Abstract
This chapter examines the influence of an outward-oriented trade regime on Sri Lanka’s manufactured export growth since 1977. It also analyses the pattern of exports, relevant to examining the effects of selective interventions on shifts in comparative advantage, which is addressed in subsequent chapters. Section 3.2 reviews Sri Lanka’s policy history and recent manufacturing performance. Section 3.3 addresses the influence of the new trade regime on manufactured export growth while section 3.4 examines the structure of exports to identify whether there has been significant diversification and technological upgrading. Section 3.5 assesses the contribution made by foreign ownership to exports. Section 3.6 compares Sri Lanka’s export performance with the NICs and section 3.7 summarizes.
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Notes
The figures for Sri Lanka are from Table 3.2 while those for low and low-middle income economies were calculated from the World Bank, World Development Report 1993,Table 16.
The Sri Lankan exports growth rates are in Table 3.2. The figures for Thailand and Malaysia are for 1980–90(constant prices)and were calculated from UN, International Trade Statistics Yearbook (1981 and 1992).
The figure for jewellery and diamonds in 1983 is from CBC, Review of the Economy (1988).
By 1992, Sri Lanka’s population was 17.4 million, Taiwan’s 20.8 million, South Korea’s 43.7 million, and Thailand’s 58.0 million. Thus, Sri Lanka and Taiwan may be regarded as small countries and Korea and Thailand as medium-sized countries. See World Bank, World Development Report (1994) and Republic of China (Taiwan), Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of China (1994). Population statistics on the sample countries for the early 19601 can be found in Karunatilake (1987) and Wade (1990).
In 1964 average hourly wages in manufacturing in the four countries were: Sri Lanka USS0.14, South Korea USS0.10,Taiwan US$ 0.13 and Thailand USS 0.17. In contrast, hourly manufacturing wages in the United States were US$ 2.53. See ILO, Yearbook of Labour Statistics (1974) and Republic of China, Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of China (1985).
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© 1998 Ganeshan Wignaraja
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Wignaraja, G. (1998). Growth and Export Performance of Manufacturing. In: Trade Liberalization in Sri Lanka. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26267-0_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26267-0_3
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