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Publication Open Access ESTIMATING WILLINNESS TO PAY FOR WETLAND CONSERVATION: A CONTINGENT VALUATION STUDY OF MUDUN ELA AND KALU OYA WATERSHEDS, WESTERN PROVINCE SRI LANKA(International Conference on "Water, Environment and Climate Change: Knowledge Sharing and Partnership, 2018-04-10) Jayathilaka, R; Serasinghe, PWetland ecosystems are often neglected or undervalued. Few people realize the range of products derived from wetlands and their freshwater habitats. There are a number of social and economic benefits of wetlands and the wetlands are in a serious risk today. Specially, in relation to human activities and in inconvenient utilization, wetlands around the globe are being modified, reclaimed and over-exploited due to high levels ofresource consumption, land conversion and also upstream developments that alter the quality and flow of water that feeds into them. Decision makers often have a little understanding of the environmental value of wetlands because wetlands are often perceived as having little or no value compared with uses that yield more visible and immediate economic benefits. In this circumstances, revelation and recognition of value of wetlands and thereafter the valuation their importance has been an essential matter which helps to protect such habitats and also it is useful to utilize the benefits of wetlands in a proper management. The objective of this study is to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) for conservation of MudunEla and KaluOya watersheds, Western province Sri Lanka using Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). Respondents were randomly selected for data collection through face-to-face interview. The Tobit model was used to estimate the entrance fee to for conservation. The marginal effects on probabilities in the tobit model suggest that postgraduate degree holders, households who are using wetland as education, research and agricultural purposes play significant roles in residents' WTP for protect wetland. Thus, higher educated households was found to have a positive response on willingness to pay for protect wetlands in the country. On the other hand, households who were used wetland for agricultural purposes have a negative response on willingness to pay for wetland protect practices.Publication Open Access Trade Liberalisation and Poverty in South Asia(Taylor & Francis Books, 2011) JAYATHILAKA, R; DE MEL, DThe relationship between trade and poverty has long been debated in academic and policy circles. The purpose of this chapter is to contribute to this debate through an in-depth study of the experience of Sri Lanka, the first country in South Asia to break away from the protectionist past by embarking on a decisive process of economic opening in 1977. During the first decade after independence in 1948, Sri Lanka continued with a liberal trade regime, until growing balance of payments problems induced a policy shift towards protectionist import substitution policies from the early 1960s. By the mid-1970s the Sri Lankan economy had become one of the most inwardoriented and regulated outside the group of centrally planned economies. In 1977, Sri Lanka responded to the dismal economic outcome of the closedeconomy era by embarking on an extensive economic liberalisation process, becoming the first country in the South Asian region to do so. Despite major macroeconomic problems and political turmoil, market-oriented reforms have been sustained over the ensuing years. Sri Lanka is now classified as one of the few developing countries outside East Asia that have achieved a clear policy shift from the entrenched import-substitution era. This policy transition has brought about notable structural changes in the economy (Athukorala and Rajapatirana 2000; World Bank 2005b; Kelegama 2006). However, the impact of liberalisation reforms on the incidence of poverty and poverty reduction has not yet been systematically studied. Therefore, the main objective of this chapter is to systematically examine the link between trade liberalisation and poverty reduction through employment channels. The chapter is arranged as follows: Section 2 provides an overview of trade policy shifts and the role of trade in the economy. Section 3 surveys the incidence and patterns of poverty. Section 4 examines key channels through which trade policy impacts on poverty. Section 5 examines some cross-cutting issues. Section 6 reports the results of an econometric analysis undertaken to examine the determinant of poverty at the household level with emphasis on the impact of trade policy. The chapter ends with a summary of key findings and policy inferences.Publication Open Access The Effects of Natural Disasters: A Study to Sustain Paddy and other Seasonal Crop Farmers in Sri Lanka(DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS FACULTY OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF PERADENIYA, 2019-10) Deshapriya, R. D. N. L; Lakpriya, K. A. D. L; Pathiraja, P. M. D. G. T; Wijesiri, P. G. N. A. H; Jayathilaka, RThe United Nations (UN) Development Programme set out seventeen sustainable development goals (SDGs) to be achieved by the UN member countries in 2030. One such goal, SDG 8 is about decent work and economic growth, where the agriculture sector can play a wider role for economic growth by reducing unemployment in the country. Worldwide, various factors can adversely affect many occupations, especially with unfavorable effects on those engaged therein. Previous researchers have shown that natural disasters cause impacts in terms of income volatility, particularly negative income shocks regardless of the cause whereas risks force households in developing countries to lower their expenditure on health and education. Mottaleb et al. (2013) identified natural disasters impacting on household income and expenditure volatilities in Bangladesh as well. Ministry of Disaster Management (DM) in Sri Lanka identifies flood and drought as the major types of natural disasters affecting Sri Lanka (Karunarathna and Athukorala, 2018). Nevertheless, Tsunami has also been a major issue in the recent past. Its likelihood of occurrence is rather small, but it causes high damage. Ancient Sri Lanka was a country with selfsufficiency. Currently, an open market economy, Sri Lanka’s dependency is higher on imports, partly due to insufficient local production. In addition, over the years cultivation has declined due to various reasons. The International Trade Administration (2018) states that in Sri Lanka, over 25% are employed in the agricultural sector, which contributes 6.9 % to Gross Domestic Production (GDP). This indicates the magnitude of any adverse impacts to the agricultural sector. In Malaysia, Hein (2019) discussed the response to extreme disasters and climate change when the government intervenes to mitigate same and spread awareness of climate changes. However, in Sri Lanka no long term plan is in place to mitigate or at least minimize the effects of natural disasters, which can lead to inequalities in the population. The findings/results of this study can assist Sri Lanka to initiate policies to reduce inequality among farmers, and thereby improve and sustain the agricultural practices in Sri Lanka; and thus to achieve SDG 8 as set out by the UN.Publication Open Access The Impact of the Proportion of Female Directors on Firm Performance: An Approach to Achieve Gender Equality(Postgraduate Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences (PGIHS) University of Peradeniya, 2019-10) Zainab, A. C. H. F; Senavirathna, H. D. N. N; Priyashantha, W. M. S; Yasarathna, T. A. D. K; Jayathilaka, RSri Lanka is well known as a country that ended a 30-year civil war of which the scars have not yet healed. The end of this brutal civil war was also a beginning of a new era of peace and development. Sri Lanka can only achieve sustainable development via long-term investments in economic, human and environmental capital. The inclusion of a focus on gender equality as the 5th goal within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) illustrates the importance of women’s contribution to the economic growth. Both empowering women and ending gender based disparities are essential for sustainable development. More vigorous efforts will be required in order to achieve gender equality in terms of women’s empowerment even though it is evident that there are changes in the stereotypes that prevailed in the past. If a country makes better utilization of its female population, it would pave the way to increase economic growth, reduce poverty levels and enhance the wellbeing and living standards of its citizens. In order to close the gender related gaps, the governments have the responsibility to take into account the gender dimensions while implementing policies so that it can ensure that it doesn’t fail to make complete utilization of human capital resources (OECD, 2008). The focus and concern for women representation in business management has increased specially after the financial crises and corporate scandals such as Lehman Brothers and Enron. Many countries in Europe have adopted regulations in the form of legislative gender quotas for corporate boards. The main aim of implementing such gender quotas is to break the glass ceiling and provide an equal chance for both males and females in reaching top positions of companies. However, the underpresentation of women in senior positions in Sri Lankan firms indicates that they do not play a dominant role in the labour force as do females in developed economies. This is mainly due to women in developing economies such as Sri Lanka being typically confined to family and domestic roles and therefore tending to have invisible barriers in climbing up the corporate ladder and representing themselves on boards. Therefore, the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is low in Sri Lanka mainly due to the low contribution of women to the LFPR (CBSL, 2014). The issue of underrepresentation of women in corporate boards has gained substantial attention in today’s corporate world. There is a significant amount of evidence supporting this research issue in the developed countries. “In an attempt to address this question, many scholars in the recent years have studied the effect of women directors on firm performance. However, the empirical evidence of the extant literature inconclusive and most studies focus on firms in the U.S. and a few other developed economies” (Liu, Wei and Xie, 2014, p.170). Thus, investigating this research gap in a Sri Lankan context will be important to identify the extent to which women directors in the listed firms of Sri Lanka have the power to make strategic decisions and enhance firm financial performance. The role of public listed companies is important since they have the ability to boost the performance of an economy by contributing to the growth of financial institutions, creating employment opportunities and developing infrastructure facilities. If board gender diversity can trigger profitability and performance of the listed firms, then it will also be a determinant for economic growth.Publication Open Access Effectiveness of Celebrity Endorsement on Social Media towards Consumer’s Purchase Intention(researchgate.net, 2017-02) Samarasinghe, U. SIn spite of numerous theoretical and empirical studies that examine celebrity endorsement on traditional media, few studies have attempted to examine the relationship between Source Characteristics and Consumer Purchase Intention in the domain of social media. Furthermore whether this relationship is differ from Male to Female is not empirically investigated. This study combines Source credibility and Source Attractiveness theories to oversee Source Characteristics factors on Consumer’s Purchasing Intention. As a result Source Attractiveness dimensions namely Source Familiarity, Source Likeability and Source Similarity have been introduced to the Source Characteristics which is the main theoretical contribution. A sample of 338 consumers who use social media for FMCG product purchase decisions responded to the survey. The results provided preliminary support for the hypothesized model. It was found that there is a positive relationship between Source Expertness, Source Trustworthiness, Source Likeability, Source Similarity and Consumer’s Purchase Intention while there is a negative relationship between Source Familiarity and Consumer’s Purchase Intention. The study further revealed that the impact of Source Expertness, Source Trustworthiness, Source Likeability, and Source Similarity is different for male and female consumers. Thus, in promotional campaigns a product which is used by only one particular gender has to concern itself with the characteristics of that particular gender, and Source Familiarity should not concern itself with gender diversity in celebrity endorsement since it has no impact on the relationship between Source Familiarity and a Consumer’s Purchase Intention.Publication Open Access Exploring the concept of “Marketing Myopia”(www.academicsjournal.com, 2016-10) Samarasinghe, H. M. U. S. RThe present study focuses on exploring the concept of “Marketing Myopia” which is identified as a one of the most influential management philosophies invented in the recent past. In the present study the author has explored the concept of marketing myopia based on the theoretical foundation provided by Theodore Levitt. The discussion is further strengthening with an analysis on four industries which authors identified as ones which are having myopic conditions. As an extension to the argument, present study provides suggestions for improvement for the industries under examination. In the conclusion authors are taking their stance on whether marketing myopia is a concept related to marketing or a concept which goes beyond marketing.Publication Open Access Social Media and Celebrity Endorsement: An analysis of Literature Review(researchgate.net, 2019-01) Samarasinghe, U. CThe purpose of this chapter is to provide a thorough review in existent literature in relation to the social media and celebrity endorsement. In view of that, this paper examines key concepts pertaining to social media, celebrity endorsement, Studies based on Source Characteristics, which are Source Expertise, Source Trustworthiness, Source Familiarity, Source Similarity and Source Likability .Each concept discussed in light of what past literature has stated in terms of the definitions, conceptualization, key arguments, antecedents and consequences, to offer a complete depiction of the theme.Publication Embargo Road Navigation System Using Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) And Natural Language Processing (NLP)(IEEE, 2019-01-31) Withanage, P; Liyanage, T; Deeyakaduwe, N; Dias, E; Thelijjagoda, SIn a highly evolving technical era, Voice-based Navigation Systems play a major role to bridge the gap between human and machine. To overcome the difficulty in taking and understanding user's voice commands, simulating the natural language, process the route with user's turn by turn directions while mentioning key entities like street names, landmarks, point of interests, junctions and map the route in an interactive interface, we propose a user-centric roadmap navigation mobile application called “Direct Me”. The approach of generating the user preferred route, system will first convert the audio streams into text through Automatic Speech Recognizer (ASR) using Pocket Sphinx Library, followed by Natural Language Processing (NLP) by utilizing Stanford CoreNLP Framework to retrieve the navigation-associated information and process the route in the Map using Google Map API upon the user request. This system is used to provide an efficient approach to translate natural language directions to a machine-understandable format and will benefit the development of voice-based navigation-oriented humanmachine interface.Publication Open Access Factors Influencing the Private Cost of Higher Education; the Case of Sri Lanka(researchgate.net, 2019-03) Gobinath, S; Tharshan, K; Dheerasekara, W. R. H; Gunawardena, M.M.D de S; Jayakody, S. G; Lokeshwara, A. AThe research aims to identify and analyze the cost elements that impact the private cost of university education in Sri Lanka. It focused on determining the private cost of the Bachelor’s degree programs and also the cost elements affecting the total private cost and their significance. Twenty one cost categories were identified through a pilot study and analyzed in order to assess their impact on the private cost and their variability based on field of study, gender, programme duration, and the socio-economic group of undergraduates. The population comprised of students enrolled in private higher education institutes offering Bachelor’s degree programs in Sri Lanka. The study was conducted during the 2016/2017 academic year and the sample contained 419 respondents drawn utilizing the purposive and stratified random sampling procedures. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while the hypotheses were tested using the Chi-square test for independent sample statistics at 0.05 level of significance. It was found that majority of cost categories (15) had significantly varied between fields of study undertaken while minority of cost categories (10) varied significantly between students’ gender. The study revealed that the identified factors influenced the private cost of university education in the Sri Lankan context.Publication Open Access E-Commerce Video Based Automobile Website(Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, 2018-12-12) Pathirana, U.P.G.Y; Wellala, D. S. MWith the development of new technologies people tend to take maximum advantage from the new technologies available. This new improvements have a huge impact on buying and selling also. The ultimate target of this project is to provide a better solution for buying and selling which specifically address buying and selling of vehicles. The final outcome of this project is going to be a website which facilitates online video advertising for vehicles available for sale. The basic of the project is going to be data collection in order to identify criteria’s that customers are expecting from this kind of website. An online survey will provide to record responses. When the website is developed vehicle owners can prepare a small video about the vehicle which is on sale which provides a clear understanding about the vehicle. This enable buyers to get more details of the vehicle by staying at home if they are happy about the vehicle they can meet the dealer directly and go for negotiation. Also this website will facilitate them with leasing facilities, location facilities and many more. The basic technology using website is going to be is cloud technology. This enables more advantages from the technological side. The final outcome of this project will provide an advanced platform for customers and seller related to vehicle buying and selling. It will facilitate and, reduce cost and time each individual has to spend on buying a vehicle.