Abstract
In 2009, one of the longest running civil wars in South Asia came to an end when the terrorist group the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was defeated by the Sri Lankan military. The 25 year long war not only resulted in the death of over 100,000 citizens and caused destruction of infrastructure; it also stunted economic growth in the country. Further, the civil war also contributed to significant brain-drain due to the mass departure of qualified professional from the country.
According to the World Bank Sri Lanka has now emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in South Asia in the short span of a few years; as a result of the ‘peace dividend’ brought about by end of the civil war. As the country enters its new growth phase, this case study explores what the overseas diaspora and Sri Lankan transnational entrepreneurs have to offer to contribute to this development, and the role they can play in readdressing the brain-drain through their economic activities. The research that was conducted with ten transnational entrepreneurs in their country-of-origin of Sri Lanka elucidates on their reasons for return to Sri Lanka, the business potential in post conflict societies and what policymakers can do to attract further such transnational investment from citizens who have moved overseas.
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de Silva, R. (2019). Transnational Entrepreneurship in a Post-conflict Society: Perspectives from Sri Lanka. In: Elo, M., Minto-Coy, I. (eds) Diaspora Networks in International Business. Contributions to Management Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91095-6_7
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