Dileni Gunewardena | University of Peradeniya (original) (raw)
Papers by Dileni Gunewardena
The World Bank eBooks, Nov 30, 1999
Routledge eBooks, Jul 9, 2024
University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, Nov 30, 2006
Routledge eBooks, Oct 4, 2022
Review of Development Economics, Aug 1, 2020
Promoting youth and female entrepreneurship is crucial to inclusive growth and the future economi... more Promoting youth and female entrepreneurship is crucial to inclusive growth and the future economic and social prospects of developing countries. Evidence tends to suggest that young and female entrepreneurs are in a minority, and the extent and generating mechanisms of this outcome tend to be country‐specific. This collection of papers brings together recent empirical contributions exploring key drivers of this heterogeneity entrepreneurial propensity of youth and female in the context of a group of countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, paying special attention to the role of and issues relating to access to credit, attitudes to risk, and migratory status. A common thread in all the papers is the effective role of risk, uncertainty, and asymmetric information in the determination of entrepreneurship and in the demand for and allocation of credit when potential entrepreneurs are from specific groups, that is, women, indigenous women, women and youth in conflict and post‐conflict situations, and migrant youth. Based on these results, the papers explore various challenges in the implementation of public policies designed to promote entrepreneurship within these specific segments of the population.
Centre for Poverty Analysis eBooks, 2007
Social Science Research Network, Oct 11, 2004
ABSTRACT Studies of gender wage differential decompositions based on the human capital model are ... more ABSTRACT Studies of gender wage differential decompositions based on the human capital model are legion. What makes this exercise an interesting one to undertake for Sri Lanka is that, unlike many developing countries, Sri Lankan females possess an educational advantage over their male counterparts. Yet, returns to education favour women. Thus, the Sri Lankan case is in some sense a natural experiment, providing an indication to countries struggling to close the gender gap in education: if they succeed, what is the magnitude of the wage gap that would persist, and why? Existing studies of the gender wage gap in Sri Lanka show that "discrimination" in the labour market, rather than differences in productive characteristics, account for a large fraction of the gender wage differential. The present study contributes to the literature by (a) analysing changes in and determinants of the gender wage differential during a period when employment opportunities for females in Sri Lanka were expanding rapidly along with their labour force participation, and (b) using a superior methodology than has been used so far in estimates of earnings functions for Sri Lanka. The study reveals that the gender wage gap did narrow between 1985 and 1991, and that returns to education increased over the period for both men and women. Returns to education are greater for women than for men, while "returns" to experience which were initially higher for men in 1985/86 were higher for women in 1990/91. Correcting for omitted variable bias revealed that OLS overestimates the extent of discrimination, but that even so, in the absence of discrimination, women would earn more than men. The study indicated that although returns to education are higher for women than men, initial disadvantages are so great that favourable returns are insufficient to eliminate the gender gap.
Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2011
Reducing child malnutrition is a key goal of most developing countries. To combat child malnutrit... more Reducing child malnutrition is a key goal of most developing countries. To combat child malnutrition with the right set of interventions, policymakers need to have a better understanding of its economic, social and policy determinants. While there is a large literature that investigates the determinants of child malnutrition, it focuses almost exclusively on mean effects of these determinants. However, socioeconomic background variables and policy interventions may affect child nutrition differently at different points of the conditional nutritional distribution. Using quantile regressions, this paper explores the effects of variables such as a child's age, sex and birth order; household expenditure per capita; parental schooling; and infrastructure on child weight and height at different points of the conditional distributions of weight and height using …/.
Routledge eBooks, Oct 4, 2022
Routledge eBooks, Oct 4, 2022
Routledge eBooks, Oct 4, 2022
PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2000
To redress ethnic inequality in Vietnam, it is not enough to in Vietnam target pDor areas Policie... more To redress ethnic inequality in Vietnam, it is not enough to in Vietnam target pDor areas Policies must be designed to reach minority households in poor Dominique van de 'Walle areas, to open up options by ensuring that minority groups are not disadvantaged (In labor markets, for example), to change the conditions that have caused their isolation and social exclusion, and to explicitly recognize behavior patterns (including compensating behavtorj that have served the minorities well but intensify ethnic
Sri Lanka Journal of Economic Research, Feb 3, 2023
This perspective demonstrates that household electricity usage is a good proxy for poverty and a ... more This perspective demonstrates that household electricity usage is a good proxy for poverty and a quick, efficient, and effective targeting mechanism for welfare benefits. As Sri Lanka's economic crisis continues, up to 50% or more of the population will likely need state support, yet the existing welfare benefit scheme falls far short of its goals. Current targeting through Samurdhi reaches just about a quarter of all households and only 40% of the poorest decile of individuals. The analysis presented in this perspective shows that the alternative of using a threshold of 60kwh of electricity usage per month as a preliminary eligibility criterion will reach approximately 50% of the population and over 80% of the poorest among them and performs best among a set of alternatives, including Samurdhi.
The World Bank eBooks, Nov 30, 1999
How Dirty Are "Quick Routine quick-and-clrty methods of project appraisal and Dirty" M ethods can... more How Dirty Are "Quick Routine quick-and-clrty methods of project appraisal and Dirty" M ethods can be so dirty in guiding of Project Appraisal? project selection as to wipe of Project Appraisal? uteescilanfol out the net social gains fromi public investment.
Sri Lanka journal of social sciences, Jun 29, 2017
Sri Lanka has recorded a significant reduction in poverty in recent times. Yet, as in many other ... more Sri Lanka has recorded a significant reduction in poverty in recent times. Yet, as in many other developing countries, little or nothing is known about poverty levels and reduction of poverty among the disabled or their households. The disabled and their families encounter different hardships than the typical deprivations of the poor. The recent literature questions the ability of the monetary approach in measuring poverty in general and especially among different groups like the disabled. Therefore, this study estimates both monetary and multidimensional poverty among the households with disabled persons, using the Household Income and Expenditure Survey data of 2006/07 and 2009/10. The study found that monetary and multidimensional poverty among households with disabled persons is higher than among other households. Even though multidimensional poverty is relatively low in Sri Lanka, the difference in multidimensional poverty levels between households with and without the disabled is high. Importantly, contributions from the three dimensions considered in this research to the incidence of poverty is almost equal, suggesting that further reduction of poverty in Sri Lanka requires improvements in all three dimensions-health, education and living standards-among poor households, with and without disabled persons.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2018
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encoura... more The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, May 1, 2005
The Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) was established in 2001 as an independent institute provid... more The Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) was established in 2001 as an independent institute providing professional services on poverty related development issues. CEPA provides services in the areas of applied research, advisory services, training and dialogue and exchange to development organisations and professionals. These services are concentrated within the core programme areas that currently include: Poverty Impact Monitoring, Poverty and Youth, Poverty and Conflict, and Poverty Information and Knowledge Management. The working paper is a continuation of the study "Poverty Measurement: Meanings, Methods and Requirements" published by CEPA in 2004 and sponsored by the German Technical Cooperation. The publication is sponsored by the Asian Development Bank through CEPA's Poverty Assessment & Information Management (PAM) programme. The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral development finance institution, promotes economic and social progress by fighting poverty in Asia and the Pacific. Established in 1966, it is owned by 63 members mostly from the region. The ADB helps improve the quality of people's lives by providing loans and technical assistance for a broad range of development activities. The focus is on poverty reduction, emphasising the promotion of pro-poor, sustainable economic growth, social development and good governance. In support of this, the ADB concentrates on the protection of the environment, the promotion of gender and development, private sector development, and regional cooperation. The ADB currently supports the Poverty Assessment & Knowledge Management (PAM) Programme. The German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) is an international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with operations in over 130 partner countries. The GTZ implements programmes chiefly under commission by the German Federal Government. The four year Poverty and Youth programme (2001-2005) and its activities were sponsored by the special 'Innovation Fund' managed by the GTZ, which supports innovative initiatives for the reduction of poverty.
Social Science Research Network, 2015
This paper focuses on Sri Lanka, a country with a long record of gender equality in education enr... more This paper focuses on Sri Lanka, a country with a long record of gender equality in education enrollment and high female completion rates, which has also been characterized by low and stagnant female labor force participation. It remains a puzzle why Sri Lanka has been unable to translate its high girls’ education gains into female labor force participation. This paper examines whether clues to the answer lie in (1) gender differences in skill acquisition, which have implications for education policy; (2) differences in the way the labor market values identical skills in men and women, with implications for labor market policy interventions or (3) in the gender division of labor in the household, which has implications for family-friendly and social policies. The paper analyses the 2012 World Bank STEP Skills Measurement survey, a rich dataset that includes self-reported measures of cognitive and non-cognitive skills for all individuals of working age, to address these questions. <br><br>The results indicate that women have higher measured cognitive skill than men and are not very different than men in terms of possession of non-cognitive skills that the market values. Rather, the results show that the market treats men and women with the same skills differently: Men get paid more. In addition, among labor market entrants, women have no earnings returns to cognitive skills, suggesting a role for policy intervention in the labor market.<br>
The World Bank eBooks, Nov 30, 1999
Routledge eBooks, Jul 9, 2024
University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, Nov 30, 2006
Routledge eBooks, Oct 4, 2022
Review of Development Economics, Aug 1, 2020
Promoting youth and female entrepreneurship is crucial to inclusive growth and the future economi... more Promoting youth and female entrepreneurship is crucial to inclusive growth and the future economic and social prospects of developing countries. Evidence tends to suggest that young and female entrepreneurs are in a minority, and the extent and generating mechanisms of this outcome tend to be country‐specific. This collection of papers brings together recent empirical contributions exploring key drivers of this heterogeneity entrepreneurial propensity of youth and female in the context of a group of countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, paying special attention to the role of and issues relating to access to credit, attitudes to risk, and migratory status. A common thread in all the papers is the effective role of risk, uncertainty, and asymmetric information in the determination of entrepreneurship and in the demand for and allocation of credit when potential entrepreneurs are from specific groups, that is, women, indigenous women, women and youth in conflict and post‐conflict situations, and migrant youth. Based on these results, the papers explore various challenges in the implementation of public policies designed to promote entrepreneurship within these specific segments of the population.
Centre for Poverty Analysis eBooks, 2007
Social Science Research Network, Oct 11, 2004
ABSTRACT Studies of gender wage differential decompositions based on the human capital model are ... more ABSTRACT Studies of gender wage differential decompositions based on the human capital model are legion. What makes this exercise an interesting one to undertake for Sri Lanka is that, unlike many developing countries, Sri Lankan females possess an educational advantage over their male counterparts. Yet, returns to education favour women. Thus, the Sri Lankan case is in some sense a natural experiment, providing an indication to countries struggling to close the gender gap in education: if they succeed, what is the magnitude of the wage gap that would persist, and why? Existing studies of the gender wage gap in Sri Lanka show that &quot;discrimination&quot; in the labour market, rather than differences in productive characteristics, account for a large fraction of the gender wage differential. The present study contributes to the literature by (a) analysing changes in and determinants of the gender wage differential during a period when employment opportunities for females in Sri Lanka were expanding rapidly along with their labour force participation, and (b) using a superior methodology than has been used so far in estimates of earnings functions for Sri Lanka. The study reveals that the gender wage gap did narrow between 1985 and 1991, and that returns to education increased over the period for both men and women. Returns to education are greater for women than for men, while &quot;returns&quot; to experience which were initially higher for men in 1985/86 were higher for women in 1990/91. Correcting for omitted variable bias revealed that OLS overestimates the extent of discrimination, but that even so, in the absence of discrimination, women would earn more than men. The study indicated that although returns to education are higher for women than men, initial disadvantages are so great that favourable returns are insufficient to eliminate the gender gap.
Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2011
Reducing child malnutrition is a key goal of most developing countries. To combat child malnutrit... more Reducing child malnutrition is a key goal of most developing countries. To combat child malnutrition with the right set of interventions, policymakers need to have a better understanding of its economic, social and policy determinants. While there is a large literature that investigates the determinants of child malnutrition, it focuses almost exclusively on mean effects of these determinants. However, socioeconomic background variables and policy interventions may affect child nutrition differently at different points of the conditional nutritional distribution. Using quantile regressions, this paper explores the effects of variables such as a child's age, sex and birth order; household expenditure per capita; parental schooling; and infrastructure on child weight and height at different points of the conditional distributions of weight and height using …/.
Routledge eBooks, Oct 4, 2022
Routledge eBooks, Oct 4, 2022
Routledge eBooks, Oct 4, 2022
PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2000
To redress ethnic inequality in Vietnam, it is not enough to in Vietnam target pDor areas Policie... more To redress ethnic inequality in Vietnam, it is not enough to in Vietnam target pDor areas Policies must be designed to reach minority households in poor Dominique van de 'Walle areas, to open up options by ensuring that minority groups are not disadvantaged (In labor markets, for example), to change the conditions that have caused their isolation and social exclusion, and to explicitly recognize behavior patterns (including compensating behavtorj that have served the minorities well but intensify ethnic
Sri Lanka Journal of Economic Research, Feb 3, 2023
This perspective demonstrates that household electricity usage is a good proxy for poverty and a ... more This perspective demonstrates that household electricity usage is a good proxy for poverty and a quick, efficient, and effective targeting mechanism for welfare benefits. As Sri Lanka's economic crisis continues, up to 50% or more of the population will likely need state support, yet the existing welfare benefit scheme falls far short of its goals. Current targeting through Samurdhi reaches just about a quarter of all households and only 40% of the poorest decile of individuals. The analysis presented in this perspective shows that the alternative of using a threshold of 60kwh of electricity usage per month as a preliminary eligibility criterion will reach approximately 50% of the population and over 80% of the poorest among them and performs best among a set of alternatives, including Samurdhi.
The World Bank eBooks, Nov 30, 1999
How Dirty Are "Quick Routine quick-and-clrty methods of project appraisal and Dirty" M ethods can... more How Dirty Are "Quick Routine quick-and-clrty methods of project appraisal and Dirty" M ethods can be so dirty in guiding of Project Appraisal? project selection as to wipe of Project Appraisal? uteescilanfol out the net social gains fromi public investment.
Sri Lanka journal of social sciences, Jun 29, 2017
Sri Lanka has recorded a significant reduction in poverty in recent times. Yet, as in many other ... more Sri Lanka has recorded a significant reduction in poverty in recent times. Yet, as in many other developing countries, little or nothing is known about poverty levels and reduction of poverty among the disabled or their households. The disabled and their families encounter different hardships than the typical deprivations of the poor. The recent literature questions the ability of the monetary approach in measuring poverty in general and especially among different groups like the disabled. Therefore, this study estimates both monetary and multidimensional poverty among the households with disabled persons, using the Household Income and Expenditure Survey data of 2006/07 and 2009/10. The study found that monetary and multidimensional poverty among households with disabled persons is higher than among other households. Even though multidimensional poverty is relatively low in Sri Lanka, the difference in multidimensional poverty levels between households with and without the disabled is high. Importantly, contributions from the three dimensions considered in this research to the incidence of poverty is almost equal, suggesting that further reduction of poverty in Sri Lanka requires improvements in all three dimensions-health, education and living standards-among poor households, with and without disabled persons.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2018
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encoura... more The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, May 1, 2005
The Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) was established in 2001 as an independent institute provid... more The Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) was established in 2001 as an independent institute providing professional services on poverty related development issues. CEPA provides services in the areas of applied research, advisory services, training and dialogue and exchange to development organisations and professionals. These services are concentrated within the core programme areas that currently include: Poverty Impact Monitoring, Poverty and Youth, Poverty and Conflict, and Poverty Information and Knowledge Management. The working paper is a continuation of the study "Poverty Measurement: Meanings, Methods and Requirements" published by CEPA in 2004 and sponsored by the German Technical Cooperation. The publication is sponsored by the Asian Development Bank through CEPA's Poverty Assessment & Information Management (PAM) programme. The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral development finance institution, promotes economic and social progress by fighting poverty in Asia and the Pacific. Established in 1966, it is owned by 63 members mostly from the region. The ADB helps improve the quality of people's lives by providing loans and technical assistance for a broad range of development activities. The focus is on poverty reduction, emphasising the promotion of pro-poor, sustainable economic growth, social development and good governance. In support of this, the ADB concentrates on the protection of the environment, the promotion of gender and development, private sector development, and regional cooperation. The ADB currently supports the Poverty Assessment & Knowledge Management (PAM) Programme. The German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) is an international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with operations in over 130 partner countries. The GTZ implements programmes chiefly under commission by the German Federal Government. The four year Poverty and Youth programme (2001-2005) and its activities were sponsored by the special 'Innovation Fund' managed by the GTZ, which supports innovative initiatives for the reduction of poverty.
Social Science Research Network, 2015
This paper focuses on Sri Lanka, a country with a long record of gender equality in education enr... more This paper focuses on Sri Lanka, a country with a long record of gender equality in education enrollment and high female completion rates, which has also been characterized by low and stagnant female labor force participation. It remains a puzzle why Sri Lanka has been unable to translate its high girls’ education gains into female labor force participation. This paper examines whether clues to the answer lie in (1) gender differences in skill acquisition, which have implications for education policy; (2) differences in the way the labor market values identical skills in men and women, with implications for labor market policy interventions or (3) in the gender division of labor in the household, which has implications for family-friendly and social policies. The paper analyses the 2012 World Bank STEP Skills Measurement survey, a rich dataset that includes self-reported measures of cognitive and non-cognitive skills for all individuals of working age, to address these questions. <br><br>The results indicate that women have higher measured cognitive skill than men and are not very different than men in terms of possession of non-cognitive skills that the market values. Rather, the results show that the market treats men and women with the same skills differently: Men get paid more. In addition, among labor market entrants, women have no earnings returns to cognitive skills, suggesting a role for policy intervention in the labor market.<br>