A Lost Development Opportunity: Regional integration to empower Sri Lankan women

Dr Lakmini Fernando is a Research Fellow at IPS with primary research interests in Development Economics, Public Finance and Climate Change. She has expertise in econometric data analysis, research design and causal methodologies. Dr Fernando holds a BSc in Agriculture from the University of Peradeniya, a Master of Development Economics (Advanced) from the University of Queensland, Australia and a PhD in Economics from the University of Adelaide, Australia.

Sulochana Silva is a Research Assistant at the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS). She holds a BSc (Hons) in Agricultural Technology and Management specialising in Applied Economics and Business Management from the University of Peradeniya. Her research interests are agriculture policies and institutions, environment and natural resource policies, food security and climate change.

By Dr Lakmini Fernando and Sulochana Silva

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The IPS study further reveals that improvements to institutional and social integration and money and finance reduce nearly 50% of gender inequality in South Asia. Furthermore, better institutional and social integration and movement of people positively impact women in industry and services sectors but not agriculture. In developing countries, women often engage in labour-intensive sectors, which are low-skilled and low-paid, referred to as the ‘feminisation of labour’. Regional integration creates new employment opportunities in the manufacturing and services sectors. This results in technology-led ‘defeminisation of labour’ leading to increased demand for female labour and higher wages.

In contrast, trade and integration negatively impact women in agriculture. The reason is their limited skills and mobility. Regional integration alters the structure of production where sectors with export opportunities may expand, while import substitution sectors may contract. Women in the contracting sectors may face job losses. Even in expanding sectors, women may not have benefitted due to horizontal and vertical gender segregation. Thus, selective opening of sectors and providing opportunities for upskilling and reskilling of women will help minimise the negative impacts.

Way Forward

Sri Lanka is yet to receive the full benefits of regional integration. Inherently, regional integration is multidimensional, and its impacts are country-specific. In boosting gender inclusive sustainable growth, a balanced contribution of different dimensions of regional integration is required. Improvements to most stagnating dimensions like institutional and social integration and money and finance would reduce gender inequality by nearly 50%. Thus, robust domestic policies that support the establishment of quality institutions and governance systems and financial conduct are most effective in making regional integration a strategy that stimulates inclusive growth and women’s economic empowerment in Sri Lanka.

“The World Bank South Asia Gender Innovation Lab’s (SAR GIL) Women’s Economic Empowerment in South Asia Community of Practice provided support for this research.”