bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Impact of Financial Inclusion on Rural Development in Sri Lanka
Authors: Adhikari A.M.C.P. , Herath H.M.T.S. , Kannangara S.D.P.P. 
Published: April 2024

Financial inclusion has been one of the most debated areas of the development process in many developing countries, particularly in Sri Lanka, for many years but has not yet been adequately addressed. In Sri Lanka, there has been a gentle increase in the density of economic institutions since 1990. In line with the survey on GN divisions (2009/10), the common was 4.2 financial institutions per GN division. From time to time, there are some initiatives taken by the Central Bank regarding financial inclusion. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyse the relationship between financial inclusion and rural development. This study used the quantitative approach and secondary data, spanning annually from 1996 to 2019. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model was performed to test the constructs' hypothesised relationship using the EViews 11 student version. According to the ARDL results, the study reports a positive relationship between financial inclusion and rural development. Cooperative banking as an institution plays an incredibly significant role in achieving the objective of a countless degree of financial inclusion in the country by bringing together people's resources with small means and providing them with access to different financial services. These banks provide the credit requirement of people with a limited resource mobilisation scope living in rural areas with considerably higher social responsibility. Cooperative banks may encourage modernisation by facilitating the dissemination of new technologies, mobilising self-help, and motivating people to use their self-help potential better. Thus, offering an economic future for rural youth in the country. Further, it revealed that despite the substantial improvement of rural development over the period from 1996 to 2019. It is expected that the findings of this study help various level policymakers to address the issues relating to rural development and financial inclusion from a novel and different perspective. Future studies may investigate the modernisation facilities considering what extent that help to improve the financial inclusion in the country and for the continued sustainable development in Sri Lanka as a whole.
Keywords: Financial Inclusion, Rural Development, Sri Lanka
Comparative Analysis of Suicide, Economic Growth and Unemployment Rates: South Asian Context
Authors: Langappuli Saumya , Langappuli Olithi 
Published: April 2024

It is a universal truth that suicide is a massive public concern across the world but yet what drives people to take their own lives is widely uncertain. This deadliest action is referred as a well-known psychological or mental illness and many researchers have struggled to find the exact solution or a way to prevent this life-threatening tragedy using various socio-economic variables. However, still according to the WHO records more than 700,000 people commit suicide every year, simply one person per 40 seconds. The objective of this study is to explore the influence of economic growth and unemployment on suicide rate in Asian regions in the context of rapid economic development and unemployment rate fluctuations. The suicide data with gender preference, GDP growth rate, and the unemployment rate of all eight south Asian countries are collected for the period of 2000 to 2019. According to the descriptive analysis, the behaviour of suicide rate is relatively high in Sri Lanka and India compared to other Asian countries. Suicide rates for the Maldives, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan have remained stable. Then the dependent variable, suicide rate has been partially analysed according to the two independent variables, economic growth and unemployment rate using the partial correlation by confounding one variable at a time. The influence of unemployment held constant, the GDP per capita was found to have an insignificant but negative and lower interrelation with the suicide rate in most countries. From all eight countries only India and Bangladesh have a considerable influence of economic growth on suicide over the 20-year period. Moreover, only Afghanistan and Nepal have shed insignificant influence between the unemployment and the suicide rate whilst controlling the impact of economic growth and all other economies’ suicide decisions are at least moderately influenced by the unemployment rate factor, emphasising the link between the unemployment rate and the suicide rate is realistic. Prompt action in this regard is not a micro-scale government obligation. The factual results as illustrated in this study have vital implications for the Sri Lankan government regarding the remarkable flow of the suicide rate. In the long run, the most suitable solution to unemployment is creating new innovative employment opportunities.
Keywords: Suicide, Unemployment Rate, GDP Growth, Partial Correlation
Impact of Public Debt on Domestic Investment and Foreign Direct Investment in Sri Lanka
Authors: Shiyalini Sathanantham 
Published: April 2024

Indebtedness has become one of the major development policy issues for the Sri Lankan economy. The excessive government borrowings over the capacity of the country cause adverse impacts on an economy, particularly its unfavourable effects on domestic and foreign investment inflows. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of the components of public debts (domestic and external debts) on the various forms of investment (domestic investment and foreign direct investment) in Sri Lanka for the period between 1980 and 2020. Thus, this study estimated two investment models where domestic investment and foreign direct investment were dependent variables. ARDL bounds testing approach was employed in this study which confirmed the existence of a long-run cointegration relationship among the variables. Empirical findings of this study show the evidence for the presence of a crowding out effect of both domestic and external debt on domestic investment in Sri Lanka both in the short-run and long-run. It was also found that domestic debt crowds out FDI inflows in the long-run, but it crowds-in the flow of FDI in the short-run. Furthermore, external debt has a significant inverse relationship with FDI inflows in the short-run, as expected, but it does not influence FDI in the long-run. The findings also showed that higher lending interest rates reduce the volume of domestic investment, but it does not influence FDI in the long-run. However, in short-run, an increase in the rate of lending interest rate lowers the expectation of foreign investors and crowds out the flow of FDI in Sri Lanka, as expected. Furthermore, the depreciation of the exchange rate decreases both domestic and foreign investment in the short-run, but it encourages both types of investments in the long-run. The results further concluded that the impact of domestic debt on various forms of investment in Sri Lanka is greater than external debts. The study, therefore, recommends that the government should strive to reduce its higher debt profile by improving its revenue base and formulate better debt management strategies in order to increase the volume of investment in the country.
Keywords: Domestic Debt, External Debt, Domestic Investment, Foreign Direct Investment, Sri Lanka
Demand Driven Factors of Inflation in Sri Lanka: An ARDL Approach: 1977- 2019
Authors: De Alwis Tyrone 
Published: April 2024

Inflation in Sri Lanka has been one of the major macroeconomic issues that the country has faced with, especially after 1977, because inflation in Sri Lanka is persistently high as it has indicated a double-digit figure. There are various factors contributing to this effect. The present study analyses the demand-driven factors of inflation in Sri Lanka because diverse theories were put forward by economists. Demand-Pull inflation is occurred when the aggregate demand (AD) exceeds aggregate supply (AS). There is an increase in aggregate demand (AD) categorised through four sectors of the economy such as business, households, foreign buyers and government. To identify such factors, the time series data is used applying ARDL technique to identify the long-run and short-run relationships during 1977-2019 period. The demand-driven long-run factors are real GDP, fiscal deficit, treasury bills rate 91-days, and broad money supply. However, short-run factors are real GDP, imports, fiscal deficit, nominal wages -board, nominal wages – government and broad money supply. The findings would be useful for policy makers in their effort in controlling the inflation in the country by maintaining the price stability in Sri Lanka in a sustainable manner. The study found that increase in money in the economy will increase prices in the country in the short-run. Money supply indicated highest impact on the inflation. Thus, due to higher growth in money supply investments opportunities will tend to go up and more employment opportunities will be generated in the country. This will cause the aggregate demand to rise causing the domestic prices of goods and services to go up due to higher demand. These results clearly show that money supply impacts the inflation through demand side.
Keywords: Inflation, ARDL, Co-Integration, Money Supply, Fiscal Deficit, Central Bank, Monetary Policy
Role of Quadruple Helix in Fostering Social Innovation through Women’s Entrepreneurship: A Case Study of Sri Lanka
Authors: Palliyaguru Thathsara Dulangi 
Published: April 2024

In the aftermath of the Tsunami disaster in 2004 and the current COVID-19 pandemic, developing nations have faced high economic disparities. Sri Lanka, an island nation in South Asia, has faced the same economic hardships that many economies face globally. The hardest-hit segment of this economic incongruence has been the marginal communities. Post-Tsunami disaster development scenarios have revealed female entrepreneurs of marginal communities as social innovators. The said women entrepreneurs have managed to develop village economies and empower local society. However, as the international aid reduced over time, lack of empowerment, economic hardships, and domestic abuse, female entrepreneurship has decreased throughout the nation. Currently, prominent support to empower women's entrepreneurship has been via non-governmental organisations, which have induced limited collaborations between government agencies, industries, and universities. Yet, there is a lack of transparency and lack of partnership within these actors. Throughout the study, I portray that by creating a knowledge economy via strengthening the quadruple helix, it is possible to increase female entrepreneurship skills, thus leading social innovations in marginal communities. Moreover, based on the findings of this research, I propose practical policy implementations by the creation of regional incubators which are accessible to marginal communities. I bring forward that regional incubators will act as a collaborative agent between government agencies, various industries, regional universities, and civil society. Furthermore, they will function as knowledge transfer offices. An innovative hub of this nature will undertake as a beacon of female entrepreneurship and forefront of social innovation.
Keywords: Social Innovation, Female Entrepreneurship, Quadruple Helix, Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, Regional Incubators, Knowledge-Driven Entrepreneurship
Determinants of Translating Entrepreneurial Intention to Action: A Study of Undergraduate Students of the University of Peradeniya
Authors: De Alwis D.T. , Kodithuwakku K.A.S.S. , Hemachandra D. 
Published: April 2024

Entrepreneurs are the wealth creators of an economy, and hence, business start-ups are always encouraged. Although it is often suggested that entrepreneurial intentions are strong predictors of entrepreneurial action, all intentions do not necessarily translate into action as there is an “intention-action gap” when nascent entrepreneurs fail to act on their intentions. This study aimed to explain the gap between entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial action and identify the determinants of the intention to action translation by surveying the final year undergraduates from different degree programmes at a major public university in Sri Lanka. The research focused on the effects of demographic, psychographic, and environmental factors to explain the intention-action gap. Data were collected using a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was circulated online among the entire final year undergraduate student population of the University of Peradeniya. Four hundred and fifty-three undergraduate students (n=453) responded to the survey. Hierarchical OLS regression with the main effect model and an interactions model was used for the data analysis. Results found that of the respondents who had entrepreneurial intentions, 32% had taken some actions towards starting a business. The results also revealed a positive relationship between entrepreneurial intention and action and there were positive effects of gender, perceived competence in entrepreneurial skills, entrepreneurial environment in the faculty, and entrepreneurial education on entrepreneurial actions. Furthermore, it was found that progressing from entrepreneurial intention to action was more robust for male undergraduates compared to female undergraduates. Therefore, to promote entrepreneurship, introducing entrepreneurship courses, introducing programmes to improve entrepreneurial skills and competencies and promoting an entrepreneurial culture in the faculties could be recommended.
Keywords: Entrepreneurial Intention, Entrepreneurial Action, Hierarchical OLS Regression, Students
Impact of Work from Home on Employee Job Satisfaction and Performance: A Study of a Selected IT Company in Sri Lanka
Authors: Priyangaa Y. , Wickramaratne M.A.P.D.P. 
Published: April 2024

The Sri Lankan government established the social distance policy and lockdown system as a remedial measure to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Therefore, the organisations decided to implement the work from home concept even though it is new to Sri Lankans. Hence, the present research was undertaken to examine the situation of work from home, to examine the impact of work from home on employee job satisfaction and performance, and to provide suggestions and recommendations to improve the employees’ outcomes during work from home. The study was conducted in an information technology service company in Colombo. The conceptual model of this study was tested mainly based on the primary data which were collected through a pre-tested structured questionnaire by online survey with a randomly selected sample of 100 information technology application support consultants. Standard statistical procedures such as reliability test, Wilcoxon-singed rank, correlation analysis, and regression analysis were used to analyse the data. The results revealed that the majority of the information technology application support consultants were male, single (living with family), educated up to bachelor degree level, and satisfied with work from home. The analysis has shown that organisational climate, technical support, financial support, task identity, dealing with others, and feedback from clients significantly affected the work from home (p = 0.000). Further, findings disclosed that work from home was positively correlated with employee job satisfaction (r = 0.638, p = 0.000) and employee job performance (r = 0.618, p = 0.000). This study could be concluded that work from home has a positive and significant impact on employee job satisfaction and performance of the selected information technology service company. Further, the outcomes of this study mainly recommended providing sufficient credit facilities such as: providing loans for a home-based office (Mean = 4.69, p = 0.000). The findings of this study provide significant insight to information technology service companies who implement and perform the work from home concept, to enhance the employees’ outcome during work from home situations.
Keywords: Employee Job Performance, Employee Job Satisfaction, Impact, Work from Home
Study on the Exposure to E-Learning during COVID-19: Special Reference to Management Undergraduates of Non-State Universities
Authors: Weerasinghe D.S.H. , Biyanwila D.S. P. , Bogahage S.D. , Thiwanka M.P.S. , Weerarathna R. S. , Pathirana U.P.G.Y. 
Published: April 2024

Education is a goal of every human being in this modern era. The remarkable growth in information technology and the internet over the past few years has propelled the need for the application of e-learning among the educational sectors. Due to the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sri Lankan educational institutes were forced to transform to e-learning. Hence, it is essential to have a strong awareness on the engagement of students in this e-learning. The purpose of this study is to examine the level of exposure to e-learning with special reference to the management undergraduates of non-state universities in Sri Lanka. This study is a quantitative research study and is based on a deductive research approach. For data collection, researchers used a questionnaire based on a convenience sampling process. A sample of 332 students was considered from a total population of 2500 students including 3rd and 4th year management undergraduates from two non-state universities. The collected data were analysed using one sample t-test analysis and descriptive analysis using the Statistical Package for Service Solutions. The researchers used one sample t-test to predict the students' level of exposure to e-learning based on the mean value of e-learning. The results show that students had a high level of exposure to e-learning with a value of 3.92. In addition, it revealed that system quality, instructors’ quality, digital readiness and learners’ attitude are highly influential towards the students’ level of exposure to e-learning. Furthermore, descriptive analysis revealed that the average GPA achieved by undergraduates utilising e-learning is higher than by traditional learning with an average score of 3.35. The findings of this study can serve as a guideline for higher educational institutions in developing appropriate initiatives to uplift the e-learning exposure. The main limitation of the study was that only management undergraduates were taken into consideration. As a result, future researchers should focus their efforts on different faculty studies separately to explore the level of e-learning exposure in each one of them.
Keywords: COVID-19, E-Learning, Exposure, GPA, Undergraduates
Mediating Role of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour for the Environment in the Relationship between Perceived Green IT Practices and Perceived Environmental Performance of Bank
Authors: Binali Patuwatha Withanage Yashara , Arulrajah Anthonypillai Anton 
Published: April 2024

Information Technology (IT) provides pervasive advantages and benefits to the organisations and society as a whole. People are comprehensively using and upgrading their standard of living and quality of life through IT advancements. Business organisations are moving towards digitalisation day by day. IT provides strong platforms for the entire operations of the world. At the same time, IT has been contributing to serious environmental problems and issues that most people do not realise or understand. To reduce IT-related environmental problems and to create a sustainable environment, organisations have to promote Green Information Technology (GIT) practices. In Sri Lanka, banks recently shifted towards GIT practices. Hence, there are theoretical and empirical knowledge gaps in the literature regarding the relationships among Perceived Green Information Technology (PGIT) practices, Perceived Environmental Performances (PEP), and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour for the Environment (OCBE). Hence, this study intends to explore the relationship between PGIT practices and PEP and to investigate the possible mediating role of OCBE in the relationship between PGIT practices and PEP of selected commercial banks in the Matara City of Sri Lanka. The primary data for this study was collected through questionnaires from 125 employees of the selected bank in the study area. The findings of this study revealed that PGIT practices have a significant positive relationship with the PEP of the banks. The study also confirms that OCBE mediates the relationship between PGIT and PEP of banks. This study contributes to empirical knowledge and understanding of PGIT practices, OCBE, and PEP in the banking sector.
Keywords: Green Information Technology, Employee, Organisational Citizenship Behaviour for the Environment, Environmental Performance, Bank
Impact of Green Marketing Mix Strategies on Customer-Based Brand Equity in Green Hotels: Matale District in Sri Lanka
Authors: Madhunimasha M.M.S.C. , Pathmini M.G.S. 
Published: April 2024

This paper aims to examine the impact of Green Marketing Mix Strategies (GMMS) on Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) in green hotels in Sri Lanka. The paper opens by identifying CBBE as a paradox for green marketing strategies and a short discussion on CBBE as a vital strategic bridge. The paper provides some accessible reflections on CBBE and GMM-S within the hotels in the Matale District, Sri Lanka. Three main dimensions that measure the CBBE are: brand loyalty, perceived brand quality and brand trust while green marketing strategies are; green product, green pricing, green place and green promotion. The survey approach has been used as the research strategy and this is a cross-sectional study. Both primary and secondary data were used for the study. The population of this study was green hotels located in the Matale District, Sri Lanka. A sample of 11 hotels was selected by administering the purposive sampling technique. A self-administrated questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale was utilised for collecting the primary data. The collected data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Cronbach’s alpha values confirmed the reliability of the data. Results of linear regression analysis indicated a significant, positive impact of GM strategies on CBBE in the hotel industry in Sri Lanka. This paper also suggests green marketing strategies to be specially considered and it describes the value of maintaining green marketing practises within green hotels in the Matale District, Sri Lanka.
Keywords: Customer-Based Brand Equity, Green Hotels, Green Marketing Mix, Green Marketing Strategy Matrix, Green Consumer