Vale: In Appreciation of Dr. Sisira Jayasuriya, A Committed Scholar-by Sarath Rajapatirana & Premachandra Athukorala
Source:Thuppahis
whose appraisal is entitled “In Memoriam: Sisira Jayasuriya, 1946-2025″
Source:Thuppahis
The distinguished economist Professor Sisira Kumara Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka-born and a scholar who spent much of his professional life in Australia, passed away on 18 February 2025, after a prolonged battle with cancer. Sisira was a remarkable man: a highly respected economist whose intellectual contributions ranged far and wide; an influential public intellectual; a wonderful teacher, mentor, and institution-builder; and a deeply loved friend to many people across cultures and all over the world.
Sisira was born on 22 June 1946 into a middle-class academic family in Bandaragama, a semi-urban village in Sri Lanka. His parents were both schoolteachers. He was the second child in the family, with an older sister and a younger sister. All three siblings graduated from the leading university in the country, the University of Ceylon (later renamed Peradeniya University).
He was an old boy of Ananda College, a prestigious high school in Colombo, just before the primary language of instruction in higher education in Sri Lanka was changed from English to Sinhala (and Tamil). He entered the University of Ceylon in 1965 as a student in the science stream, but later decided to switch to social sciences to study economics, majoring in statistics—an extremely rare and bold decision at that university, where disciplines were traditionally rigid. Dr. Piyasiri Wickramasekara, who was a young lecturer at the time in the Department of Economics at the time, reminisces about Sisira’s university days:
‘I had the rare privilege of teaching Sisira during his undergraduate days when he was in the small batch of students majoring in economics in the English medium. I always remember and admire him as an extremely bright and exceptional student who hardly took any notes during my lectures, while others were busy copying down every word I uttered. He was also about the only student in the group who never hesitated to interrupt me and ask questions during lectures. I had the confidence to ask him to convey to me privately what he thought of my teaching in my capacity as an assistant lecturer with little experience. I shall always remember Sisira’s engaging smile and friendly, pleasant disposition—his hallmark from his student days.’
Sisira was a political activist from his high school days. He was an active member of the student wing of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), the oldest Marxist (Trotskyist) party in the country. In 1968, when the LSSP leadership entered mainstream politics, Sisira joined a breakaway group of young LSSP’ers who formed the Trotskyist Revolutionary Communist League (RCL) (subsequently renamed the Socialist Equality Party), affiliated with the International Committee of the Fourth International. During his university days (and perhaps beyond), he was the chief editor of the party’s weekly newspaper, Kamkaru Mawatha (The Workers’ Path). Sisira was a powerful and passionate speaker for the party, with a remarkable ability to directly quote Marx, Lenin, and Trotsky to debunk his political opponents. Those of us who were at the University of Peradeniya during his time have vivid memories of the speeches he delivered under the famous ‘strike tree,’ using evocative and stirring language tinged with humour, complemented by sharp, deliberate hand movements to punctuate key points. Dr. Wickramasekara recalls that Sisira once remarked that he never planned to be an academic and expected to remain a full-time revolutionary.
After graduating in 1970 and spending short spells as an assistant lecturer in the same department and at the Rubber Research Institute, on Sisira came to the Australian National University (ANU) in 1972 for post-graduate studies on a Colombo Plan Scholarship. He first enrolled in the Masters in Agricultural and Development Studies programme at the Development Studies Centre, Research School of Pacific Studies (RSPS). When he soon became bored with the program’s course content, Professor Peter Lloyd arranged for him to enrol in the more analytically rigorous courses in the Master’s programme in the Department of Economics. Upon completing his Master’s with fine grades in 1973, Sisira was awarded an ANU scholarship for doctoral research. His doctoral thesis focused on the long-term investment decisions of rubber smallholders in Sri Lanka, set against the backdrop of the emerging analytical literature on the investment behaviour of farmers engaged in the production of perennial cash crops.
In 1978, Sisira joined the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, Philippines, as a Post-doctoral Fellow and was promoted to scientist/economist in 1980. After a five-year tenure at IRRI, he returned to the ANU in 1983 as a Research Fellow in the economics division of RSPS. His period at the ANU marked a major reorientation of his intellectual interests, as he transitioned away from (but never left) 15 years of immersion in agricultural development issues to open-economy macroeconomics. This transition was heavily influenced by the work of Professor Max Corden, then head of the ANU department.
It is a mark of Sisira’s intellectual dexterity, indeed audacity, that he would embark on such a major change in his academic interests, the more so as he held an untenured academic appointment at that time. Subsequently, he taught at La Trobe University (as Senior Lecturer, and then Reader) and at the University of Melbourne (as Associate Professor and Director of the Centre of Asian Economics), before joining the Department of Economics at Monash University as a Professor in 2010.
At Monash, Sisira Jayasuriya played a pivotal role in founding and shaping the Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability (CDES) into a leading centre for cutting-edge interdisciplinary research, focusing on topics such as poverty alleviation, agricultural development, environmental sustainability, and the socio-economic impacts of globalization. Sisira’s vision and dedication fostered collaborations with leading academics, policymakers, and international organizations, ensuring that CDES research had a tangible impact on both policy and practice. Sisira’s extensive external networks and engagements were instrumental in elevating CDES’s global profile. He forged strong partnerships with institutions such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and various United Nations agencies, as well as universities and research centres across Asia, Africa, and beyond. His ability to bridge academia and practice was one of his greatest strengths. This was one of his most productive and enjoyable periods of his career. It showed his extraordinary capacities for leadership, creative intellectual endeavours, and an ability to build bridges between “big picture” public discourses and micro, technical research endeavours. Sisira retired from Monash in 2022 but continued as an Adjunct Professor of Economics at CDES, leaving behind a lasting legacy of excellence and innovation.
At one level Sisira was the quintessential applied economist, with a firm grounding in theory and analytical techniques. His research and policy advisory activities spanned trade, macroeconomics, environmental issues, and food policy in developing countries, with a multidisciplinary focus. He published extensively on topics such as natural disasters, food security and safety, trade and WTO rules, foreign investment, soil erosion and environmental problems, as well as macroeconomic and exchange rate policies. He was also an internationally renowned scholar of the political economy of developing countries and published several widely cited scholarly articles on the highly complex and sensitive issue of Sri Lankan conflict in reputable journals. Sisira regularly advised governments and international organizations on development policy, offering real-world insights and ensuring. A great teacher, supervisor, and mentor, Sisira guided many doctoral students from various countries, including Australia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
In addition to his published work, Sisira was a man of exceptionally wide intellectual and policy interests. There was hardly a subject area that he hadn’t read and thought deeply about, ranging across political economy, history, international economic relations, rural development, poverty, conflict, and much else. On all these issues he brought his formidable intellect, his humanity, and his extensive first-hand field experiences to bear. In the coffee rooms and cafes of many countries, it is no exaggeration to state that his friends’ professional careers were shaped by insightful conversations with him.
An illustration is the major contribution he made to the large multicounty research project on The Macroeconomic Policies, Crises, and Growth in the Long-Run Experience of Developing Countries, undertaken by the World Bank under the principal authorship and guidance of Ian Little, Max Corden, and Richard Cooper over the period 1986–90). Sisira played a key role as co-author of two of the seventeen in-depth country studies in the project—on Colombia and Sri Lanka—both of which were published as research monographs in their own right, in addition to contributing to the main volume, Boom, Crisis, and Adjustment: The Macroeconomic Experiences of Developing Countries (Oxford University Press). In addition to co–authoring the two country studies, Sisira quietly but effectively supported the Director of the project, Sarath Rajapatirana, by revising several other country studies during his sabbatical at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University.
His other major international research projects included Agricultural Trade Liberalisation and Domestic Market Reforms in Indian Agriculture (2005–2015), in collaboration with the National Center for Applied Economic Research in New Delhi; Processed Food Exports from India and Thailand (2000–2005), in collaboration with Thammasat University, Thailand, and the Research Information System, India; and Land Degradation in Sri Lanka (1992–2000), in collaboration with the Ministry of Plantation Industries, Sri Lanka.
These publications, and the many others listed below, draw attention to two features of Sisira’s academic life and interests. First, as noted, the range of academic endeavours, so rarely found in modern university work, with its emphasis on highly specialized and abstract focus, very often removed from the real-world interests that attracted Sisira to the world of teaching and research in the first place. Second, as is also evident in his publications, Sisira revelled in collaborative research work, reflecting his outgoing personality, his willingness to share unselfishly his intellectual contributions, and his sheer intellectual curiosity. How many times have we witnessed him engaged in profound conversations with colleagues from such diverse backgrounds. His always constructive seminar and conference interventions were very often highly impactful.
Though based in Australia for over fifty years of his professional life, Sisira maintained an abiding interest in studying the Sri Lankan economy and participating actively in the country’s economic policy debate. He was a frequent visitor to the Institute of Policy Studies in Colombo during its formative years. He worked closely with the late Dr. Saman Kelegama (Executive Director) and Dr. David Dunham (Resident Economist funded by the Dutch government) in developing the research profile and capabilities of the institute, helping it become a major multidisciplinary research centre in the South Asian region.
During the first Chandrika Kumaratunga regime (1994–1999), he worked closely with Dr. Lal Jayawardene, the main economic advisor to the government. He drafted the Economic Policy Statement of the Government of Sri Lanka (13 September 1994) when the new government came into power, though he was later disappointed by the sharp deviation of practice from the declared policy.
During his tenure at La Trobe University, he sponsored several students from Sri Lanka to undertake doctoral research under the ACIAR project on land degradation (mentioned above). He co-authored a major book on macroeconomic policy in Sri Lanka and several papers on key economic issues of the country, which have now become an integral part of its knowledge base.
Sisira was ethnically Sinhalese, the main ethnic group in Sri Lanka, but he always maintained a strong stance on the issues faced by the Tamil minority. He stood firm on the need to make amends for the suffering caused by majoritarian rule.
A final tribute to Professor Sisira Jayasuriya’s personality: He loved people and ideas, and he did so without any thoughts of private aggrandizement or personal vanity. He was a great raconteur with a fine sense of humour. A ‘man of conviction,’ he was never aggressive or incoherent, even in heated arguments; reasoned calmness was a hallmark of his character as a public intellectual. He had a vast coterie of friends across continents who appreciated this gentle soul. As much as we mourn his passing, we will also celebrate the opportunities we had to know and associate with him.
Sisira is survived by his wife, Sreeni, and their daughter, Tanya.
We shall all miss him dearly.
Publications
Doctoral Thesis
The Long-Term Investment Decision: A Case Study of the Rubber Smallholders of Sri Lanka, PhD dissertation, The Australian National University (Australia), 1977.
Books and Research Monographs
An inward-looking economy in transition: economic development in Burma since the 1960s [with H. Hill], Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1986.
Macroeconomic Policies, Crises and Growth in Sri Lanka, 1969-1990 [with Prema-chandra Athukorala], Washington D.C.: World Bank, 1994.
Courting turmoil and deferring prosperity: Colombia between 1960 and 1990 [with Jorge Garcia Garcia], Washington DC: World Bank, 1997.
The Open Economy and the Environment…. [with Ian Coxhead], Edward Elgar Publishing, 2003.
The Asian tsunami: aid and reconstruction after a disaster [with Peter McCawley], Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010.
The world rubber industry [Colin Barlow and C. Suan Tan], London: Routledge, 2014.
Chapters in multi-author books
‘Bali: Economic growth and tourism’ [with I.K. Nehen], in Hal Hill (ed) Unity and diversity: Regional economic development in Indonesia since 1970, Singapore: Oxford University Press (1989): 330-348.
‘Exchange rate’ in Saman Kelegama (ed) Economic Policy in Sri Lanka: Issues and Debates, New Delhi: Sage (2004): 177-195.
‘Trade liberalization, resource degradation and industrial pollution in developing countries.” [ with Ian Coxhead], in Sisira Jayasuriya (ed) Trade Theory, Analytical Models and Development: Essays in Honour of Peter Lloyd, Volume 1, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (2005): 257 – 287.
‘Liberalisation and industrial growth: Lessons from Sri Lanka’ (with Prema-chandra Athukorala], in Raghbendra Jha (ed) Economic Growth, Economic Performance and Welfare in South Asia, London: Palgrave Macmillan (2005): 102-118.
‘The rise of China and India: Adjustment pressures and challenges for resource-rich Asian developing countries’ [with I. Coxhead] in Prema-chandra Athukorala (ed) The Rise of Asia, London: Routledge (2010): 271-288.
‘Production fragmentation and outsourcing: The impact of trade and investment liberalization’ [with Witada Anukoonwattaka], in Prema-chandra Athukorala (ed), The Rise of Asia, London: Routledge, (2010): 89-108.
‘Debt Financing for Development: The Sri Lankan Experience’ [with Dushni Weerakoon], in Dushni Weerakoon (Ed), Managing Domestic and International Challenges and Opportunities in Post-Conflict Development: Lessons from Sri Lanka, New Delhi: Springer 2019: 95-112.
‘Sri Lanka’ [with Jayatilake Bandara], in Kym Anderson and Will Martin (eds), Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Asia, Washington DC: World Bank (2009): 409-4040.
Journal articles
‘Incorporating multiple objectives in planning models of low‐resource farmers’ [with John Flinn and C. Gregory Knight]…. Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics 24(1) (1980): 35-45.
‘Farmers’ long‐term investment decisions: A study of Sri Lankan rubber smallholders” [with Ric T. Shand and Colin Barlow]. Journal of Development Studies 18 (1) (1981): 47-67.
“Problems of investment for technological advance: The case of Indonesian rubber smallholders.” [with Colin Barlow). Journal of Agricultural Economics 35(1) (1984): 85-95.
‘Philippine economic performance in regional perspective’ [with H. Hill], Contemporary Southeast Asia 6 (2) (1984): 135-158.
‘Technical change and labor absorption in Asian agriculture: Some emerging trends’ [with Ric T. Shand], World Development 14 (3) (1986): 415-428.
‘Labor-shedding with falling real wages in Philippine agriculture’ [with Ian Coxhead], Asian Survey 26 (10) (1986): 1056-1066.
‘Adoption of HYV technology in Asian countries: The role of concessionary credit revisited’ [with Gamani Herath], Asian Survey 36 (12) (1996): 1184-1200.
‘Survey of recent developments’ [with Chris Manning], Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies 24 (2) (1988): 3-41.
‘Parentage and Factor Proportions: A Comparative Study of Third-World Multinationals in Sri Lankan Manufacturing’ [with Prema-chandra Athukorala], Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 50(4) (1988): 409-23.
‘Liberalization and inequality in Sri Lanka: A comment’ [with Martin Ravallion], Journal of Development Economics 28(2) (1988): 247-255.
‘Change, adjustment and the role of specific experience: Evidence from Sri Lankan rice farming’ [with Anura Ekanayake], Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics 33(2) (1989): 123-135.
‘Intra-industry trade and protection: Which way does the causation go?’ [with Ravi Ratnayake], Economics Letters 36 (1) (1991): 71-76.
‘Technical change in agriculture and land degradation in developing countries: a general equilibrium analysis’ [with Ian Coxhead], Land Economics (1994): 20-37.
‘Testing for Philippines rice market integration: A multiple cointegration approach’ [with Param Silvapulle], Journal of Agricultural Economics, 45(3),(1994) pp.369-380.
‘Trade and tax policy reform and the environment: the economics of soil erosion in developing countries’ [with Ian Coxhead], American Journal of Agricultural Economics 77 (3) (1995): 631-644.
‘Developed and Developing Country Multinationals and Export Performance in Developing Countries: Some Analytical Issues with New Empirical Evidence’ [with Prema-chandra Athukorala and Edward Oczkowski], Journal of Development Economics, 46 (1) (1995): 109-122.
‘Economic crisis, poverty and war in contemporary Sri Lanka: On ostriches and tinderboxes’ [with David Dunham], Economic and political weekly (1998): 3151-3156.
‘Trade Policy and Industrial Growth: Sri Lanka,’ [with Prema-chandra Athukorala], World Economy, 23(3) (2000), 387-404.
‘Liberalization and productivity growth: the case of manufacturing industry in Nepal’ [Sharma Kishor and Edward Oczkowski ], Oxford Development Studies 28(2) (2000): 205-222.
‘Equity, growth and insurrection: liberalization and the welfare debate in contemporary Sri Lanka’ {with David Dunham], Oxford Development Studies, 28(1), (2000):.97-110.
‘Liberalization, export incentives, and trade intensity: new evidence from Nepalese manufacturing industries’ [with Kishor Sharma and Edward Oczkowski], Journal of Asian Economics 12 (1) (2001): 123-135.
‘The economic cost of the war in Sri Lanka.” (with Nisha Arunatilake and Saman Kelegama] World Development 29(9) (2001): 1483-1500.
‘Food Safety Issues, Trade and WTO Rules: A developing Country Perspective’ [with Prema-chandra Athukorala], World Economy, 26(9), (2003): 141-162.
‘Moving up the processing ladder in primary product exports: Sri Lanka’s “value‐added” tea industry’ [with Gaminda Ganewatta and Robert Waschik] Agricultural Economics 33(3) (2005): 341-350.
‘China, India and the commodity boom: Economic and environmental implications for low‐income countries’ [with Ian Coxhead], World Economy 33 (4) (2010): 525-551.
‘Will India be the Next China? Challenges, prospects and implications for Australia’ [with Laura Panz], Australian Economic Review 44 (4) (2011): 446-456.
‘Fine-tuning an open capital account in a developing country: The Indonesian experience” [ with Shawn Chen-Yu Leu], Asian Development Review 29 (2) (2012): 136-180.
‘Economic Policy Shifts in Sri Lanka: The post-conflict development challenge’ [with Prema-chandra Athukorala], Asian Economic Papers, 12(2), (2013): 1-28.
‘The export response to exchange rates and product fragmentation: The case of Chinese manufactured exports’ [with Nobuaki Yamashita], Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy 18 (2) (2013): 318-332.
‘Victory in War and Defeat in Peace: Politics and economics of post-conflict Sri Lanka’ [with Prema-chandra Athukorala], Asian Economic Paper, 14(3) (2015): 22-54.
‘The Japanese macroeconomic mystery’ [with W.M. Corden], in Hal Hill and Jay Menon (eds), Managing Globalization in the Asian Century, Singapore: ISEAS (2016): 297-233.
‘Volatile capital flows and macroeconomic performance in Indonesia: An SVAR analysis’ [with Shawn Leu.], Economic Papers 36 (2) (2017): 135-155.
‘Economist as public intellectual: Max Corden’s journey through life’ [with Prema-chandra Athukorala and Hal Hill]], The World Economy, 44(6) (2021): 1472-1483.
‘Wheat trade in times of war and peace’ [with Glenn Denning], Nature Food 4 (8) (2023): 642-643.
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AUTHORS = Prema-chandra Athukorala, Australian National University … AND
Sarath Rajapatirana, Advocata Institute, Colombo ….. February 24, 2025
