Annual Report 2005 - Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka

IPS ResearchResearch ProgrammeThe substantive focus of the Institute’s research programme is to provide an integrated analysis of themedium to longer term development challenges facing Sri Lanka in order to meet the fundamentalpolicy objectives of sustainable growth, equity and poverty alleviation. The central policy issues are taken upunder research themes and carried out under research programmes in thematically selected areas of research.These research programmes reflect recognized strengths of the Institute, existing staff expertise, accumulateddatabases and perceived areas of policy need. Each programme works within the medium-term researchagenda, adopting cross-linkages across the programmes wherever feasible to ensure coherence and policyrelevance to the overall direction of the Institute’s research output.The main research programmes at present are as follows: Macroeconomic Policy, International EconomicPolicy, Labour, Employment, Human Resources Development and Industrial Policy, Public Enterprise Reform,Competition, and Regulatory Policy, Environmental Economic Policy, Health Policy, Poverty and SocialWelfare, and Agricultural Economic Policy.In addition to these main research programmes, other specialized areas of research such as governance,gender, political economy etc., are also undertaken by the IPS to enable the IPS to incorporate a broader rangeof issues in its overall work programme. The research programme seeks to address key issues in theseresearch areas through IPS funded work as well as externally funded collaborative work with both domesticand international partners.BackgroundA central theme that has emerged in policy discussion, is how to achieve more equitable growth – be it on thebasis of regional, income, or ethnic disparities – without compromising the overall growth potential of theeconomy. While the broad thrust of economic policy remains within the framework of a liberal open economy,the perceived disparities in economic growth has brought about a nuanced change in focus. Increasingly,greater emphasis has come to be placed on rural economic development, agriculture, and small and mediumenterprises (SMEs) as means of generating growth with equity. The challenge will be to devise policies thatregenerate the rural economy without imposing a cost on the more competitive industrial and services sectors.The core aim of IPS research is to contribute constructively to the discussions and debates on appropriatepolicies to achieve sustained and equitable growth by providing an analysis of some of the priority issues.The IPS research output over time has addressed many of these key areas; the intention is to build on thesubstantive work that has already been carried out, identify gaps in the existing body of research andformulate a coherent medium-term work programme. As such, under the overall theme of achieving sustainablegrowth with equity, key questions around which the research agenda is programmed include the following:• Where will growth come from in the medium-term?• Why and how is poverty and inequality increasing?• What is the role of the State in generating equitable growth?• How can Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic policies be shaped to achieve equitable growth?• How can livelihoods be protected and vulnerability of the poor reduced?9__________ Annual Report 2005