Annual Report 2005 - Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka

IPS Research ThemesPublic Enterprise Reform, Competition, &Regulatory PolicyThe research undertaken under the theme public enterprise reform, competition and regulatory policy atthe IPS, is geared to provide independent analysis and policy inputs to the Government of Sri Lankaas well as to other players in the policy space on issues relating toprivatization and public enterprise reform, regulation and Publications in 2005regulatory governance, and competition policy.Knight-John, Malathy and P.P.A.Wasantha Athukorala, “AssessingGiven the policy stance adopted by the new political regime over Privatization in Sri Lanka:the past year and in view of the need to reorient the reform process Distribution and Governance” intowards the objective of sustainable and equitable growth, research Nellis, John and Nancy Birdsallunder this theme over the year has focused largely on evaluating(eds.) The Distributional Impact ofPrivatization in Developingpublic enterprise reform strategies that can have a positive impactCountries. Washington D.C.:on the Sri Lankan economy and on re-thinking the role of the state Center for Global Developmentand of the market in generating balanced growth. Hence, researchKnight-John, Malathy andunder the theme of public enterprise reform explore as to ‘Which Sisira Jayasuriya, “Sri Lanka’s“institutional” mechanisms would be most effective to achieve Telecommunications Industry:equitable and sustainable growth in the Sri Lankan context?’. And From Privatization to Anti-Competition?” in Hossain, M.,seeks to explore the following research issues: a) options forA.Brown & T.Nguyen (eds.)restructuring state-owned entities, b) regulation, regulatoryTelecommunications Reform in thegovernance and regulatory impact assessment, and c) competition Asia Pacific: Economic andpolicy.Regulatory Experience. U.K:Edward ElgarHighlightsThe Replicability of A Microfinance Approach toExtending Telecommunications Access toMarginal Customers: Drawing from theGrameen StoryThis research was done in collaboration with LIRNEasia - a regionalICT policy and regulation capacity building entity, and the Asianaffiliate of LIRNE.NET This study follows from the WorldDialogue on Regulation’s (WDR) theme for 2004/2005 onDiversifying Participation in the Different Elements of NetworkDevelopment, conducted in parallel to other case studies in India,Indonesia and Nepal. The conceptual framework for this studyrelates to particular gaps in the literature on the range of possiblesources of investment for network development, the opportunitiesthat network participation provides and the policy and regulatorybarriers that must be overcome to realize these opportunities. Thisstudy looks at the fundamental problem of access totelecommunications and focuses on a particular innovative solutionthat has emerged in response to this problem in Bangladesh, underKnight-John, Malathy andChethana Ellepola, “A CaseStudy on TelecommunicationsInterconnection in Sri Lanka”in Gallagher, Peter, PatrickLow & Andrew Stoler (eds.)Managing the Challenges of WTOParticipation, CambridgeUniversity PressThurairetnam, Apsara,“Competition Law and Policy inSri Lanka: Perspectives andFuture Prospects” in Pradeep S.Mehta (ed.) Competition Regimesin the World: A Civil SocietyReport. Jaipur: CUTSInternationalForthcoming PublicationsThurairetnam, Apsara,“Competition Law and Policy inSri Lanka: Policy Perspectives”,IPS, Colombo, Sri Lanka21__________ Annual Report 2005