The Impact of SMEs on Urban Poverty and Growth in Sri Lanka

Dushyanthi Imalka Herath and Sanika Sulochani Ramanayake

Chapter 8 in Businesses: Resilience and Sustainability:Evidence from Emerging Market Developing Economies, 2023, pp 139-155 from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

Abstract: Sri Lanka is a lower-middle-income country with a high poverty rate, particularly in urban areas. The urban poverty rate increased to 5.3% in 2020 and the population fell below the poverty line. The contribution of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to alleviate urban poverty has now been recognized as a key indicator. More than 50% of SMEs have contributed in diverse ways to the growth and development of Sri Lanka. Therefore, this chapter aims to examine the impact of SMEs on urban poverty in Sri Lanka. The main objectives of this study are to identify urban poverty, understand the importance and propensity of individuals to establish SMEs, identify the impact of SMEs to reduce urban poverty and find solutions to reduce poverty and enhance growth in Sri Lanka. This study was based on quantitative methodology by selecting a study sample in the Bamunakotuwa Divisional Secretariat Division of Kurunegala District in Sri Lanka. Probability sampling techniques like cluster and simple random sampling methods were used with survey and questionnaire methods for data collection. Correlation analysis and multiple regression were used for analysing data using SPSS software. The key findings in this research indicate that SMEs have a significant impact on reducing urban poverty and they help to generate growth in Sri Lanka.

Keywords: Business Resilience; Sustainable Business Strategies; Micro Small & Medium Enterprises; Women Entrepreneurs; Stock Markets; Developments in ASEAN Economies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L21 L26 M1 M14 M16 Q01 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/pdf/10.1142/9789811266539_0008 (application/pdf)
https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/9789811266539_0008 (text/html)
Ebook Access is available upon purchase.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:wschap:9789811266539_0008

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in World Scientific Book Chapters from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tai Tone Lim ().