Extract
Emerging Patterns of Income Distribution and Social Exclusion in Sri Lanka
1. INTRODUCTION
Sri Lanka's relatively early liberalization of its economy in the late 1970s and its sustained attempts to empower the private sector to spearhead the country's economic growth, have, inter alia resulted in the increasing polarization of the socially and economically advantaged, and the disadvantaged groups, accompanied by far-reaching social implications.The economic disparity between urban and rural segments of society has been exacerbated as a result of the enlargement of the private sector at the expense of the public/state sector. The formal private sector is largely located in urban areas. The urban-rural disparity spells deep-rooted social implications. The need for the establishment of social safety nets and social policy frameworks, in order to prop up the alienated rural poor in particular, is of growing importance to the country's social policy developers.2. INCOME DISPARITY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSIONThe concept of inequality reflected in the distribution of income, finds expression among others, in cross-country inequality which refers to the inequality of average incomes. Average incomes of the advanced nations have continued to rise, while average income at the other end of the income distribution, particularly in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, have stagnated or fallen (Loungani, P, 2003). This, however, does not mean that inequality of incomes within countries has necessarily increased. Gini Coefficients in Japan, many European countries, and Canada have been stable over the past couple of decades, ranging between 0.25 and 0.3. In the continent, in other developed countries, the United States being the most notable example, t...See the full content of this document
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