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Sri Lanka's Rural Non-Farm Economy: Removing Constraints to Pro-Poor Growth

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  • Deininger, Klaus
  • Jin, Songqing
  • Sur, Mona

Abstract

We use a survey of small rural enterprises from Sri Lanka to demonstrate quantitatively the economic importance of this sector and to identify participants' characteristics and obstacles to the sector's expansion and productivity. Value added in the rural non-farm sector is estimated to amount to 80% of agricultural GDP and mean incomes for those having a rural enterprise to be about double of those who do not. Barriers to entry appear to be low and the impact of non-farm enterprise development on inequality modest and temporary, implying the potential for the sector to make a significant contribution to growth and poverty reduction. At the same time, infrastructure constraints (but not regulatory obstacles) pose a formidable barrier to startup of new enterprises and to investment and increased productivity by existing ones. The fact that such constraints emerge as particularly harmful for small enterprises suggests that policies to improve delivery of the public services in question will be important to provide a basis for a flourishing rural non-farm sector which in turn will have an important role for poverty reduction.
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  • Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing & Sur, Mona, 2007. "Sri Lanka's Rural Non-Farm Economy: Removing Constraints to Pro-Poor Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 2056-2078, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:35:y:2007:i:12:p:2056-2078
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    1. Tidiane Kinda & Josef Loening, 2010. "Small Enterprise Growth and the Rural Investment Climate: Evidence from Tanzania," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 22(1), pages 173-207.
    2. World Bank, 2007. "Sri Lanka - Poverty Assessment : Engendering Growth with Equity, Opportunities and Challenges," World Bank Publications - Reports 8050, The World Bank Group.
    3. Khandker, Shahidur R. & Samad, Hussain A. & Ali, Rubaba, 2013. "Does access to finance matter in microenterprise growth ? evidence from Bangladesh," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6333, The World Bank.
    4. McCulloch, Neil & Weisbrod, Julian & Timmer, C. Peter, 2007. "Pathways out of poverty during an economic crisis : an empirical assessment of rural Indonesia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4173, The World Bank.
    5. Rijkers, Bob & Söderbom, Måns & Loening, Josef L., 2010. "A Rural-Urban Comparison of Manufacturing Enterprise Performance in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(9), pages 1278-1296, September.
    6. Mohammod Lutful Kabir, 2015. "Gender Considerations for Rural Poverty Reduction in Bangladesh," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 16(2), pages 309-324, September.
    7. Rijkers, Bob & Söderbom, Måns, 2013. "The Effects of Risk and Shocks on Non-Farm Enterprise Development in Rural Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 119-136.
    8. Sosina Bezu & Christopher Barrett, 2012. "Employment Dynamics in the Rural Nonfarm Sector in Ethiopia: Do the Poor Have Time on Their Side?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(9), pages 1223-1240, September.
    9. Loening, Josef & Rijkers, Bob & Soderbom, Mans, 2008. "Nonfarm microenterprise performance and the investment climate : evidence from rural Ethiopia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4577, The World Bank.
    10. Rijkers, Bob & Costa, Rita, 2012. "Gender and Rural Non-Farm Entrepreneurship," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(12), pages 2411-2426.
    11. Pelz, Setu & Aklin, Michaël & Urpelainen, Johannes, 2021. "Electrification and productive use among micro- and small-enterprises in rural North India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    12. Lahiri, Bidisha & Daramola, Richard, 2023. "Effects of credit and labor constraints on microenterprises and the unintended impact of changes in household endowments: Use of threshold estimation to detect heterogeneity," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 21-38.
    13. Rao, Narasimha D., 2013. "Does (better) electricity supply increase household enterprise income in India?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 532-541.
    14. Rijkers, Bob & Soderbom, Mans & Loening, Josef, 2009. "Mind the gap ? a rural-urban comparison of manufacturing firms," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4946, The World Bank.
    15. Anjani Kumar & Nijara Deka & Seema Bathla & Sunil Saroj & S. K. Srivastava, 2020. "Rural Non-farm Employment in Eastern India: Implications for Economic Well-being," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(3), pages 657-676, September.
    16. Aditi Bhattacharyya & Daisy Das & Arkadipta Ghosh, 2017. "Electrification and Welfare of Poor Households in Rural India," Working Papers 1702, Sam Houston State University, Department of Economics and International Business.
    17. Singh, Udai Bhan & Mishra, Nripendra KIshore, 2016. "Dynamics of Non-Farm Informal Enterprises in Rural Uttar Pradesh: A Disaggregated Analysis," Journal of Regional Development and Planning, Rajarshi Majumder, vol. 5(1), pages 35-54.

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