http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/handle/iruor/8 Scholarly publications produced by the members of University of Ruhuna Tue, 13 Oct 2026 23:15:31 GMT 2026-10-13T23:15:31Z http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/handle/iruor/21992 The investor gaze: recognition heuristic, social liability and legal disillusionment among foreign tourism entrepreneurs on Sri Lanka's southern coast Laksiri, W.M.R.; Jeewantha, G.K.C. This study examines investment failures among foreign visitors and tourism entrepreneurs on Sri Lanka’s southern coast, exploring what can go wrong after tourism-related familiarity encourages investment. It introduces the “investor gaze” as the epistemic position emerging when tourists become resident investors, distinguishing it from familiarity-based confidence and “substitutional collapse,” a specific failure mechanism. A qualitative, interpretive multiple-case study draws on semi-structured interviews with two Sri Lankan attorneys providing proxy accounts of sixteen matters, alongside Sinhala-language press coverage. Inductive thematic analysis identifies four failure typologies: nominee-title property fraud; partnership and operational breakdown; personal, familial and household entanglement; and structural sector traps. Substitutional collapse appears in eight matters and in dyadic or modified form in three, but does not apply to five, including both sector-trap matters. Where this mechanism operates, investors possess substantial economic capital but limited independent local social capital, relying on one trusted intermediary as a substitute for community embeddedness. Relationship breakdown or intermediary defection leaves them without fallback support. The findings identify initial counterparty matching as a critical vulnerability and distinguish this mechanism from established strong-tie pathologies. The study connects macro-level tourism-driven familiarity effects with micro-level failure evidence as a hypothesis requiring further testing. It offers a due-diligence lens focused on control of title, licences and banking, and access to independent local information, alongside policy proposals requiring testing and costing. Because matters were selected through legal or media exposure, findings do not establish failure prevalence; agreement between attorney and press accounts indicates consistency rather than independent corroboration. Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/handle/iruor/21992 2026-10-08T00:00:00Z http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/handle/iruor/21991 Sri Lankan ethnic cuisine on YouTube: a computational netnographic study of food‑neophobic and food‑neophilic audience reactions and the digital transmission of culinary heritage. Laksiri, W.M.R. Sri Lankan cuisine is a layered ethnic food heritage shaped by tropical agriculture and by centuries of Arab, Portuguese, Dutch, and British contact atop a South Indian rice-and-curry foundation, and it is increasingly encountered by global audiences not at the destination but on digital platforms. This paper analyses 21,984 predominantly English-language comments posted on 45 YouTube videos about Sri Lankan ethnic cuisine, using VADER sentiment analysis, LDA topic modelling, and a purpose-built keyword lexicon for phobic and philic markers. The findings challenge two conventions of the survey literature. First, philic markers outnumber phobic markers by about seven to one (13.1 vs 1.9%), and where both appear in the same comment (1.5% of the sample) the sentiment reads positive, not negative; because the unit of analysis is the comment rather than the commenter, this co-occurrence is reported as a discursive rather than a dispositional phenomenon. Second, phobic response is not concentrated in a single kind of content but spreads across every one of the eight topics recovered by the LDA. The strongest interpretive contribution of the analysis is the identification of peer-to-peer cultural translation as a discursive mechanism associated with the mitigation of neophobic framing: commenters writing from insider-like discursive positions routinely convert unfamiliar Sri Lankan dishes into familiar reference points for outsider viewers, performing what this paper argues is a contemporary form of oral tradition through which Sri Lankan ethnic food heritage is transmitted to global audiences. Long-form videos polarise audience response more sharply than Shorts do. Implications for ethnic food heritage preservation, cross-cuisine transmission, and destination practice follow. Wed, 07 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/handle/iruor/21991 2026-10-07T00:00:00Z http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/handle/iruor/21990 Impact of taxes on cost of production and input use efficiency on maize, potato, and big onion cultivation in Sri Lanka. Sandika, A. L.; Sewwandi, T. A. D.; Senarath, S. A. K. B. Maize, potato, and big onion are strategically important and politically sensitive field crops due to their high demand and income-generating potential. However, the increasing cost of production (COP) of these crops, particularly amid rising input prices and taxes embedded in agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, seeds, agrochemicals, machinery, and fuel, is a commonly expressed concern among farmers and agricultural stakeholders. This study aims to assess the exact tax burden embedded in the production systems of these three crops and evaluate its impact on cultivation costs and input-use efficiency. Utilizing secondary data for the 2024 Yala season obtained from the Department of Agriculture and Sri Lanka Customs tariff schedules, a quantitative analytical framework was established. The methodology utilizes an enterprise budgeting approach coupled with Harmonized System (HS) code-based tax extraction to algebraically estimate the total tax burden (TT), tax incidence percentages (TI), and input cost structures (ICS). Empirical results show that taxes constitute a notable component of COP, accounting for approximately 9% for maize, 11% for potato, and 8% for big onion, including imputed costs. Excluding imputed costs, cash-tax incidence rises to 12%, 16%, and 10%, respectively, concentrating heavily at 16% to 17% within purchased inputs. This fiscal burden correlates with a low expenditure share on critical inputs, contributing to sub-optimal yields (1,761 kg/acre for maize, 4,929 kg/acre for potato, and 9,976 kg/acre for big onion) compared to regional economies. The study concludes that high embedded taxes distort input structures and limit production efficiency. To lower production costs and strengthen sector competitiveness, policymakers should rationalize agricultural tariffs and help farmers use resources more efficiently. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/handle/iruor/21990 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/handle/iruor/21989 Impact of extension and peer learning on knowledge of food quality and safety: evidence from black pepper farmers in Sri Lanka Amarawansha, E. A. G. S.; Pham, T. Food quality and safety standards have become critical as agricultural development increasingly targets high value crops and markets. These standards govern physical characteristics, purity, and contaminant levels to meet high-value market requirements. However, limited access to relevant information and post-harvest technologies constrains farmers’ ability to acquire the knowledge necessary to maintain these standards. While prior research has largely focused on staple crops, evidence on knowledge enhancement in high-value crops such as black pepper remains limited. This study examines the effect of information provision on knowledge enhancement and retention among black pepper farmers in Sri Lanka, utilising a randomised controlled trial involving 660 farmers in the Matale District. Two interventions were compared: a government extension program on quality and safety standards, and farmer-to-farmer belief and experience sharing. Knowledge was assessed immediately after the interventions and six months later to capture retention. Results indicate that the government extension program significantly increased immediate knowledge and sustained these gains over six months, demonstrating strong retention. In contrast, farmer-to-farmer experience sharing showed no immediate effect but improved knowledge over time, suggesting gradual shifts in beliefs as farmers observed peers’ practices. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that participant characteristics, including age, gender, education, occupation, and baseline postharvest knowledge, influence intervention effectiveness, highlighting the need to tailor approaches for specific subgroups. Overall, the findings emphasise the importance of structured, expert-led extension programs in strengthening farmers’ knowledge on food quality and safety standards, while supporting knowledge retention through farmer learning. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/handle/iruor/21989 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z