School of Business

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    PublicationOpen Access
    Changing Patterns of Alcohol Use and Poverty
    (Sri Lanka Economic Association, 2017-06) Jayathilaka, R
    Concerns surrounding alcohol consumption and poverty have a long history, with both recognised to be important phenomena in current socio-economic policy analysis. In order to examine the impact of household level alcohol consumption on poverty, data from four micro-level surveys conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) was used. The main aim of this study is to measure the effects of alcohol consumption on the level of poverty in a systematic way. Using Sri Lanka as a case study, this paper demonstrates that consumption of alcoholic beverages has a significant positive impact on the incidence of poverty, particularly the illegal beverages. Although national poverty decreased to 8.9 per cent in 2009/10, if households consumed illegal alcoholic beverages, the probability of poverty increasing at the national level rose by 1 to 2 percentage points. This suggests the illegal alcohol consumption was also found to be highly sensitive to the changes in the incidence of poverty at the national level
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Is there a link between alcohol consumption and the level of poverty?
    (Taylor & Francis Group, 2015-11-24) Jayathilaka, R; Selvanathan, S; Jayatilleke, S. B
    In many developing countries, in addition to household income, there are a number of other socio-economic determinants of poverty. One such hidden socio-economic factor is alcohol consumption and some studies argue that there is a link between alcohol consumption and poverty. The main aim of this study is to measure the effects of alcohol consumption on the level of poverty in a systematic way. Using Sri Lanka as a case study, this article demonstrates that the consumption of various types of alcoholic beverages, particularly, the illegal beverages, has a significant positive association with the level of poverty. The findings of this study suggest that, in Sri Lanka, the consumption of illegal alcoholic beverages increases the likelihood of being in a poor household by 2–3%. The results of this study also find that households who are characterized as nonpoor but are just above the poverty line behave more like the poor rather than the nonpoor in terms of alcohol consumption. Some of the conclusions from this Sri Lankan case study can be applied to other developing countries.