There is growing interest in recent years in the economic dimensions of civil wars and other violent social conflicts. This paper discusses some of the conceptual and methodological problems associated with assessing the economic costs of such conflicts, and presents an evaluation of the costs...

Sri Lanka's telecommunications industry was profoundly transformed during the 1990s and became one of the most open and competitive among developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region. This was driven by a series of government initiatives to open up the sector to new entrants and greater...

This paper focuses on economic consequences of policy reforms and their social and political impacts. Our central argument is the following: (a) contrary to many assertions in the immediate post-reform period, economic liberalisation in Sri Lanka had a significant impact on both household and...

Sri Lanka has experienced a series of changes in its trade regime since attaining independence from British colonial rule in 1948. During the first decade after independence it continued with a liberal trade regime, until growing balance of payments problems induced a policy shift towards...