The Challenge of Youth Employment in Sri Lanka

Ramani Gunatilaka

Description

Sri Lanka has long been regarded as a model of a successful welfare state in a low-income setting, yet it has not succeeded in creating a sufficient number of "good jobs" for the increasing number of young people. Hence, young Sri Lankans perceive their country as an unjust and unequal society, in which mainstream institutions have failed to address inequalities in the distribution of resources, as well as of benefits deriving from economic growth.
Against this background, 'The Challenge of Youth Employment in Sri Lanka' aims to identify ways to improve the opportunities available to new job market entrants by addressing existing inequalities and to help young people more fully realize their potentials.
Drawing from original research and a review of existing studies, the authors use the "4Es" conceptual framework to analyze four key aspects of labor markets-employment creation, employability, entrepreneurship, and equal opportunity-identifying main issues and results, current trends, and possible new approaches.

Informations

• Publié par: world-bank-publications
• Publié le: 11 mai 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 9
• EAN13: 9780821381182
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

DIRECTIONS IN DEVEL OPMENT
Human De v elopmen t
T he Challenge of
Youth Employment in
Sri Lanka
Ramani Gunatilaka, Markus Mayer, Milan Vodopivec
EditorsThe Challenge of Youth Employment
in Sri LankaThe Challenge of Youth
Employment in Sri Lanka
Ramani Gunatilaka, Markus Mayer, Milan Vodopivec© 2010 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank
1818 H Street NW
Washington DC 20433
Telephone: [phone]
Internet: www.worldbank.org
E-mail: [e-mail]
All rights reserved
1 2 3 4 13 12 11 10
This volume is a product of the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development / The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this
volume do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the
governments they represent.
The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The bound-
aries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply
any judgement on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the
endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.
Rights and Permissions
The material in this publication is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions or all of this
work without permission may be a violation of applicable law. The International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank encourages dissemination of its work and will
normally grant permission to reproduce portions of the work promptly.
For permission to photocopy or reprint any part of this work, please send a request with complete
information to the Copyright Clearance Center Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923,
USA; telephone: [phone]; fax: [phone]; Internet: www.copyright.com.
All other queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to the
Office of the Publisher, The World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA;
fax: [phone]; e-mail: [e-mail].
ISBN: 978-0-8213-8117-5
eISBN: 978-0-8213-8118-2
DOI: 10.1596/978-0-8213-8117-5
Cover photo: © Studio Times, Ltd.
Cover design: Naylor Design, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gunatilaka, Ramani.
The challenge of youth employment in Sri Lanka / Ramani Gunatilaka, Markus Mayer, and Milan
Vodopivec.
p. cm. — (Directions in development)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8213-8117-5 (alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8213-8118-2 (ebook)
1. Youth—Employment—Sri Lanka. 2. School-to-work transition—Sri Lanka. 3. Labor market—
Sri Lanka. 4. Youth—Sri Lanka—Social conditions. I. Mayer, Markus, 1960- II. Vodopivec, Milan.
III. Title.
HD6276.S682G86 2010
331.3'4137095493—dc22
2009043694Contents
Foreword xiii
About the Authors and Editors xv
Abbreviations xix
Introduction: The Problem of Youth Unemployment 1
The Context 3
Underlying Factors of Unemployment and
Social Exclusion 6
Policy Directions 12
Conclusions 16
Note 17
References 17
Chapter 1 Labor Market Trends and Outcomes in Sri Lanka 19
Nisha Arunatilake and Priyanka Jayawardena
Data and Definitions 21
The Size of and Trends in the Youth Labor Force 21
Employment 31
vvi Contents
Unemployment Trends 39
Patterns and Trends in Labor Earnings 43
Conclusions and Policy Recommendations 45
Annex Definition of Labor Market Indicators
Used in the Analysis 47
Notes 47
References 48
Chapter 2 Labor Market Institutions and Labor Market
Segmentation in Sri Lanka 49
Ramani Gunatilaka and Milan Vodopivec
Determinants of Informal Employment in Sri Lanka 50
The Operation of Wage-setting Institutions 53
Impact of Employment Protection Legislation 57
Concluding Remarks 64
Notes 66
References 66
Chapter 3 Explaining Labor Market Imbalance in Sri Lanka:
Evidence from Jobsnet Data 69
Nisha Arunatilake and Priyanka Jayawardena
Framework for Analysis 70
Data 72
Results 73
Main Findings and Recommendations 85
Limitations of Jobsnet Data 86
Notes 87
References 88
Chapter 4 Effect of Training on Labor Market Outcomes 91
Sunil Chandrasiri
Evolution of TEVT Policies and Institutional
Framework 92
Participation Trends 96
Sector Performance 100
Summary of Findings 107Contents vii
Policy Implications and Recommendations 108
Annex TEVT Training by Type of Industry
(Public Sector Only) 110
Notes 111
References 112
Chapter 5 School-to-Work Transition of Sri Lankan
University Graduates 115
Milan Vodopivec and Nimnath Withanachchi
Unemployment Trends and Institutional
Background 116
Data and Methodology 119
Results 121
Conclusions and Policy Implications 133
Annex A Characteristics of Respondents 136
Notes 137
References 137
Chapter 6 Youth Mobility and Overseas Migration
in Sri Lanka 139
Asha Abeyasekera
Definitions 140
Key Features of the Migrant Labor Market 142
Key Findings 148
Conclusion 161
Notes 163
References 163
Chapter 7 Developing Youth Entrepreneurs:
A Viable Youth Employment Strategy
in Sri Lanka? 167
Nireka Weeratunge
Conceptual Issues 168
Methods 172
Background on the Training Programs 173
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Entrepreneurship
Training Programs 177viii Contents
Differentiating the Two Goals of Entrepreneurship
Training 185
Creating an Enabling Sociocultural Environment
for Promoting Youth Entrepreneurship 186
Creating an Enabling Economic and Regulatory
Environment for Y 189
Recommendations 190
Notes 193
References 195
Chapter 8 Discrimination and Social Exclusion of Youth
in Sri Lanka 199
Harini Amarasuriya
Youth “Problems” 201
Youth Perceptions of Discrimination 202
Common Assumptions in Analyzing Issues of Youth 205
Conclusion 214
Notes 215
References 215
Chapter 9 An Analysis of Gender and Ethnic Wage
Differentials among Youth in Sri Lanka 217
Dileni Gunewardena
The Sri Lankan Labor Market and Wage Inequality 219
Methodology 227
Empirical Results 228
Ethnic Wage Gaps 233
Conclusions and Policy Implications 236
Notes 238
References 240
Chapter 10 Concerns of Youth Affected by Civil Conflict in
Sri Lanka 243
S. T. Hettige and Zindu Salih
Youth and Conflict 245
The Economic Effects of Conflict 247