Economics

| Peer-Reviewed |

Determinants of Household Poverty in the Rural Sector in Sri Lanka: 1990-2010

Received: 10 August 2014    Accepted: 22 August 2014    Published: 30 August 2014
Views:       Downloads:

Share This Article

Abstract

A satisfactory explanation of why some people are poor is essential to tackle the roots of poverty. Therefore, the causes of poverty and their behavior over time are more important to understand the depth of the problem in a particular sector in a country. This study examines the micro-level factors associated with household poverty and their behavior over the years in the rural sector in Sri Lanka using disaggregated Household Income and Expenditure Surveys (HIES) data in 1990/91 to 2009/10 using Probit regression analyses. The major factors affected for the poverty reduction in the rural sector within last two decades are employment of the head of the household in the public sector, education of the head of the household, the head engaging in the non-agriculture sector, higher female adult ratio, and the receipt of remittances. They are statistically significant variables to the model. Relatively, foreign remittance has played a very important role in poverty reduction in the rural sector. Households with the higher dependency ratio, the large household size, and head engaged in private sector job and the female headed households are more likely to be poor in the rural sector in Sri Lanka. However, almost all the coefficients (both positive and negative factors) show declining trends of their impact on poverty over time while impacts of the head engage in non-agriculture activities and the higher female adult ratio have increased.

DOI 10.11648/j.eco.20140303.11
Published in Economics (Volume 3, Issue 3, June 2014)
Page(s) 43-49
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Poverty Determinants, Probit Regression Analysis, Rural Sector, Sri Lanka

References
[1] Amarasinghe, U. (2005). Spatial clustering of rural poverty and food insecurity in Sri Lanka. Food Policy(30), 493-509.
[2] Athurupane, H. (1998). Education and poverty in Sri Lanka (Technical report for a policy frame work for poverty reduction in Sri Lanka). External Resource Department, Ministry of Finance and Planning, Colombo
[3] Bhatta, S. D., & Sharma, S. K. (2006). The determinants and consequences of chronic and transient poverty in Nepal: Chronic poverty research centre (CPRC).
[4] Bourguignon, F. (2003). The growth elasticity of poverty reduction: explaining heterogeneity across countries and time periods. Inequality and growth: Theory and policy implications, 3, 26.
[5] Central Bank of Sri Lanka. (2012). Socio Economic data Vol.35.
[6] Chandrasiri, G. W. J., & Samarakoon, L. (2008). Spatial patterns and geographic determinants of poverty in Sri Lanka: linking poverty mapping with geoinformatics. Paper presented at the Asian Conference on Remote Sensing (ACRS) Colombo, Sri Lanka
[7] Conway, T. (2004). Trade liberalisation and poverty reduction. London Overseas Development Institute
[8] Datt, G., & Jolliffe D. (1999. Determinants of poverty in Egypt:1997.
[9] DCS. (2011). Household Income and Expenditure Survey - 2009/10 - Final Report Colombo: Department of Census and Statistics, Ministry of Finance and Planning , Sri Lanka.
[10] De Silva, I. (2008). Micro-level determinants of poverty reduction in Sri Lanka: a multivariate approach. International Journal of Social Economics, 35(No.03), pp 140-158.
[11] Deaton, A. (1997). The analysis of household surveys : A microeconometric approach to development theory. Baltimore: Johns Hipkins University Press.
[12] Dudek. (2006). Determinants of poverty in Polish farmers' households-binary choice model approach. Electronic Journal of Polish Agicultural Universites, 9(1),
[13] Edirisinhghe, H. (1990. Poverty in Sri Lanka: its extent , distribution and characteristics of the poor. Paper presented at the paper submited to the World Bank for the Sri Lanka poverti alleviation and employment project,Colombo.
[14] Eelens , F., & Speckmann, J. D. (1990). Recruitment of labor migrants for the Middle East: the Sri Lankan case. International Migration Review, 24(2), 297-322.
[15] Epo, B. N., & Baye, F. M. (2012). Determinants of Well-being and Poverty Changes in Cameroon: 2001-2007. African Development Review, 24(1), 18-33.
[16] Galbraith, J. K. (1979). The Nature of Mass Poverty. Cambridge,Mass, London: Harvvard University Press.
[17] Glewwe, P. (1991). Investigating the determinants of household welfare in Cote d'Ivoire. Journal of Devlopment Economics, 35 307-337.
[18] Gunatilaka, R., Chotikapanich , D., & Inder, B. (2005). Impact of structural change in education, industry and infrastructure on income distribution in Sri Lanka (WORKING PAPER 21/06). Monash University, Australia
[19] Gunatilaka, R., Wan, G. H., & Chatterjee, S. (2009). Poverty and Human Development in Sri Lanka: Asian Development Bank.
[20] Gunawardena, D. (2000). Consumption poverty in Sri Lanka 1985-96. External resource department, Ministry of Finance and Planning, Sri Lanka
[21] Gunawardena, D. (2004). Improving poverty measurement in Sri Lanka (MPRA Paper No 7695). Colombo, Sr Lanka: Center for Poverty Analysis (CEPA)
[22] Himaz, R. (2008). Welfare grants and their impact on child health: the case of Sri Lanka. World Development 36(10), 1843-1857.
[23] Himaz, R., & Aturupane, H. (2011). Education and Household Welfare in Sri Lanka from 1985 to 2006. Economics Series Working Papers
[24] Jalan, J., Ravallion, M., & Unit, P. (1998). Determinants of transient and chronic poverty: evidence from rural China. World
[25] Lakshman, W. D. (1997). Income distribution and poverty. In W. D. Lakshman (Ed.), Dilemmas of development Association of Economist, Colombo.
[26] Laksman, W. D. (Ed.). (2000). Sri Lanka's development since independence: Socio-economic perspectives and analysis. CA Tisdell: NOVA Science Publishers.Inc
[27] Lanjouw, P., & Ravallian, M. (1995). poverty and household size. The Economic Journal 105(1415-1434)
[28] Li, h., & Zahniser, S. (2002). The determinants of temporary rural to urban migration in China Urban Studies, 39(12), 2219-2235.
[29] Mok, T. y., Gan, C., & Sanyal, A. (2007). The determinants of urban poverty in Malasiya. Journal of Social Sciences, 3(4), 190-196.
[30] Nanayakkara, A. G. W. (2006). Poverty In Sri Lanka -isuues and options. Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka.
[31] Narayan, A., & Yoshida, N. (2005). Poverty in Sri Lanka: the impact of growth with rising inequality (33259). Word Bank.
[32] Okurut, F. N., Odwee, J. O. O., & Adebua, A. (1999). Determinants of regional poverty in Uganda: Economic Policy Research Center, Makerere University Campus.
[33] Perera, M., Gunatilleke , G., & Bird, P. (2007). Falling into the medical poverty trap in Sri Lanka: what can be done? International Journal of Health Services, 37(2), 379-398.
[34] Ravallion, M., & Chen, S. (2003). Measuring pro-poor growth. Economics Letters, 78(1), 93-99.
[35] RodrÃguez, J. G. (2011). The Determinants Of Poverty In Mexico.
[36] Tudawe, I. (2001). Chronic poverty and development policy in Sri Lanka: overview study: Institute for Development Policy and Management, The University of Manchester.
[37] World Bank. (2007). Sri Lanka poverty assessment: engendering growth with equity: opportunities and challenges (Report No. 36568-LK).
Author Information
  • Department of Economics, University of Kelaniya, Dalugama, Sri Lanka and Waikato Management School ,University of Waikato, NZ

  • Department of Economics, Waikato Management School, Hamilton, University of Waikato, NZ

Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Seetha Ranathunga, John Gibson. (2014). Determinants of Household Poverty in the Rural Sector in Sri Lanka: 1990-2010. Economics, 3(3), 43-49. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.eco.20140303.11

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Seetha Ranathunga; John Gibson. Determinants of Household Poverty in the Rural Sector in Sri Lanka: 1990-2010. Economics. 2014, 3(3), 43-49. doi: 10.11648/j.eco.20140303.11

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Seetha Ranathunga, John Gibson. Determinants of Household Poverty in the Rural Sector in Sri Lanka: 1990-2010. Economics. 2014;3(3):43-49. doi: 10.11648/j.eco.20140303.11

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.eco.20140303.11,
      author = {Seetha Ranathunga and John Gibson},
      title = {Determinants of Household Poverty in the Rural Sector in Sri Lanka: 1990-2010},
      journal = {Economics},
      volume = {3},
      number = {3},
      pages = {43-49},
      doi = {10.11648/j.eco.20140303.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.eco.20140303.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.eco.20140303.11},
      abstract = {A satisfactory explanation of why some people are poor is essential to tackle the roots of poverty. Therefore, the causes of poverty and their behavior over time are more important to understand the depth of the problem in a particular sector in a country. This study examines the micro-level factors associated with household poverty and their behavior over the years in the rural sector in Sri Lanka using disaggregated Household Income and Expenditure Surveys (HIES) data in 1990/91 to 2009/10 using Probit regression analyses. The major factors affected for the poverty reduction in the rural sector within last two decades are employment of the head of the household in the public sector, education of the head of the household, the head engaging in the non-agriculture sector, higher female adult ratio, and the receipt of remittances. They are statistically significant variables to the model. Relatively, foreign remittance has played a very important role in poverty reduction in the rural sector. Households with the higher dependency ratio, the large household size, and head engaged in private sector job and the female headed households are more likely to be poor in the rural sector in Sri Lanka. However, almost all the coefficients (both positive and negative factors) show declining trends of their impact on poverty over time while impacts of the head engage in non-agriculture activities and the higher female adult ratio have increased.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Determinants of Household Poverty in the Rural Sector in Sri Lanka: 1990-2010
    AU  - Seetha Ranathunga
    AU  - John Gibson
    Y1  - 2014/08/30
    PY  - 2014
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.eco.20140303.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.eco.20140303.11
    T2  - Economics
    JF  - Economics
    JO  - Economics
    SP  - 43
    EP  - 49
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2376-6603
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.eco.20140303.11
    AB  - A satisfactory explanation of why some people are poor is essential to tackle the roots of poverty. Therefore, the causes of poverty and their behavior over time are more important to understand the depth of the problem in a particular sector in a country. This study examines the micro-level factors associated with household poverty and their behavior over the years in the rural sector in Sri Lanka using disaggregated Household Income and Expenditure Surveys (HIES) data in 1990/91 to 2009/10 using Probit regression analyses. The major factors affected for the poverty reduction in the rural sector within last two decades are employment of the head of the household in the public sector, education of the head of the household, the head engaging in the non-agriculture sector, higher female adult ratio, and the receipt of remittances. They are statistically significant variables to the model. Relatively, foreign remittance has played a very important role in poverty reduction in the rural sector. Households with the higher dependency ratio, the large household size, and head engaged in private sector job and the female headed households are more likely to be poor in the rural sector in Sri Lanka. However, almost all the coefficients (both positive and negative factors) show declining trends of their impact on poverty over time while impacts of the head engage in non-agriculture activities and the higher female adult ratio have increased.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

  • Sections