the total food expenditure as a percentage of total food and non-food expenditure was 42.3% of the total household expenditure in 2009/10 (Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) – 2009/10, 2010/11). Changing prices, income, and other socio-economic factors have many implications on the demand of food commodities at household and country levels. Planning of food production or fixing of import targets necessitates an estimate of the prospective final demand for food commodities, which will generate requirements for increased supply through production or by imports. Hence, an analysis of household’s consumption of food commodities on the basis of demand functions becomes necessary and useful. A considerable number of empirical studies has been done in the field of consumer demand for food commodities, both in Sri Lanka and other countries (Ray, 1982; Cox and Wohlgenaut, 1986; Nirmali and Edirisinghe, 2010). However, literatures at micro-level which primarily focus on households demand for food commodities are not widely covered in the existing literatures. Hence, this study provides a useful inside information and knowledge that can be used by policy makers to set policies or design strategies related to food commodities. Complementing the existing studies, the present study will fill the gap by investigating the empirical realities of the households demand for food commodities in the Kurunegala Divisional Secretarial (D.S) Division of the Kurunagala District in Sri Lanka.
Corporate social responsibility practices among small and medium enterprises in Sri Lanka
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2015-09-23) Piumali, W. M. H.; Kumari, R. M. C.
Introduction Over the decades, the concept Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has continued to grow in importance and significance and representing an important topic for research (Young and Thyil, 2009). Unfortunately, CSR initiatives, so far, have tended to focus mainly on large and multinational companies. Traditional CSR has been perceived as a “luxury good” that only large companies could allow in (Spence et. al., 2003). As a result, businesses have underestimated the impact of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on society. However, more recent studies challenge traditional CSR concepts and define how such activities may not be a business threat and cost burden for SMEs, rather an opportunity to gain competitive advantage (Tilley et. al., 2003). SMEs form the vast majority of businesses in most countries and are crucial for the following reasons: the dynamic and stability of the economy, the size/composition and quality of employment, the quality of life in general, and the socio-political structure of an economy (Nooteboom, 1988). Small and medium-sized businesses play a vital role in the Sri Lankan economy. SMEs are makeup large part of Sri Lankan economy. These are found in all sectors of the economy, primary, secondary and tertiary and provide employment for persons of different skills, skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled (Central Bank Report, 2013). A study on CSR and effectiveness of SMEs in Nigeria research recognize the overriding fact that there is growing concern for corporate social responsibility activities in the SMEs. It is clearly revealed that many SMEs engage in some kind of silent social responsibility, hose that attract the attention of participating firms are business ethics, customer and urban affairs. However, majority of the responding firms reported their least involvement in the environmental affairs (Lawal and Sulaimon, 2007). Memdani (2008) studied that corporate social responsibility is not just the responsibility of big giants but also of small and medium enterprises too. Large number of SMEs has started moving ahead towards achievement of this goal and they are benefited also Due to relatively little attention being given to CSR in relation to SMEs until recent years, particularly in Sri Lanka, investigates CSR practices from the perspective of SMEs in Sri Lanka. Major reason to undertake this research is to fill the gap of findings among Sri Lankan small and medium enterprises. The researcher is interested in understanding CSR practices in Sri Lankan SMEs which is not researched adequately. Therefore the research question in this study is what are the CSR practices among SMEs in Sri Lanka?

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