Browsing by Author "Gooneratne, D.W.A."

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Does infrastructure development spur poverty alleviation? Evidence from Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Gooneratne, D.W.A.; Kannangara, S.D.P.P
Infrastructure refers to the basic facilities and systems that serve a country, region, or community, playing a significant role in promoting economic growth. The physical infrastructure, such as transportation, power, and telecommunication, eases economic access and contributes largely towards economic development, whereas social infrastructure improves people's living standards by focusing on education, health, and sanitation. Infrastructure development acts as a key pillar of economic development, whereas inefficient practices upsurge the vulnerability of the poor to lower quality of life and economic shocks and hinder their access to basic facilities. However, despite the substantial capital allocations on infrastructure projects over the last decade, more Sri Lankans were seen slipping into poverty lately. The study aims to examine the impact of infrastructure development on poverty alleviation in Sri Lanka. The study uses a quantitative research approach where secondary data were collected from 1960-2020 for multiple indicators available under four key segments, i.e., transportation, power, water, and telecommunication, to measure infrastructure development. Poverty alleviation was proxied through per capita consumption expenditure. Further, the study adopts Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique to analyze the relationship between the variables. The co-integration test results of the study depict a long-run relationship between infrastructure development and poverty alleviation in Sri Lanka. The ARDL test results posit that infrastructure development and economic growth lessen poverty in both the long and short run. Further, the Causality test corroborates an optimistic and unidirectional causality from infrastructure development to poverty reduction in the Sri Lankan context. The study findings depict the importance of developing government economic policies to implement positive NPV-generating projects to maximize the benefit for the vulnerable parties in society.
Impact of In-Store Atmosphere and Personal Factors on Consumer Impulse Buying Behavior in Supermarket
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2021) Gooneratne, D.W.A.; Wimalasiri, R.K.H.S.
The supermarket industry is one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing industries in Sri Lanka. Given the current intense competition in the industry driven by homogenous merchandise, retailers often focus on in-store atmosphere and personal factors in order to differentiate their offerings from the competitors. It was observed that customers make impulse purchase decisions inside the store, primarily driven by the in-store stimuli. The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of in-store atmosphere and personal factors on customer impulse buying behavior in the supermarket. Money availability, time availability and family influence are recognized as the main personal factors affecting customer impulse buying behavior whereas in-store advertisements and promotions, music, store layout and friendly employees are identified as the main factors contributing to the in-store atmosphere under this study. The study adopted a quantitative research approach where self-administrated survey questionnaire responses were collected from 120 supermarket customers spanning over 06 supermarket chains. In order to test the hypothesized relationships between the variables, multiple regression analysis was performed using SPSS. The findings revealed that both personal factors (i.e., Money availability, Time availability, Family influence) and determinant factors of in-store atmosphere (i.e., In-store advertisements and promotions, Music, Store layout, Friendly employees) make a significant positive influence on consumer impulse buying behavior. Consequentially, these findings are valuable for the retailers to identify key in-store environmental and personal factors that enhance overall customer shopping experience and to identify the factors that trigger impulse buying behavior.
Is Financial Sector Evolution Pivotal in Poverty Alleviation in Sri Lanka?
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Kannangara, S.D.P.P; Gooneratne, D.W.A.
The studies in the field of financial sector development have gradually flourished, drawing increased attention from scholars globally. The rich literature posits that financial development is a core requirement in achieving the economic growth of a country. World Bank postulates that the evolution in a country's financial sector ensures capital accumulation via savings growth, mobilization of funds, risk management, and continuous flow of foreign direct investments whilst reinforcing efficient capital allocations leading to economic development. Albeit efficient credit allocations and increased investments correspond to financial development, inequalities in income distribution are often visible in society. Raising the savings rate, mobilising and pooling funds, producing investment information, facilitating and encouraging foreign capital inflows, optimising capital allocation, economic growth through capital accumulation, and technical advancement is essential to the financial sector development in poverty alleviation. The study investigates the impact of financial sector development on poverty alleviation in Sri Lanka. The study adopts a quantitative approach where secondary data are manually collected from 1960-2020. Financial sector evolution was proxied through broad money stock (M3) to nominal GDP ratio and domestic bank credit to the private sector to GDP ratio, whereas poverty alleviation was measured using the per capita consumption expenditure. The study employs Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique to analyze the relationship between the variables. The co-integration test results of the study depict a long-run relationship between financial development and poverty alleviation in Sri Lanka. The ARDL test results posit that financial development coupled with economic growth lessens poverty in both the long and short run. Further, the Causality test corroborates an optimistic and unidirectional causality from financial development to poverty reduction in the Sri Lankan context. The study results reflect the importance of continuous developments in the financial sector by improving financial accessibility and diversifying financial products while reinforcing the financial institutions of the country aiming at the underserved market segments.