Conditions for entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka

This book is needed as it helps in translating theories related to entrepreneurship into an understanding of the action on the ground in a developing country influenced by Buddhism. By doing so, the book builds entrepreneurial capacity regarding context and business activities in countries similar to Sri Lankan. The book does this by evidencing a case of co-creation of knowledge involving two universities, University of Nordland, Norway and University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka. The chapters all relates to how entrepreneurship is conducted, and how the institutional framework in Sri Lanka limits and opens for entrepreneurial opportunities. Together, the chapters evidence the interdisciplinary nature of entrepreneurship. The book project came into being when The Norwegian Centre for Cooperation in Higher Education (SIU) funded a NUFU cooperation project, “The entrepreneurial university”, as a co-operation between University of Nordland, Norway (UoN) and University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka (UoR). NUFU is an abbreviation for “The Norwegian Programme for Development, Research and Education”, and its aim is to build research and educational capacity in the south on issues important for the south. SIU is Norway’s official agency for international programmes and measures related to higher education. It is commissioned by several national and international public organisations to administer programmes within all levels of education. The aim of the book project is to generate new knowledge related to how UoR could facilitate entrepreneurial growth in its region. The NUFU project suggests that exploitations of marine resources could be the content of such an entrepreneurial effort. The studies reported in this book then represent different approaches to an understanding of how the institutional structures hinders or facilitate entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka. The universities involved in the book project hope that the outcome could strengthen our efforts to serve our public responsibilities as knowledge developers and knowledge providers. Universities also have a responsibility to activate knowledge and to help creating viable societies. This we seek to accomplish by doing the research reported in the book. We also hope that the reader of the book will gain new insights useful in their work. The teacher in entrepreneurship that would like to offer his students knowledge on the conditions for entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka would find a set of helpful insights. These insights are to some extent also relevant for other developing countries and countries similar to Sri Lanka. The practitioner is also provided support in his strives to understand the limitations and the opportunities that are available in such an environment. The included chapter also offers implication for policy makers seeking to improve the conditions and the institutional framework for entrepreneurship. Aid organizations need to cooperate with the forces shaping the business environment and the findings reported in the book could be helpful in this task. The ones interested in developing joint research between universities in the north (west) and the south (east) are also offered hints for improved practises.