Alcohol and the Poor in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Concerns surrounding alcohol consumption and poverty have a long history, with both recognised to be important phenomena in current socio-economic policy analysis. The main aim of this thesis was to comprehensively investigate the relationship between alcohol consumption and poverty in Sri Lanka, using country-wideHousehold Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) data sets with separate unit record data for poor and non-poor households and a number of other socio-demographic characteristics, including alcohol consuming status, education and family size. Further, this study undertook a comprehensive survey to address a number of knowledge gaps identified in the literature. The first of these gaps is that no serious attempt has been made to capture the relationship between alcohol consumption and poverty by using an integrated approach. Secondly, no attempt has been made to examine the link between the consumption of various types of alcohol and the level of poverty, although there are some empirical studies on the link between aggregate alcohol consumption and poverty. Thirdly, no proper investigation has been undertaken on the link between poverty and alcohol consumption among different household groups with different characteristics. Finally, there is no detailed country study on the relationship between alcohol consumption and poverty covering households with a wide variety of characteristics in different geographical areas.