Purpose - This paper aims to explore the motivations behind women in a developing South Asian country - Sri Lanka - to embark on entrepreneurship in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, which is a doubly masculine hegemony operating within a culturally nuanced gendered...

Der deutliche Wahlsieg der linken Nationalen Volksmacht-Koalition (Jathika Jana Balawegaya / National People’s Power, NPP) bei der Parlamentswahl vom 14. November 2024 signalisiert den Wunsch nach einem politischen Neuanfang in Sri Lanka. Hierfür muss die neue Regierung von Präsident Anura...

Reducing poverty and improving the living standards of the poor and vulnerable populations in Sri Lanka have been one of the country's key goals. The government has designed poverty-targeting programs with relevant government agencies working to support low-income families. The programs include...

Der deutliche Wahlsieg der linken Nationalen Volksmacht-Koalition (Jathika Jana Balawegaya / National People's Power, NPP) bei der Parlamentswahl vom 14. November 2024 signalisiert den Wunsch nach einem politischen Neuanfang in Sri Lanka. Hierfür muss die neue Regierung von Präsident Anura...

This study examines whether leaders’ unethical behaviours discourage people from participating in activities initiated by community-based programmes, and whether the impact of unethical leadership is moderated by the genders of leaders and community members. We conducted a vignette experiment...

The Sri Lanka Development Update (SLDU) has two main aims. First, it reports on key developments over the past 12 months in Sri Lanka's economy, places these in longer term and global contexts, and updates the outlook for Sri Lanka's economy. Second, the SLDU provides a more in-depth examination...

Purpose - A surge in demand for ethical products, including cruelty-free products, has been well documented in recent years, with direct ramifications for businesses. This trend towards ethical consumption seemed to be swiftly replicated in Eastern countries, especially in South Asian nations,...

Purpose - The study examines the impact of behavioral biases, such as herd behavior, overconfidence and reactions to ESG News, on Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) decisions in the Indian context. Additionally, it explores gender differences in SRI decisions, thereby deepening the...

At the request of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) of Sri Lanka, a joint IMF-World Bank technical assistance (TA) mission team visited Colombo, Sri Lanka during February 20-March 3, 2023 to support the government in designing a Debt Management Reform Plan, with a focus on the reform of the debt...

The Sri Lankan authorities have embarked on an ambitious reform of its public debt management functions. There is consensus that the fragmented public debt management (PDM) legal framework and PDM functions across departments within the MoF and the CBSL have contributed to the lack of coherent...

Since 2015, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has enhanced its risk management through a comprehensive framework and is aiming for an Enterprise Risk Management system. Initiatives like the establishment of the Banking Risk Oversight Committee (BROC) and the Non-Financial Risk Management...

The IMF South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Center (SARTTAC) provided technical assistance (TA) to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) focusing on modernizing monetary operations framework and improving liquidity monitoring. Macroeconomic crisis, compounded by the pandemic,...

This report analyzes Sri Lanka's options for improving the fairness and progressivity of the tax system through the introduction of a nationwide property tax. Given constitutional constraints that limit the taxation of property at the central government level, it recommends taxing the imputed...

Reform efforts are bearing fruit with the economy starting to recover, inflation remaining low, revenue collection improving, and reserves continuing to accumulate. Performance under the program, the design of which benefitted from the 2021 Article IV recommendations, has been strong....

This study considers the opportunity creation aspect of SMEs rather than taking a general view of threats posed by crises. Thus, this phenomenological study investigates how and what Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have learned from previous crisis experiences to create knowledge within SMEs...

Maritime industry transports over 90% of traded cargo annually and accounts for 3% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Asia and the Pacific region process 64% of global cargo, has 9 of the largest 10 ports globally, and provide over 65% of seafarers employed in the industry to support...

Global evidence is mounting that more gender diversity in banking, including having more women in leadership, leads to better outcomes for organizations, their employees, and investors. There is increasing recognition of the importance of workforce diversity and equity along various dimensions,...

The Sri Lankan economy has shown early signs of stabilization with improved fiscal and external balances, supported by a recovery in remittances and tourism and the continued debt service suspension. However, this will be insufficient to reverse crisis-induced welfare losses as poverty levels...

Global evidence is mounting that more gender diversity in banking, including having more women in leadership, leads to better outcomes for organizations, their employees, and investors. There is increasing recognition of the importance of workforce diversity and equity along various dimensions,...

In 2022-2023, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) initiated a multi-country research study focusing on women's advancement in private commercial banking in South Asia. The study covered 20 private commercial banks across three countries - Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. As the largest...

Purpose - This study aims to investigate the relative impact of firm-created (FC) and user-generated (UG) social media marketing communication on fashionwear customers' purchase intention (CPI) in Sri Lanka. The primary objective is to identify the influence of social media marketing on the...

This study examines the socioeconomic impacts of large-scale land conversion from agriculture to industry on affected households, focusing on Sri City, an industrial hub in South India established under the SEZ Act 2005. Data from 250 households in and around Sri City were collected on...

Apart from the basic statutory definition in section 65 of the Intellectual Property Act of Sri Lanka, there do not appear to be any detailed statutory guidelines or judicial decisions to provide any framework for the assessment of inventive step in Sri Lanka. The current statutory definition is...

Sri Lanka is going through a major economic crisis. There is an ongoing shortage of fuel, food, electricity, and medicines. Prices have been going through the roof. There is a scarcity of things and the life of the common man has become extremely difficult. This paper looks at the main symptoms...

Investment behavior is important to investigate as it helps to determine the performance of financial markets. Further, surveying of finance professionals who are more financially literate than the general public will be subtle and be more valuable to policymakers and financial providers. This...

This paper examines the impact of female directors on earnings quality in a developing country that has significant gender equality gap. An analysis of previous research reveals the dearth of literature in this area. Therefore, this study aims to fill the gap in the literature by examining the...