Wijesinghe, Delapalage Stephen (1983) Some experiments with a multisectoral intertemporal optimization model for Sri Lanka. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

In this study a Multisectoral Intertemporal Optimization model is posited and used to study the optimal development path for Sri Lanka (under certain conditions and assumptions) so as to attempt to identify the binding constraints for the country's development. Experiments are carried out on the model to examine the relative importance of domestic savings and foreign exchange and also to highlight the distributional implications of economic development along the optimal path. In addition an attempt is made to examine the use of formal techniques for planning the sectoral and temporal allocation of resources for development through an investigation of the feasibility of Sri Lanka's Public Investment Programme 1980-1984.

Economy-wide development planning models of an optimization nature have mostly been concerned with the optimization of a single objective such as consumption or income. However, development planning can better be considered as a problem of decision making with multiple objectives. Yet, no attempt has been made to analyse the multiple objective situation formally, except for a few analytical models of dual economy which took the distributional objective into account. In this respect, the present study represents an improvement over the existing models. First, considering only the two objectives of consumption and its distribution, a social welfare function is specified and used as the objective function of the optimization model, and second, recent developments in Multiple Objective Decision methods are employed to resolve the problem imposed by the multiplicity of objectives.

The results of the experiments shed reasonable doubt on the feasibility of the Public Investment Programme 1980-1984. It is shown that the importance of additional domestic savings is limited as the economic development of Sri Lanka is highly constrained by the lack of foreign exchange. It also is shown that on an optimal path of development, objectives of economic growth and distribution are not conflicting; development along an optimal path does not change the relative income shares of the rich and the poor substantially. It is suggested that fiscal measures can be used to improve the income share of the poor and pointed out that such measures do not conflict with economic growth.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Economic development -- Srí Lanka, Public investments -- Srí Lanka, Foreign exchange -- Srí Lanka, Income distribution -- Srí Lanka
Official Date:	1983
Dates:	Date Event 1983 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Economics
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Sponsors:	Great Britain. Government ; Srī Laṅkā Maha Băṅkuva
Extent:	xv, 371 leaves : charts
Language:	eng

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