Rozprawy doktorskie na temat „Trade (Sri Lanka)”

This study examines trade union resistance to the post 1977 Export Oriented Industrialisation (EOI) strategies in Sri Lanka, and the possibilities of developing new strategic options. In contrast to perspectives that narrow unions to political economic dimensions, this study emphasises the cultural and the movement dimensions of unions. The purpose of the study is to understand the ways unions can regain their role as civil society actors on the basis of building worker solidarity. The study is divided into two main parts. The first part focuses on the features and tendencies of social movement unionism as advancing new possibilities towards revitalising unions. Under globalisation, unions are faced with an increasingly casualised labour force with more women absorbed as wage workers. The promotion of labour market deregulation and privatisation, endorsed by neo-liberal ideologies of competitive individualism, illustrates the narrowing of unions to the workplace while undermining worker solidarity. The first part of this research describes the impact of :neo-liberal globalisation on trade unions; conceptualisation of and resistance to globalisation; the essence of trade unions; social movement unionism and labour internationalism. According to social movement unionism perspectives, party independent union strategies, based on elements of internal democracy and structured alliances open the possibility of emphasising the movement dimension of unions. The second part explains the context of unions in Sri Lanka, focusing on three unions - the Nurses, Tea Plantation workers, and Free Trade Zone workers. In terms of the structural context, Sri Lankan unions faced a multi-faceted weakening under the post-1977 EOI policies. The assertion of an authoritarian state, promoting interests of capital, enhanced the fragmentation of unions along party differences that were further compounded by divisions along ethnic identity politics. Moreover, the increasing militarisation of the state, which maintains a protracted ethnic war, reinforced coercive state strategies restraining union resistance and shrinking the realm of civil society. In confronting state strategies of labour market deregulation and privatisation, the enduring party subordinated unions are increasingly inadequate. In contrast, the three unions in this study express forms of party-independent union strategies. By analysing their modes of resistance related to the articulation of worker interests, their organisational modes, and their engagement in representative and movement politics the study explores the possibility of developing a social movement unionism orientation in order to regain their role as civil society actors

Economic theory suggests that removing trade barriers increases economic growth and reduces poverty in developing countries. Mixed empirical evidence has made the trade — poverty linkage a controversial topic as there is still no guarantee that trade liberalisation will benefit the poor. Since the effects of trade on the poor are indirect, the empirical analysis of this relationship has become a complex task. Trade reform is observed at the macro level while income distribution and poverty issues are observed and analysed at the micro level. A general equilibrium model based Input-Output or Social Accounting Matrix or a microeconomic model based on household survey data alone is therefore not able to fill this micro-macro gap. In order to examine the impact of trade liberalisation on poverty and income inequality within a developing country context, this study develops a macro-micro framework to fill this gap by linking computable general equilibrium (CGE) and microsimulation models in top-down mode for the Sri Lankan economy. While the CGE model analyses the effects of trade liberalisation, the microsimulation model analyses the impact on poverty at the household level.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith Business School
Griffith Business School
Full Text

Contraband Trade can be defined as illicit trade between any two countries. For the purposes of this study Contraband Trade is divided into 'Technical Contraband Trade' (TCT) and 'Physical Contraband Trade' (PCT). TCT is defined as false invoicing of international trade, i.e. under-/over-invoicing of exports/imports. PCT is defined as complete unrecording of international trade. Thus TCT is partial evasion of tariffs and PCT is total evasion of tariffs. This is a quantitative and qualitative assessment of Indo-Sri Lanka Contraband Trade and Capital. The central research questions of this study are; (i) What is the extent of two-way Contraband Trade between India and Sri Lanka? (ii) What are the modi operandi of Indo-Sri Lanka Contraband Trade? (iii) What are the causes of Indo- Sri Lanka Contraband Trade? (iv) What are the effects of Indo-Sri Lanka Contraband Trade? (v) What are the policy options that can be derived from the causes and effects? TCT is detected at the partner-country data comparison method. This is an exercise in statistical detection of Contraband Trade. PCT is detected by the market price comparison method. Further, air passenger traffic data between India and Sri Lanka is used to estimate the total number of Contraband traders and the value of Contraband carried by air and sea are estimated by an interviewing method. By these methods the total value of two-way PCT between India and Sri Lanka is estimated. A study of Narcotic Drug (Heroin) Contraband Trade is undertaken using official data which is a one-way traffic from India to Sri Lanka. Further, a qualitative study of Corruption and Law Enforcement in Contraband Trade in Sri Lanka is undertaken using anecdotal evidence. Having established the quantitative and qualitative significance of Indo-Sri Lanka Contraband Trade the causes of such illegal trade are investigated employing an interviewing method. Next, the effects of Contraband Trade are studied applying the existing theories of economic welfare effects of Contraband Trade. Finally, from the causes and effects some policies to regularise or decriminalise Indo-Sri Lanka Contraband Trade are prescribed.

This study reconceptualises Sri Lanka's external trade and interactions from the middle of the first millennium BC to the early second millennium AD. Unlike earlier analyses, mine draws on the excavated material culture from three port-cum-urban centres - Mantai, Kantharodai and Kirinda - which were linked to major urban complexes, interior resource bases and Indian Ocean maritime networks. The scale and intensity of their external trade and connectivity, crafts and industries varied greatly over time and location. My findings illustrate Sri Lanka's earliest cultural-commercial connections with India from the middle of the first millennium BC. By the beginning of the CE, islanders were trading with the Middle East and the Mediterranean in the west and Southeast Asia and China in the east. The Middle East was a particularly strong connection from about the mid-3^rd century. Materials from Southeast Asia and China arrive by the late 7^th/8^th centuries, with the focus of external trade shifting away from the Middle East to the Far-East around the end of the 10^th century, lasting until the 12^th/13^th centuries and beyond. My findings demonstrate that internal developments in irrigated agriculture, iron technology, crafts, industries and procurement-distribution networks were crucial for external trade and connectivity. Contrary to the traditional view, I identify local agency as an important driving force behind both internal and external trade in ancient Sri Lanka. The island's external connectivity did not depend on a single factor but was based on specific historical realities which were constantly redefined and reformulated in response to the changing dynamics within and outside Sri Lanka.

Many trade and development economists, policy makers and policy analysts around the world believe that globalisation promotes growth and reduces poverty. There exists a large body of theoretical and empirical literature on how trade liberalisation helps to promote growth and reduce poverty. However, critics of globalisation argue that, in developing countries, integration into the world economy makes the poor poorer and the rich richer. The most common criticism of globalisation is that it increases poverty and inequality. Much of the research related to the link between openness, growth and poverty has been based on cross-country regressions. Dollar and Kraay (2000; 2001), using regression analysis, argue that growth is pro poor. Moreover, their study suggests that growth does not affect distribution and poor as well as rich could benefit from it. Later, they demonstrate that openness to international trade stimulates rapid growth, thus linking trade liberalisation with improvements in wellbeing of the poor. Several other cross-country studies demonstrate a positive relationship between trade openness and economic growth (see for example Dollar, 1992; Sach and Warner, 1995 and Edward, 1998). In contrast, Rodriguez and Rodrik (2001) question the measurements related to trade openness in economic models, and suggest that generalisations cannot be made regarding the relationship between trade openness and growth. Several other studies also criticise the pro poor growth argument based upon the claim of weak econometrics and place more focus on the distributional aspect (see, for example, Rodrik, 2000). Ultimately, openness and growth have therefore become an empirical matter, and so has the relationship between trade and poverty. These weaknesses of cross-country studies have led to a need to provide evidence from case studies. Systematic case studies related to individual countries will at least complement cross-country studies such as that of Dollar and Kraay. As Chen and Ravallion (2004, p.30) argue, 'aggregate inequality or poverty may not change with trade reform even though there are gainers and losers at all levels of living'. They further argue that policy analysis which simply averages across diversities may miss important matters that are critical to the policy debate. In this study, Sri Lanka is used as a case study and a computable general equilibrium (CGE) approach is adopted as an analytical framework. Sri Lanka was selected as an interesting case in point to investigate this linkage for the following reasons: although Sri Lanka was the first country in the South Asian region to liberalise its trade substantially in the late seventies, it still experiences an incidence of poverty of a sizeable proportion that cannot be totally attributed to the long-standing civil conflict. Moreover, trade poverty linkage within the Sri Lankan context has hardly received any attention, while multi-sectoral general equilibrium poverty analysis within the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) based CGE model has never been attempted. In order to examine the link between globalisation and poverty, a poverty focussed CGE model for the Sri Lankan economy has been developed in this study. As a requirement for the development of such a model, a SAM of the Sri Lankan economy for the year 1995 has been constructed. Moreover, in order to estimate the intra group income distribution in addition to the inter group income distribution, income distribution functional forms for different household groups have been empirically estimated and linked to the CGE model in 'top down' mode: this will compute a wide range of household level poverty and inequality measurements. This is a significant departure from the traditional representative agent hypothesis used to specifying household income distributions. Furthermore, as the general equilibrium framework permits endogenised prices, an attempt was made to endogenise the change in money metric poverty line within the CGE model. Finally, a set of simulation experiments was conducted to identify the impacts of trade liberalisation in manufacturing and agricultural industries on absolute and relative poverty at household level. The results show that, in the short run, trade liberalisation of manufacturing industries increases economic growth and reduces absolute poverty in low-income household groups. However, it is observed that the potential benefits accruing to the rural low-income group are relatively low compared to other two low-income groups. Reduction in the flow of government transfers to households following the loss of tariff revenue may be blamed for this trend. In contrast, long run results indicate that trade liberalisation reduces absolute poverty in substantial proportion in all groups. It further reveals that, in the long run, liberalisation of the manufacturing industries is more pro poor than that of the agricultural industries. Overall simulation results suggest that trade reforms may widen the income gap between the rich and the poor, thus promoting relative poverty. This may warrant active interventions with respect to poverty alleviation activities following trade policy reforms.

Many trade and development economists, policy makers and policy analysts around the world believe that globalisation promotes growth and reduces poverty. There exists a large body of theoretical and empirical literature on how trade liberalisation helps to promote growth and reduce poverty. However, critics of globalisation argue that, in developing countries, integration into the world economy makes the poor poorer and the rich richer. The most common criticism of globalisation is that it increases poverty and inequality. Much of the research related to the link between openness, growth and poverty has been based on cross-country regressions. Dollar and Kraay (2000; 2001), using regression analysis, argue that growth is pro poor. Moreover, their study suggests that growth does not affect distribution and poor as well as rich could benefit from it. Later, they demonstrate that openness to international trade stimulates rapid growth, thus linking trade liberalisation with improvements in wellbeing of the poor. Several other cross-country studies demonstrate a positive relationship between trade openness and economic growth (see for example Dollar, 1992; Sach and Warner, 1995 and Edward, 1998). In contrast, Rodriguez and Rodrik (2001) question the measurements related to trade openness in economic models, and suggest that generalisations cannot be made regarding the relationship between trade openness and growth. Several other studies also criticise the pro poor growth argument based upon the claim of weak econometrics and place more focus on the distributional aspect (see, for example, Rodrik, 2000). Ultimately, openness and growth have therefore become an empirical matter, and so has the relationship between trade and poverty. These weaknesses of cross-country studies have led to a need to provide evidence from case studies. Systematic case studies related to individual countries will at least complement cross-country studies such as that of Dollar and Kraay. As Chen and Ravallion (2004, p.30) argue, 'aggregate inequality or poverty may not change with trade reform even though there are gainers and losers at all levels of living'. They further argue that policy analysis which simply averages across diversities may miss important matters that are critical to the policy debate. In this study, Sri Lanka is used as a case study and a computable general equilibrium (CGE) approach is adopted as an analytical framework. Sri Lanka was selected as an interesting case in point to investigate this linkage for the following reasons: although Sri Lanka was the first country in the South Asian region to liberalise its trade substantially in the late seventies, it still experiences an incidence of poverty of a sizeable proportion that cannot be totally attributed to the long-standing civil conflict. Moreover, trade poverty linkage within the Sri Lankan context has hardly received any attention, while multi-sectoral general equilibrium poverty analysis within the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) based CGE model has never been attempted. In order to examine the link between globalisation and poverty, a poverty focussed CGE model for the Sri Lankan economy has been developed in this study. As a requirement for the development of such a model, a SAM of the Sri Lankan economy for the year 1995 has been constructed. Moreover, in order to estimate the intra group income distribution in addition to the inter group income distribution, income distribution functional forms for different household groups have been empirically estimated and linked to the CGE model in 'top down' mode: this will compute a wide range of household level poverty and inequality measurements. This is a significant departure from the traditional representative agent hypothesis used to specifying household income distributions. Furthermore, as the general equilibrium framework permits endogenised prices, an attempt was made to endogenise the change in money metric poverty line within the CGE model. Finally, a set of simulation experiments was conducted to identify the impacts of trade liberalisation in manufacturing and agricultural industries on absolute and relative poverty at household level. The results show that, in the short run, trade liberalisation of manufacturing industries increases economic growth and reduces absolute poverty in low-income household groups. However, it is observed that the potential benefits accruing to the rural low-income group are relatively low compared to other two low-income groups. Reduction in the flow of government transfers to households following the loss of tariff revenue may be blamed for this trend. In contrast, long run results indicate that trade liberalisation reduces absolute poverty in substantial proportion in all groups. It further reveals that, in the long run, liberalisation of the manufacturing industries is more pro poor than that of the agricultural industries. Overall simulation results suggest that trade reforms may widen the income gap between the rich and the poor, thus promoting relative poverty. This may warrant active interventions with respect to poverty alleviation activities following trade policy reforms.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith Business School
Griffith Business School
Full Text

This study analyses the technological change in the aggregate tea sector of Sri Lanka, by contributing to an understanding of total factor productivity change with assessment of the extent and nature of such changes from 1960/61 to 1994/95. The total factor productivity measures are then used to define a conceptually sound measure of the production cost of land degradation, providing insight into the scarcity of soil in the tea sector. Total factor productivity in the tea sector, increased at an estimated annual rate of 1.82 percent during the study period. This resulted from an estimated annual rate of increase of 0.01 percent in total output and a considerably larger rate of 1.81 percent annual decrease in total input. Thus, the reason for total factor productivity growth was largely due to cost savings associated with decreased use of inputs rather than increased output. Land and capital inputs showed significant negative growth trends, confirming a lack of long-term investment in the tea sector. As expected, all the partial factor productivities showed increases over the study period due to lower use of those individual inputs; the most significant changes occurring in the partial productivities of land and capital inputs. The terms of trade and the returns to costs ratio, exhibited an annual rate of decrease of around 3.7 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively. The producer terms of trade growth rate of -3.7 percent, has been brought about by an estimated annual rate of increase in prices received of 10.6 percent compared with an increase of 14.3 percent in prices paid. The Sri Lankan tea industry, once pre-eminent in the world, has been going through intermittent crises for a long time due to problems related to low productivity and the high cost of production. The management of the nationalised plantations proved inadequate to meet the task of adjusting to the new challenges of raising productivity and remaining competitive. The contribution of the tea industry to the economy declined. Among other causes, stagnating crop productivity was found to be an important factor. Land degradation in the form of soil erosion, was found to be a serious problem for the entire tea sector. Careless and ecologically unbalanced agricultural practices, have over the years, led to varying degrees of degradation of the tea soils. However, these physical measures of land degradation do not necessarily reveal an economic or social problem. In the second part of the study, an attempt is made to quantify the impact that land degradation has on tea production. Based on the theoretical relationship of the impact of technological progress and land degradation on tea production, a regression model was fitted to deconstruct the total factor productivity variable. The objective of this approach is to find an economic value for land degradation by quantifying the extent of this impact on aggregate tea production in Sri Lanka. One of the key points to come out of this estimation exercise, is the difficulty of isolating the impact of individual factors on measured total factor productivity. On the basis of available data and the chosen model, it could be concluded that the impact of technological progress has outweighed the negative effect of land degradation in the tea sector, over the study period. Considering the fact that investment in tea research is mainly on developing varieties of vegetatively propagated clonal tea, and the associated very long gestation periods involved, a much larger lag length of the order of 25-35 years is recommended for the research investment variable, to enable calculation of the marginal internal rate of return to public investment in tea. Importantly, a larger set of data will become available over the next decade or so which will enable appropriate lags to be incorporated in future research on productivity in the tea industry.

The chronic degradation of coral reefs globally and its negative impact on coastal communities such as those in southern Sri Lanka dependent on the marine ornamental trade for their livelihood forms the focus of this study. Attempts to improve the conservation status of Sri Lanka's coral reefs and their associated fauna have failed because they omit to address the social circumstances of local people. Such social-ecological systems require an integrated approach, which provides holistic reasons for the degradation of natural ecosystems and livelihoods of coastal people. The aim of this study was therefore to ascertain the current sustainability of the marine ornamental trade in southern Sri Lanka through an interdisciplinary study employing a participatory bottom-up approach, and derive from findings alternative pathways to restore and maintain the health of the reef and thus provide better livelihoods for the fishing communities. Findings confirm both the fragile state of nearshore coral reefs, their fish populations and the precarious nature of local communities’ livelihoods. Historical and recent environmental and anthropogenic impacts reduced resilience in all trade sectors and current fishing practices and the unjust supply chain compound these effects. Therefore, a holistic co-management framework is recommended that recognises local ecological knowledge and involves fishing communities as citizen scientists to improve monitoring and also provides communication channels to facilitate interaction within and across all groups of the ornamental trade. In this way, all actors are involved in making decisions and taking responsibility for the management of the supply chain at their particular level. This single, coherent framework would thus employ diverse groups and ways of doing as a resilience strategy to halt the degradation and reinvigorate the reef for more sustainable utilisation whilst simultaneously developing highly acceptable alternative income generating livelihoods, such as the community-based aquaculture experiment undertaken during this study.

Fair Trade is an international movement which aims to strengthen the livelihoods of producers in the South, and to give the opportunity for conscious customers in the North to buy socially and environmentally friendly products. The conventional trade system is criticised, as well as the efficiency of aid to support developing countries. The core idea of Fair Trade is therefore “Trade not Aid”, where marginalised producers are given the chance to improve their living conditions by fair wages, market access and improved working conditions. The aim of the thesis is to investigate the potential of Fair Trade to contribute to sustainable development and empowerment, which therefore also act as the theoretical frameworks for this thesis. Sustainable development is investigated by its division into economic, social and environmental sustainable development. Fair Trade is furthermore investigated through specific key elements connected to these theories, by performing interviews with managers and producers within five separate Fair Trade organisations in India and Sri Lanka.  The main findings within this study reveal how Fair Trade does have the potential to contribute to sustainable development and empowerment to a certain degree. It is specifically prominent regarding social development and empowerment, while economic development occurs mainly on an individual level. The contribution to environmental development is also possible to detect, even though it remains clear how the initiative to do so might not always be fully related to environmental causes.
Fair Trade är en internationell rörelse som fokuserar på att förbättra livssituationen för producenter i Syd, och att ge medvetna konsumenter i Nord möjligheten att köpa produkter med miljöhänsyn och socialt ansvar. Det konventionella handelssystemet kritiseras, såväl som effektiviteten för bistånd att stödja utvecklingsländer. Grundtanken med Fair Trade är därmed “Trade not Aid”, då marginaliserade producenter får möjligheten att förbättra sina livssituationer genom rättvisa löner, tillgång till en marknad och förbättrade arbetsförhållanden. Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka Fair Trades potential att bidra till hållbar utveckling och empowerment, vilket därmed är det teoretiska ramverket för den här studien. Hållbar utveckling undersöks även genom att dela upp det i ekonomisk, social och miljömässig hållbar utveckling. Fair Trade utreds även utifrån specifika indikatorer kopplade till dessa teorier, genom intervjuer med managers och producenter inom fem separata Fair Trade-organisationer i Indien och Sri Lanka. De huvudsakliga upptäckterna inom denna studie visar hur Fair Trade har potentialen att bidra till hållbar utveckling och empowerment i viss utsträckning. Det är speciellt framträdande vad gäller social utveckling och empowerment, medan ekonomisk utveckling främst sker på individnivå. Det är även möjligt att observera hur rörelsen kan bidra till miljömässig utveckling, även om det är tydligt att initiativet till att göra så inte alltid är av en miljörelaterad anledning.

This thesis investigates the impact of fair trade on tea producers in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. A comparison study is undertaken between fair and conventional trade farmers to investigate the monetary and non-monetary benefits of fair trade involvement. The study of 7 villages in the Central Province, incorporates 40 fair trade tea producers, who are members of a cooperative, and 40 conventional trade tea producers selling to a local buyer. Undertaken in July 2009, the research analyses quantitative and qualitative data gathered by means of questionnaires and interviews, to examine the different experiences of the two types of producers in terms of monetary and non-monetary benefits. Monetary benefits examined include factors such as improved income, income sufficiency, secondary income activities, pre-finance measures and excess money. Non-monetary benefits examined include education gains, household development and labour hours on tea production. The results are compared with other impact studies with similarities and differences analysed. The empirical results presented suggest that there are no significant differences in tea income between the two groups. However, fair trade producers work fewer hours in tea production and are more likely to report both an improved and excess income. Furthermore, the fair trade producers report improved spending on food and savings and have a more diversified crop. The results are due to the increased productivity, the provision of loans and saving schemes and the increased time available to work on secondary income generating activities either on or off the farm resulting in an overall improvement in living standards. This study contributes to the existing literature on whether and how fair trade is able to improve the well-being of small producers by offering new insights into the importance of cooperative management, working hours, productivity improvement, effective savings schemes and pre-finance arrangements. These findings are considered important to the success of the cooperative and hence to fair trade producers extracting the full benefits of fair trade and as such they are recommended as focus areas for fair trade. New data is included from tea producers in the Central Province of Sri Lanka, a new region for in-depth study and a new context, as the majority of existing studies focus on coffee and banana production.

This thesis analyses Australian and Sri Lankan trade secrets laws in light of human rights theory so as to see how legal mechanisms impact on rights of employees and society. Based on a critical analysis of trade secrets of laws of Australia and Sri Lanka, it proposes a legislative framework as a promising way of establishing a balanced law which is equally concerned with the rights of employers, employees and society.

La présente étude explore les relations maritimes établies pour des raisons commerciales entre le monde méditerranéen, l’Inde du Sud et Sri Lanka, entre le IIIe siècle av. n.è. et le VIIe siècle de n.è. Il s’agit dans un premier temps d’élaborer une synthèse quantifiée des imports issus du monde gréco-romain d’après les vestiges archéologiques découverts en Asie du Sud, en les confrontant aux autres types de sources. Cette synthèse nous conduit à nous pencher sur les contacts culturels que les liens commerciaux ont favorisé dans leur sillage : transferts, métissages, imitations et appropriations. Dans un dernier temps, ce sont les flux inverses qui ont fait l’objet de notre attention, décelables à travers les objets exportés par l’Inde et Sri Lanka vers les côtes de l’Arabie, de l’Afrique, du golfe Persique et de la mer Rouge. Il apparaît que les témoignages du commerce n’impliquent pas de très grandes quantités échangées mais n’ont pas été dénués malgré tout d’un impact certain sur les sociétés. Ainsi se tissent des réseaux complexes qui impliquent tous les acteurs de cette zone géographique, dont les extrémités est et ouest que sont l’Asie et la Méditerranée constituent une des facettes
This dissertation deals with the maritime connections that took place between South Asia (South India and Sri Lanka) and the Mediterranean world between the 3rd c. BCE and the 7th c. CE. It first establishes a global account of the archaeological remains found in South Asia that show the importation of Mediterranean products into this area, by comparison with other types of sources (texts, inscriptions, coins). The study then proceeds towards the social and cultural impact that these imported goods may have had on local populations, with regard to their proper way of appropriating foreign sources of inspiration depending on the regional context. Lastly, attention has been drawn on the return flow of goods from East to West, through archaeological vestiges located on the coasts of Egypt, Africa, Arabia and in the Persian Gulf. This leads to a reassessment of the global quantity of commercial goods crossing this large area, which may have been inferior to what was previously considered, whereas the social and cultural impact is not to be denied. The full picture of these interactions gives an image of a very intricate and complex network, involving lots of intermediaries, middlemen and local networks, which would have created a strong background for the direct long-distance links

This thesis aims to gain a deeper understanding of relationships and sexuality of women at risk of social exclusion in Sri Lanka and the risk of violations of their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) that they might face. Individual qualitative interviews with migrant women workers (n=18) and men (n=18) in the Free Trade Zone (FTZ), women facing single motherhood (n=28) and women formerly involved in prostitution (n=15) were conducted. Conceptual approaches included gender, social navigation and SRHR. The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis, qualitative content analysis and discourse analysis. Findings revealed that the migrant women workers negotiated norms of respectability in a society that highly stigmatizes FTZ women workers, while the men identified conflicting constructions of masculinity existing in the FTZ. The women facing single motherhood navigated oppressive and stigmatizing social forces, and the women in prostitution constructed themselves as respectable in opposition to their societal disvalue and marginalization. In order to retain an image of sexual innocence, unmarried women are likely to refrain from demanding or demonstrating SRHR knowledge and accessing services. Furthermore, gender power imbalances leave the women vulnerable to sexual persuasion, coercion and violence. Once pregnant, social, legal, and knowledge barriers hinder or delay them in accessing abortion services. Unmarried pregnant women are thus left with the alternatives of adoption, infanticide, and suicide or become stigmatized single mothers with risks of health and social exclusion for mother and child. Extreme marginalization and limited power make women in prostitution vulnerable to unsafe sex, rape and violence. In conclusion, these women are likely to face numerous and serious SRHR hazards. The complexity of gendered social circumstances and the SRHR implications demonstrated in this thesis, add to the SRHR knowledge in Sri Lanka, and should inform politicians and policy makers about the need to improve the situation of all women in Sri Lanka.

This dissertation presents an analysis of the impacts of trade policy reforms in Sri Lanka. A Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model is constructed with detailed description of the domestic production structure and foreign trade. The model is then used to investigate the effects of trade policy reforms on resource allocation and welfare. Prior to 1977, Sri Lanka maintained stringent control over its imports through rigid quantitative restrictions. A new economic policy reform package was introduced in 1977, and it shifted Sri Lanka's development strategy toward an export oriented policy regime. The shift of policy focus from a restrictive trade regime toward a more open trade regime is expected to have a significant impact on the volume of external trade, domestic production structure, allocation of resources, and social welfare. Simulations are carried out to assess the effects of three major policy reforms: (1) a devaluation of the Sri Lanka rupee, (2) a partial or a complete elimination of export duties, and (3) a devaluation-cum-removal of export duties. Simulation results indicate that the macroeconomic impact of a devaluation-cum-removal of export duties can be substantial. They also suggest that the resource-pull effects of a devaluation and a devaluation-cum-export duty removal policy are significant. However, the model shows that a devaluation combined with an export duty reduction is likely to be a superior strategy.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1990.
Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-162).

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In contrast with artefactual studies of long-distance trade and exchange in South Asia during the Prehistoric and Early Historic periods (Ardika et al . 1993; Gogte 1997; Krishnan and Coningham 1997; Tomber 2000; Gupta et al . 2001; Ford et al . 2005), few scientifically orientated analyses have focused on artefacts from the region¿s Historic period. During excavations at the ancient city of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, a number of buff ware ceramics with a putative organic coating on the interior were recovered (Coningham 2006). Dated stylistically to between the third and ninth centuries AD , analysis of the coatings using gas chromatography¿mass spectrometry (GC¿MS) and stable isotope analysis (carbon and deuterium) confirmed that the coatings are bitumen¿an organic product associated with petroleum deposits. There are no known bitumen sources in Sri Lanka, and biomarker distributions and isotopic signatures suggest that the majority of the samples appear to have come from a single bitumen source near Susa in Iran. The relationship between the bitumen coatings and the vessels is discussed, and it is suggested that the coatings were used to seal permeable ceramic containers to allow them to transport liquid commodities. This study enhances our knowledge of networks of trade and exchange between Sri Lanka and western Asia during Historic times.