Learning to Target for Economic Diversification: PDIA in Sri Lanka
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Ariyasinghe, Duminda
Batuwanthudawa, Thamari
Darmasiri, Shivanthika
de Silva, Nilupul
Harrington, Peter
Jayasinghe, Prasanna
Jayasinghe, Upul
Jayathilake, Gamini
Karunaratne, Jayani
Katugampala, Lalith
Liyanapathirane, Jeewani
Malalgoda, Champika
McNaught, Tim
Poobalan, Anisha
Ratnasekera, Sanjeewa
Samaraweera, Priyanka
Saumya, Erangani
Stock, Daniel
Senerath, Upali
Sibera, Ranjan
Walpita, Indira
Wijesinghe, Shamalie
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https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2968593Metadata
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Andrews, Matt, Duminda Ariyasinghe, Thamari Batuwanthudawa, Shivanthika Darmasiri, Nilupul de Silva, Peter Harrington, Prasanna Jayasinghe, Upul Jayasinghe, Gamini Jayathilake, Jayani Karunaratne, Lalith Katugampala, Jeewani Liyanapathirane, Champika Malalgoda, Tim McNaught, Anisha Poobalan, Sanjeewa Ratnasekera, Priyanka Samaraweera, Erangani Saumya, Daniel Stock, Upali Senerath, Ranjan Sibera, Indira Walpita, and Shamalie Wijesinghe. “Learning to Target for Economic Diversification: PDIA in Sri Lanka.” CID Working Paper Series 2017.332, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, January 2017.Abstract
Many countries, like Sri Lanka, are trying to diversify their economies but often lack the capabilities to lead diversification programs. One of these capabilities relates to targeting new sectors to promote and pursue through a diversification policy: countries know they are ‘doomed to choose’ sectors to target,1 but lack effective capabilities to do the targeting. This paper narrates a recent (and ongoing) initiative to establish this kind of capability in Sri Lanka. The initiative adopted a Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) process, where a team of Sri Lankan officials worked with Harvard Center for International Development (CID) facilitators to build capabilities. The paper tells the story of this process, providing documented evidence of the progress over time and describing the thinking behind the PDIA process. It shows how a reliable targeting mechanism can emerge in a reasonably limited period, when a committed team of public officials are effectively authorized and engaged. The paper will be of particular interest to those thinking about targeting for diversification and to those interested in processes (like PDIA) which are focused on building state capability and fostering policy implementation in public contexts.Terms of Use
This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of-use#LAACitable link to this page
https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37366364
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